Having equitable access is very important in a classroom setting but may not always be enough for some students. Students that have exposure to technology at schools but not at home tend to be at the beginner level and sometimes struggle doing just basic technology assignments. Barron discussed his findings with two 8th grade classes, one class located in a more affluent area where students had exposer to technology at home and school. The other class was from a lower economic area where students had little or no access at home. Barron states, “As expected, the students from the more affluent school community were more experienced and benefited from more tools at home. The variable-centered analysis confirmed the relationship between home access and experience with creative production activity. It showed that regardless of school, students with greater breadth of experience had more tools at home, and were more likely to use the computer frequently at home.” (Barron, 2010)
So how do we solve this issue of equitable access at home?
Having designed and implemented three 1 to 1 programs, I believe this is the only way to develop equitable access for all students. Funding is the obstacle in providing this access to all students. I believe, as more materials are available online and as more teachers are writing their own curriculums and lessons we can see less textbook purchases and maybe a shift in fund over to the technology side. Textbook publishers are still holding pricing high even on eBook and online access. This is going to be the key in getting more technology that students can take home. As we have less blocking of YouTube, wiki and other tools that can be used as teaching material, we can only hope that the cost of textbooks will decrease.
Common Sense Media talks about the digital divide could broaden if students are not exposed to technology at a younger age. Some lower income students have no access to computers at home, which could have an impact on their success later in school. (Common Sense Media, 2011) I think it’s becoming more increasingly important that school boards find ways to rearrange budgets to provide technology at younger ages for student to have access at school and at home. By allowing just a BYOD (Bring your own device) is not good enough. Lower income students will be left out of this situation because they do not have devices to bring.
Teaching web 2.0 tools has become a big part of many classrooms. We must find ways to help students have more access to computers that they can not only use at school but at home as well. We’ve learned that we must being this access at a young age for them to be successful later in their academic experience.
So how do we solve this issue of equitable access at home?
Having designed and implemented three 1 to 1 programs, I believe this is the only way to develop equitable access for all students. Funding is the obstacle in providing this access to all students. I believe, as more materials are available online and as more teachers are writing their own curriculums and lessons we can see less textbook purchases and maybe a shift in fund over to the technology side. Textbook publishers are still holding pricing high even on eBook and online access. This is going to be the key in getting more technology that students can take home. As we have less blocking of YouTube, wiki and other tools that can be used as teaching material, we can only hope that the cost of textbooks will decrease.
Common Sense Media talks about the digital divide could broaden if students are not exposed to technology at a younger age. Some lower income students have no access to computers at home, which could have an impact on their success later in school. (Common Sense Media, 2011) I think it’s becoming more increasingly important that school boards find ways to rearrange budgets to provide technology at younger ages for student to have access at school and at home. By allowing just a BYOD (Bring your own device) is not good enough. Lower income students will be left out of this situation because they do not have devices to bring.
Teaching web 2.0 tools has become a big part of many classrooms. We must find ways to help students have more access to computers that they can not only use at school but at home as well. We’ve learned that we must being this access at a young age for them to be successful later in their academic experience.
References
Barron, B., Walter, S., Martin, C., & Schatz, C. (2009). Predictors of creative computing participation and profiles of experience in two Silicon Valley middle schools. Computers and Education, (54), 178-189.
Rideout, V.(2011), Zero to eight: children’s media use in America. Common Sense Media.
Barron, B., Walter, S., Martin, C., & Schatz, C. (2009). Predictors of creative computing participation and profiles of experience in two Silicon Valley middle schools. Computers and Education, (54), 178-189.
Rideout, V.(2011), Zero to eight: children’s media use in America. Common Sense Media.