Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Can teachers provide equal access to the digital world to all students.
I have to say, Yes! Anything we put our mind to is possible. I don't think 20 years ago we could have even imagine the explosion of information and technology that has occurred. I may be an optimist, but if teachers and communities made it a priority, it can be done. I've been involved in alot of fundraising for my children's school community.....this year the play I co-produced raised $8,000. The KidsArt fundraiser a friend of mine and myself raised $3,600. If everyone is willing to put themselves out there and donate time and elbow grease, this can be done if we can agree it is a priority. Chapter 4 showed me how much free info and software there is available...I had no idea. Of course it is possible if computers are purchased for schools....or donated.....companies like PC Connection donate old computers all the time for use in schools. What if students were allowed to bring laptops home...so it was made available to them at home too? We can tap into these corporate donations as well as our own fundraising efforts. I was quite interested to learn that hackers lead the way to this availability of free info and software. And even more excited to read the contributions by the Artificial Intelligence Lab at MIT. My children's First Lego League just got a tour of this lab this year, and we met some of these amazing dedicated grad students. Think positive everyone.....it can be done!
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I think your response is very optimistic and enthusiastic, but unfortunately unrealistic in the year 2010. Surprisingly, there are parents that do not even know what to do with a computer, how to switch it on, let alone have to "upgrade" or add software or address maintenance issues. It's unfortunate, but there are still a lot of people out there who are either afraid of computers or unable to function past a basic word processing program. And, if they don't use them for work or not forced to use them in another way, it can be intimidating as well as expensive. I live in a town where we tried to switch all paper correspondence via email. We sent out a survey to find out how many parents did or did not have internet access on a regular basis. I was not given the numbers from the school admin, but needless to say, they were unable to "switch" over. Not yet anyway. In 5 years, maybe, 10 years definitely. It's unfortunate, but a reality nontheless. Think about all of the paper just one school could save by eliminating paper correspondence, cost and environmental savings!!
ReplyDeleteI also LOVE the positive attitude in your post! With fund raising and folks like you, there may be a huge impact, but there are a lot of schools that do not have such active teachers and parents. And it is up to the government to earmark technology funds. However, I am going to feed off of your confidence! I hope that in a few years time, technology and internet access will become virtually free for student use. And that would certainly alleviate the problem!
ReplyDeleteI agree love the positive attitude. You can think things are out of reach until you can get your fingers around them. I think this positive outlook just might be the way to give kids equal access. If not at home but in the classroom.
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