Journal 4

Mind the Gap
It's a high-speed, high-def, Wi-Fi world. But not for everybody.
By Cindy Long


This articles talks of the problems facing disadvantaged kids in regards to technology. The students with less money and who spend less time online, usually perform worse in school that students who spend a lot of time online. The author talks about the importance of using technology in the classroom because they are people who do not have access to this necessary technology anywhere else.

Question 1- How will public schools find ways of helping lower income students keep track and avoid the digital divide?
The article mentions the digital divide that will grow between students with around the clock Internet access and students who are not as lucky. If a student has to drive a half hour to use the Internet he is already on the low end of the curve and things are getting worse. As educators we need to be conscious of the importance of technology and the digital world in terms of the students' futures. The idea of a universal Internet sounds rather exciting. If the technology is available to connect the country to the Internet, like PAC Bell connects our phones to dial tones I am in full support. Many times it is not the computer that is the unaffordable expense, it is the monthly access charge.

Question 2- What would high speed wireless Internet do for our educational system?
In the previous paragraph I mention the digital divide that is widening between students with Internet access and students without. This wireless accessibility may make that gap get bigger. but it would definitely help many students. With all the technology that my current students possess, I find it easy to believe that many would have lap tops if Internet was wireless. Some students bring lap tops now. As I am speaking they are typing away taking notes. The clicking is rather therapeutic. It would create a bigger divide between the haves and the have not's, but I do not see an answer to that question to ever present itself.

Question 3- If the students had instant access to the information of the web, how would that effect the classroom and the teaching?
What about the times I am wrong? I realize that I am fallible, I make mistakes all the time. i try to correct them but half the time I don't realize the mistakes I made on Tuesday until the following Thursday. The students would have instant access to whatever topic we were covering. It does not seem totally feasible at this point, but down the road it seems totally logical. I guess a better question is, how can we as educators start small and lay the ground work for the future of education and technology?

Question 4- There was a good comment in the article that made me think if teachers should start teaching students more navigational tools rather than teaching memorization?
My parents still tell me the problem with school is that there is not enough repetition for students to commit things to memory. They talk about education going the wrong direction. Now I don't think the direction education is going matters, because I think it will change again. We need to find new ways to teach the navigational tools to students who will live in an even bigger digital age than where we are now.