So I don't have a whole lot of time before my presentation, I need to get to work. I think I want to do something with the fact that not all students have equal access to technology, and I want to see how that will effect them in their future. With so many jobs requiring that employees are digitally literate, does the technology that we are now privy to help marginalized people? Or does it further marginalize them? What can be done to make sure that we aren't hurting those who don't have equal access to technology. I think about a student that I have who is duel enrolled at CNM right now. He was absent and I asked him if he emailed the teacher to let him know that he would be absent. No, he doesn't have internet at home. Well there goes my next question: did you email the assignment to him. No, of course not, he couldn't.
Another thing I have thought about is that one of my kid's teachers has a web site for the class. What a neat idea and a neat way for parents to stay connected. And parents who don't have internet... can't. I don't think that teachers should stray away from neat things like class web sites because not all people can access them, but I am curious about ways in which teachers can use technology without alienating some students and families.
Hi Abigail. I will be following your blog over the next couple of months. I am also interested in how to integrate technology into the classroom while taking each student's relationship with that particular platform into consideration. One of the 4th grade teachers at my last school took an informal written survey at the beginning of the year on the types of technology her student's were able to access. She questioned their rate of use, and asked them to rate their comfort level with various platforms. That information helped her accomodate her students throughout the year without publicizing who had access to what.
ReplyDeleteOn an entirely separate note would you consider speaking briefly about the school you teach in during your presentation(if it's applicable)? It would be great to know more about RFK, and it would give a lot of context to the issues you're exploring.
Yes, I will definately talk about the kids that I teach. They are really what make me think about this issue because I watch kids that are disadvantaged struggle to keep up because of their lack of technology all the time. Las year I tried a wiki for my class like the one that we have, and just getting the kids signed up was difficult because so many of them didn't even have email addresses. I thought it was really surprising the kids in this day and age wouldn't have email addresses. My eleven year old has an email address!
DeleteThis is a tough area...digital divide seems like a key phrase for searches. I think this is a huge problem. It might be also good to look at a schools and community places that help provide access. How about laptop schools? Or public library computers?
ReplyDeleteI think you should pursue this, but think positives and negatives. This will be a good class discussion too, especially of you find some good readings.
I googled "digital divide" and found many websites with statistics that paint a picture of the problem. That would be my first step. Then I googled "digital divide policies" and several papers and books came up. Google books lets you preview books. It would be great if you collected and reported on this information in this blog.
ReplyDeleteThanks! That is really helpful!
DeleteThis really is a great topic. And an important one as well. I was happy to hear that Comcast is trying to help (imagine!).
ReplyDeleteI had a question about your student who is also with CNM. It made me wonder if you think some students might use the lack of technology/access as an excuse for not doing their work? All the local libraries have computers to use now, I believe, and certainly CNM must provide students with computers. Perhaps part of the issue is letting students know where they can go to get access to computers and/or internet connections?
At any rate, I think this is a really good subject to research. Maybe you can do your thesis on this? ~ Linda
Oops! I mean perhaps you can do your dissertation on this topic. That'd be great. I hope if you decide to do this, you could let me know (lbarril@unm.edu) Thanks! ~ Linda
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