I grew up in a small town in California. You can look around this town and see miles and miles of fields. The smell of freshly cut broccoli, onions and lettuce wafts through the air. As you drive up to my hometown, you can look left or right and see migrant farm workers dotting the landscape. All are using primitive cutting tools and equipment to gather the produce. Anyone, even a small child, can follow in these footsteps. Coming from parents of farm workers, I know that this only gives you a hint of the poverty and illiteracy, in more subjects than reading, which is prevalent in the schools. “Rural schools often have lower budgets for laboratory equipment and supplies than other schools (Picciano, 2011). What sort of future holds for the children of many of these farm workers?
Even if that student has a mind to dream big and go the college route, a hard and long road. That is what my road was like. There were no computers in my school even though computers were becoming more and more popular and available. When I got to college, I read that this was called, “the digital divide.” This was a concept that I was only too aware of even if I did not know the name. You see, it is easier to read about this digital divide than to be a part of it.
My first few years of college were my hardest. I was not aware of how to do anything technology-wise. Every assignment that had technology attached to it took me so much longer. It made me feel like I was always playing catch up. “Even if the digital divide is reduced or eliminated within a school, it will likely continue to exist outside of school (Picciano, 2011). I remember having a 10 page critical analysis essay due. I spent four days trying to get that paper just typed up. I averaged over twenty hours of typing that paper, sheet after sheet, error after error. We had an old typewriter with no correction buttons. I had to retype the page so many times. Even though there were computers that would have made my life easier. I did not know how to work one and was too embarrassed to ask for help. Most students would have given up. I did not.
My point is that it is critical to introduce technology to our students and not to assume that they know what to do. I think we would be surprised at what some of our student do not have available at home. I assigned students a homework assignment that involved watching a commercial. I, sadly, was confronted by a student that disclosed he had no television or cable to watch it. Technology is our future whether we like it or not and teaching our students how to utilize it is just as critical.
I believe that the digital divide still exists due to the economy where people find themselves unemployed and unable to pay the bills.I had a similiar experience except I was born in a city, El Paso, which is still growing in population. Our high school had no computers as I never heard of computers until I attended college, but then at the time there were no laptops, micro computers at the time. The university offered fortran computer classes where you had to actually program the computer using the punchcards. Even if there were computers my family would not be able to afford them. The digital divide will continue as long as people are out of work or earn just enough to make ends meet. Our Catholic school has been unable to update the computers due to none existen funds. We have students who have no access to computers or the Internet at home,because they can't afford it. The problem centers around a persons earnings and economic situation, whether parents can afford technology in their homes for their children.
ReplyDeleteHow would one go about providing for students after school when they need to to do research for class assignments. I have had students stay at the high school library after 4 oclock in order to use the Internet because they can't afford it. That student lives in El Paso,but doesn't have the time or does not livet near a library in order to be able to use the Internet. Other students come from Juarez and are also unable to go to a library there because they live in low income neighborhoods. It is not so much the place as to the means of having the opportunity to use technology outside of school.
When the university started using the micro computers and the Internet in the library, students had to pay. The library would charge you for the use of the Internet which of course I couldn't pay as I barely made it with the grant which cover only my tuition and books. As a result I never learned how to use the computer until about ten years ago when the sisters at the convent let me use it.
I agreed with your statement that we have to teach students how to use technology dispite the fact that they may not have access to it at home.
Because the world is depending on technology in all its sectors, business, education, social events, medical institutions, state and government agencies, students have to be prepared to survive in a digital world.
Martha
ReplyDeleteThe digital divide is still a well defined problem where I am living in Puerto Rico. There are still schools where technology is very poor while in others there is no technology. These are mostly poor areas where there is only public schools. As in other rural areas, private schools use the technology as a priority in the classroom and in school administration. When I did my practicum in secondary education at the school, I never saw the use of technology in the classroom. Even for my first bachelor’s degree the university required me only one computer course as a requirement for the degree. According to Picciano "educators are surely interested in the potential of the technology but also express reservation in its implementation” (p.7). It was not until I started the Army ROTC courses when I started to observe the daily use of technology as a teaching tool within and outside the classroom. The Army ROTC building had the best center computer lab which could only be used by students on this program.
On the other hand, the private universities in Puerto Rico have better computer facilities for their students that the public University of Puerto Rico. When I did my practicum for the teacher certificate at the University of Puerto Rico, the use of technology in the classroom by my professor was very poor, compared to my first private university I attended. I observed that in Puerto Rico some of the problems of digital divide are related to lack of interest of certain groups of traditional teachers. "According to Picciano" school have a long tradition of being people oriented rather than machine oriented”(p.6). This is another problem that affects different groups of students in our schools today, as these teachers do not integrate technology into their daily plans to expand the student’s knowledge within and outside the classroom.
There were other factors in our public schools of Puerto Rico as it is the lack of knowledge of English language in some teachers. This digital divide affects the students in these schools where their primary language is English. These are been affected in their academic assessments. On the other hand, most parents of these students from this public school rural area do not have computers at home and they don't have public computer labs nearby which would benefit these students. According to Picciano "administrators and Teachers need to be aware of how many students in their schools have access to technology in their homes and consider doing Something for those students who do not" (p.44). As you rightly mentioned in the blog " know that this only gives you a hint of the poverty and illiteracy”. I acknowledge that the technology used by my professor in the laboratories of the ROTC classes and the requirement of using English language in the program helped me to find better jobs and better study programs in and outside Puerto Rico.
ReplyDeleteReference
Picciano, A.G. (2011). Educational leadership and planning for technology, 5th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4P6FP6JJazY&feature=fvst
ReplyDeleteI forgot to add this!!
Martha,
ReplyDeleteI am not sure why this posting did not go through on the original date 10/1/2010. However, I am re-posting hopefully you are able to view with no problems.
I think that your reflection provides authentic reality for your students to be able to observe how technology has evolved and how the struggles and limitations can create setbacks but be overcome.Inevitably, SES has a large influence in the amounts of distribution and resources/ material that schools will obtain.
In a Nat’l, study conclusions were that, “schools with higher concentrations of poor students are less likely to have adequate laboratory facilities than other schools…schools with higher minority students and rural schools often have lower budgets for laboratory equipment and supplies than other schools.” (Picciano, 2011, p. 43)
It was interesting to read how the author mentions a number of equity issues (special education, gender, digital divide, ect) that are emerging and further suggests that some of these issues must be resolved in the larger society.
I believe that the latter statement is true. If we accept that our society is becoming more dependent on technology and that we must prepare our students to be able to competitively function within this society, we must have available resources regardless of demographics, gender or race. “The question of technology has to be viewed in the context of the larger societal issues” (Picciano, 2011, p. 44)-
Educators must know their students and their accessibility/lack of to technology outside of the school walls so that they can be sensitive to the types of technology they will implement and how they will integrate so as to not isolate any one group.
I think that as educators we must continue to plow towards our student’s future with technology being an important component. We are aware of the numerous limitations; however, we can strive for success.
As the data in Figure 3.1 exemplifies, “ While the digital divide still exists, the gap is narrowing between the haves and have-nots; studies further indicate that as minority families move into higher income brackets or attain education, the gap narrows considerably.” (Picciano, 2011, p. 45)
Maria