Organisations bridge the digital divide in online event
Words by Smiley Team
PRESS RELEASE: Nonprofit Smiley Movement co-hosts event with campaign group Citizens UK to tackle digital exclusion in education.Convening online in a purpose-driven panel discussion, nine community members in northeast London drew on their experiences to imagine ways of creating a more equal education system while teachers and students are increasingly reliant on digital technology.Hosted by nonprofit Smiley Movement in collaboration with campaign group Citizens UK, the event saw church leaders, educators and campaigners along with a year-three school pupil, discussing the causes and solutions to digital exclusion. Smiley Movement recorded the event on 1st February 2021, as three two-minute videos, which are available to watch for free online.Speaking at the event, the principal of Leyton Sixth Form College Gill Burbridge said: “One of the things we hear a lot about at the moment is remote learning and actually, education should be anything but remote. “Whether you do it in a classroom or whether you do it over a computer screen, education should be immediate, it should be engaging, it should be personal, and if you can’t access the basic technology that you need to be able to participate in that experience then very quickly, as a young person or as a child, you are going to be both disengaged and disadvantaged.”
Experiences of digital exclusion
While some have access to the internet and electronic devices, others do not, and this depends heavily on wealth, according to research by Cambridge University. Nearly all households earning up to £40,001 have access to the internet compared to only about half of households earning up to £10,000, a situation that will severely hinder learning for children of lower-income families.Eight-year-old primary school pupil Noah Copperwheat attended the Smiley Talk with his mother and father, Jen and Dan Copperwheat. He said: “I think that I’m very fortunate that I have enough devices to sustain me. Some of my mates don’t have it as good. So, for example, some friends of mine live in the same house and they are having to use their mum’s phone.”Also speaking at the event was Church of England priest in Cathall Estate, Leytonstone, Reverend Polly Kersys-Hull. She supports more deprived residents with a food share initiative, through which she meets many parents whose children struggle to keep up with online school work. She said: “There are stories of people having to walk to school to collect worksheets on a daily basis, or on a weekly basis because they don’t have enough devices. As people have queued for food, they’ve had their children on lessons on phones because that’s the only device they have at home, and just not having enough data, so having to keep on buying data, which they can’t afford to do. “So people are having to make a choice between heating their homes and buying data to educate their children, which is a really hard choice to make. Often people are choosing education which has a detrimental impact on their life at home. So it’s a hard compromise for them to make.”The solution: make devices “The daily bread of the education system”To create more equal opportunities while lessons take place online, the panellists came up with a variety of solutions for the public and power-holders to engage with. Speaking at the event, head of PSHE at Connaught School for Girls Pablo Phillips, said: “We should make a device the daily bread of the education system. What I mean by this is that apparently, there is a law that says schools should provide a certain amount of daily bread to every child and that should be the same for devices that they can use for their education.” Campaigner at Citizens UK Paul Amuzie added that there are three main steps for the public and campaigners to complete in order to level education so all students get the same chances. These were to spread awareness of the issue, find ways of disseminating unused devices to those that need them, and to put pressure on power holders such as the government and network providers to offer free devices and data to more deprived households.The event concluded with a call to action from Amuzie: “Our calls to the public are to find a group like Citizens UK. If there isn’t a group like this I’m sure there’ll be local institutions, churches, schools to which you can donate your devices. If you’re at home and you’re lucky enough to be working from home and saving money on travel and coffees, could you donate some money to a school or a church for people that really need it at this time?”
Notes for Editors
About Citizens UK
https://www.citizensuk.org/With a mission of developing local leaders to drive positive change, Citizens UK is a network of communities working together on a broad range of issues. Their members include schools, universities, churches, mosques, synagogues, parent groups, health trusts, charities and unions, which are important civic institutions that connect every day to the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.On the topic of digital exclusion, Citizens UK offer their services to grassroots campaigners to help them create equal access to devices, broadband and data in their local area.For more information visit citizensonline.org.uk/digital-inclusion/. Donate to Waltham Forest Digital Inclusion Appeal here.
About Smiley Movement
Smiley Movement (CIC) is a nonprofit, sponsored by the original Smiley Company. With a focus on positive solutions journalism, Smiley News covers the work of inspirational charities changing the world through their frontline work in the community. With a mission of driving positive change, Smiley Movement empowers people and organisations doing good, connecting them to new resources and supporters through their matchmaking for good network, and through their Smiley Talks, inspiring other potential leaders and innovators to create a better world for us all.
