Digital Inclusion for Online Learning
Image: Lilly Moody, YR Centre Manager playing Smash with participating students from schools in Catholic Education Western Australia, during a Digital Inclusion workshop.
Developing strategies for digital inclusion and online learning at home.
Our Vision
While the pandemic highlighted the critical role technology plays in children’s lives, not all Australian children have reliable access to technology. This situation exacerbates educational disadvantage for children who are already amongst the nation’s most vulnerable. Australia has comparatively elevated levels of digital inclusion, but experience of the pandemic illustrated the gaps that remain for children in low-income, rural, recent migrant and Indigenous households. Reasons for these gaps are complex, and this research explored these barriers and developed a strategic intervention that combined connectivity, device access and basic targeted training to help to address the complex issue of digital inclusion for online learning in families experiencing disadvantage.
Our Project Plan
In this research project, we carried out a pilot project with three schools in Western Australia, conducting workshops, interviews and surveys with students, parents, and school staff from which we identified key barriers and enablers for digitally inclusive online learning at the individual, interpersonal, organizational, and infrastructural levels.
Project History
This project builds on a previous project on digital inclusion and capacities by Magee et al (2018).
Image: The Digital Inclusion Team
What Impact will this research have?
This research found, consistent with international research, that a holistic mixture of social, environmental, and skills “infrastructure” is needed to support successful learning-at-home. Our project, in addition to enhancing the digital inclusion of participating families, offers recommendations for policy reform, and offers the model Digital Inclusion Studio through which students, families, and can attain the skills to navigate recent technologies, create appropriate learning environments, and foster helpful learning habits.
Outputs
The findings from this project have been submitted for publication by Education and Information Technologies but is currently available to view online here:
Marsden, L., Munn, L., Magee, L., Ferrinda, M., Pierre, J. S., & Third, A. (2023). Inclusive Online Learning in Australia: Barriers and Enablers. arXiv preprint arXiv:2312.04777.
Collaboration team
Internal collaborators
Professor Amanda Third
Associate Professor Liam Magee
Linda Marsden
External collaborators/Partners
NBNco
Catholic Education Western Australia
Funding
This project was funded by NBNco
Streams
Reinventing Learning and Work.
Realising Youth Participation and Engagement.
Enhancing Health and Wellbeing.
Period
July 2021 – December 2022
Contact
If you would like to get in contact with the Digital Inclusion for Online Learning team, please email Linda Marsden at l.marsden@westernsydney.edu.au.