About Digital Learning
As districts design for in-person and on-line instruction with new schema and context for digital resources, tools, and strategies, it is clear that there is not one singular pathway or simple way forward. The resources on this webpage set forward foundational practices that will apply to districts implementing new online programs, designing for blended learning, and/or leading for reimagination of teaching and learning. The ultimate aim of the resources contained here is to reduce existing inequity and increase learning and belonging.
With an equity-informed, anti-racist, and anti-oppressive lens, digital learning and educational technology have the power to disrupt systems of oppression and marginalization, to engage and empower students and families, and affirm students’ racial, cultural and linguistic identities. The widespread increase in the use of technology that occurred during the pandemic now provides an opportunity to carry forward the best of what we learned, to leverage it to address inequities in schools across Oregon, and to redefine access. With this focus and mindset, digital learning can help reduce inequities between students. It is equally important to acknowledge that in the absence of this intention, digital learning can also perpetuate and exacerbate existing inequities and make schooling more difficult for those who are already marginalized within the system.
Digital learning refers to “any instructional practice that effectively uses technology to strengthen a student’s learning experience and encompasses a wide spectrum of tools and practices,” as defined in
ESSA. This is a comprehensive definition which includes the use of technology and practices across all instructional models, from in-person to fully online learning environments.