What connections do you see between technology and equity?
12 comments:
Anonymous
said...
Technology can be the great equalizer both nationally and internationally. It can provide access to resources, and knowlede where there is none. It provides increased opportunity to education and progress.
We have to be careful when using technology in our instruction, though. There are students who are already very familiar with it and others who need more support learning to use it in the first place.
Technology offers a valuable means to acces "different" people's web pages. It can introduce our students to groups that the may have no immediate contact with. Also, it may present them with a way to freely and safely access ideas and perspectives that they rarely find on these groups in their normal day to day affairs.
We find that this category may be cleft in twain. When using technology, it is important to remember economic diversity within the classroom, for it affects technological availability and, as a result, technological literacy. Proper integration within the classroom that provides the opportunity for all students to learn and work with technology can provide an equitable education experience. Technology will play a large role in the future in general (workplace), not just education, therefore providing all students with these tools helps to ensure a more equitable future for everyone, which otherwise may not have been possible.
One of the connections I see between technology and equity is that tecnology knows no bounds. There is no limit to the amount of content I can bring into a PowerPoint presentation, for example, and no limit to the amount of material that culturally reflects my students. I also see a possible disconnection with the access to technology of my students outside of school. I have to be careful when designing activities that require technology use outside of the classroom.
One positive aspect of technology is its ability to allow people to interact with others they may not otherwise interact with; in addition, it gives a voice to those who may not otherwise speak in class. However, technology also dehumanizes the educational experience and removes the face to face interaction with people from different backgrounds and experiences that is so important to a multicultural education experience.
I see this as a great way to get a sense of what all of you are thinking. That way I can create staff-development opportunities that address your concerns, interests, etc.
I agree with P.K. Charsky that, "when using technology, it is important to remember economic diversity within the classroom, for it affects technological availability and, as a result, technological literacy." We will need to provide direct insruction in the use of technologies rather that jsut provide access to these tools.
Technology skills (like literacy skills) are essential to a students' success in mainstream culture. The culture of power values and esteems folk with technological abilities, and almost any job requires some tech knowledge. We must help our students gain this skills, if we want to really help all children achieve their dreams. However, we want them to be able to make judgement calls about appropriateness and safety (for example, violent video games or posting personal information).
Technology allows teachers to increase their "bag of tricks" in ways of approaching various subjects, topics, themes. Not only in regard to presenting updated information on peoples, cultures, and obvious diversity issues, but also in the ways that we approach different types of learners. Classroom learning takes on a totally new look, feel, sound, and technology is morphing textbook learning into other more accessible modes of knowledge transfer.
12 comments:
Technology can be the great equalizer both nationally and internationally. It can provide access to resources, and knowlede where there is none. It provides increased opportunity to education and progress.
We have to be careful when using technology in our instruction, though. There are students who are already very familiar with it and others who need more support learning to use it in the first place.
Technology offers a valuable means to acces "different" people's web pages. It can introduce our students to groups that the may have no immediate contact with. Also, it may present them with a way to freely and safely access ideas and perspectives that they rarely find on these groups in their normal day to day affairs.
We find that this category may be cleft in twain. When using technology, it is important to remember economic diversity within the classroom, for it affects technological availability and, as a result, technological literacy. Proper integration within the classroom that provides the opportunity for all students to learn and work with technology can provide an equitable education experience. Technology will play a large role in the future in general (workplace), not just education, therefore providing all students with these tools helps to ensure a more equitable future for everyone, which otherwise may not have been possible.
One of the connections I see between technology and equity is that tecnology knows no bounds. There is no limit to the amount of content I can bring into a PowerPoint presentation, for example, and no limit to the amount of material that culturally reflects my students. I also see a possible disconnection with the access to technology of my students outside of school. I have to be careful when designing activities that require technology use outside of the classroom.
One positive aspect of technology is its ability to allow people to interact with others they may not otherwise interact with; in addition, it gives a voice to those who may not otherwise speak in class. However, technology also dehumanizes the educational experience and removes the face to face interaction with people from different backgrounds and experiences that is so important to a multicultural education experience.
I see this as a great way to get a sense of what all of you are thinking. That way I can create staff-development opportunities that address your concerns, interests, etc.
I agree with P.K. Charsky that, "when using technology, it is important to remember economic diversity within the classroom, for it affects technological availability and, as a result, technological literacy." We will need to provide direct insruction in the use of technologies rather that jsut provide access to these tools.
To remember that not all students have access to technology outside of school.
Technology skills (like literacy skills) are essential to a students' success in mainstream culture. The culture of power values and esteems folk with technological abilities, and almost any job requires some tech knowledge. We must help our students gain this skills, if we want to really help all children achieve their dreams. However, we want them to be able to make judgement calls about appropriateness and safety (for example, violent video games or posting personal information).
Technology allows teachers to increase their "bag of tricks" in ways of approaching various subjects, topics, themes. Not only in regard to presenting updated information on peoples, cultures, and obvious diversity issues, but also in the ways that we approach different types of learners. Classroom learning takes on a totally new look, feel, sound, and technology is morphing textbook learning into other more accessible modes of knowledge transfer.
Technology can be very useful in expanding ideas about culural diversity. Blogging as well opens up new ideas and keeps people open-minded.
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