The Access Gap at Home and at School

In reading about using media and digital literacy in the classroom, I began to think about all the issues with teaching with technology: the amount of access to technology the school provides, funding for technology, and something Henry Jenkins calls the "participation gap". Throughout this teacher education program, I have continually learned about the importance of using technology in the classroom not only to enhance a lesson and student learning, but also to provide tools for the students to use themselves in order to be prepared for life, work, and/or school after their secondary education. Personally, I really feel that using technology in the right way can be very beneficial to any classroom; I am hands down ready to jump on the digital literacy train and incorporate technology into my lessons and into the work students do. I agree that there are certain skills students need to master now that incorporate the use of technology, or are best simulated by technology, yet a few things always seem to get in the way.

In reality, not all students I work with will have equal access to computers at home. In no way can I assume all my students have that access. Some students may be able to use the school's facilities or a public library's, although for others who must work or take care of the family, that would be quite difficult. With this in mind, how can I mindfully incorporate technology into student tasks so that they gain exposure, access, and develop skills to specific technological tools?

Some might say to use the school's facilities. This is actually cases quite a similar issue; not all schools provide equal access. Some schools, depending on the funding they receive, simply may not have enough money to provide enough technological tools for the amount students in the school. In most school settings I've been in, there is a computer lab (or two) in which teachers must strategically plan for and discretely fight over the reservation of the space. Are you planning a big project involving technology? Then you might need a full week of computer lab time - a full week other classes go with out access. So, as a teacher should you spread the wealth and take little nibbles of time in media center? Or should you hoard all the computer time you can get?

With these two issues, the use of technology in classrooms will take up a lot of valuable classroom time. Students with little technological access at home, will need extra time in school to do any assignment involving digital writing or other technology. Because of this extra time, it may be difficult for a teacher to be able to allow for adequate class time to work on assignments utilizing technology and still cover everything the class need to cover. With this in mind, it seems students may be merely exposed to digital learning. In order for students to develop the skills that digital media and technology can develop, the students need to be introduced to the tool, have time to play around with the tool, and be immersed in a project that involves the tool. With less than desirable availability of technology in schools and students with varying levels of access to technology outside of school, I begin to question, is mere exposure to these tools enough? It seems the students without access at home will need to most time or access within the school so they can be properly prepared. The limited access within schools makes this task very difficult.

It think this issue of technological access will be ongoing yet it will come increasingly important over the years that students gain access to and build skills that certain technologies are able to do. I guess I will have to wait for the day that I can actually use technology and digital learning in the way I have been taught throughout this program. Until then I have two options: keep all this information and ideas on the back burner, incorporating what is crucial when I can, or hoard all the computer time I can get.

Link of the Week:

Challenges and Strategies in Using Technology to Promote Education Reform

This site, a part of ed.gov, talks about some of the issues I posted above, as well as equalizing technological access, and the importance that most teachers embrace technology and use it effectively. Though it is brief, this website provides another, yet similar, viewpoint to this issue.