You are a part of a collegewide effort to increase access to education and empower students through "open pedagogy." Open pedagogy is a "free access" educational practice that places you - the student - at the center of your own learning process in a more engaging, collaborative learning environment. The ultimate purpose of this effort is to achieve greater social justice in our community in which the work can be freely shared with the broader community. This is a renewable assignment that is designed to enable you to become an agent of change in your community through the framework of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). For this work, you will integrate the disciplines of Sociolinguistics and Sociology to achieve SDG #10: Reduced Inequalities as a primary focus and SDG #4: Quality Education as a secondary focus. Many students from low-income families may face technical/technological challenges when they take online courses. In March last year (2020), some colleges, including Montgomery College, resumed courses 100% online after the lockdown. Some students had to find computers hurriedly to complete the semester, and some of them had to use their old phones. The College and County made efforts to provide assistance to share computers with adult students, but the learners who have sought support said there were not enough devices available, or the process of getting a computer was too complicated and difficult to follow. While most K-12 students were able to loan devices from the district, college and adult students had less support. Students who don’t have high-functioning devices or internet services, unlike those who have high-functioning technology at home, may face additional difficulties doing assignments or assessments. This may cause dropping out of the course, anxieties, or unnecessarily low grades. “Higher education shall be equally accessible to all,” the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 26 says.
