Equal Access to the Digital World!

     To provide access to the internet in classrooms across America is essential.  Students will be adults living in a different world than the world of previous generations.  In order to prepare them they will need access to computers in the classroom for purposeful activities.  One survey (Doherty & Orlofsky, 2001) provides a more global look at the use of technology in the classroom.  The authors concluded that according to the students, “It seems educators may be making more progress in providing access to technology than in figuring out how to use it as a learning tool.”  (Schrum & Levin) It is up to administrators to not only provide the technology, but to also educate the teachers on how it can best be used.  Learning about a new technology takes time and support from the administration.  “Full-time technology coordinators are less likely to be found in schools with high percentages of students qualifying for free or reduced lunch, whereas parents in wealthier are more likely to volunteer and supply extra funding for technology and support as well as have a greater ability to get corporate sponsors.”   There are many people not able to gain access to technology and it seems that class, race, and where you live can be your biggest obstacles.  The educators need to look at what technology is available to them and how they can use it.  Technology is expensive, but the cost of some is coming down.  Educators can look at what do we have and how can we use it?   The use of cell phones in schools is usually not allowed, but if your students have them how can they be used purposefully with rules and appropriate use?  Students are using more and more technology in their daily lives to live and learn it is time for our schools to accept this and start meeting the needs of these 21^st century learners. 

 

Levin, Lynne Schrum & Barbara B. Leading 21st Century Schools. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, 2009. book.