Saturday, September 6, 2014

Digital Badge B: Chapter 2

As a teacher I will have access to my personal laptop, my IPhone, my IPad, and have the ability to access the internet via my Wi-Fi connection.  Are these luxuries I have access to something my students and I will have common? Digital divides and participation gaps among students are caused by the uneven spread of technological access available.  According to the text the less access to new technologies students have, the greater the academic achievement gap.  There is a digital continuum, in which students fall into a wide spectrum of their overall access to technology.  The more affluent a child’s family, the more likely they will have new technologies; in contrast, less affluent families may not share the same access to as many up-to-date technologies.  Upon considering this wide spectrum amongst student access to technology, my excitement about integrating technology into the lives of my students extending beyond the classroom dampers. Luckily, as most schools have internet and computers, possibly tablets, or a BYOD (bring your own device) policy I am hopeful I will be able to, at minimum, engage my students through technology in classroom.  With all the drastic changes in technological advancement over the last 20 years, it is understandable that school systems may not have the most modern mediums available under typically tight budgets. The optimist in me, hopes that eventually all will schools catch up, as budgets can be adjusted, and digital divides will decrease so that today’s (or tomorrow’s) technology will exist in every classroom. 

Marc Pensky classified technology using individuals into two groups: digital natives and digital immigrants. Digital natives are young people, born after 1980 and grew up using all the interactive technology available. Digital immigrants are older adults who are learning later in life how to use all the technologies of today.  By Pensky’s definition I should be considered a digital native, by birth rights I suppose, having been born in 1985, however, as the introduction of new technologies continue to surface, I often feel more like a digital immigrant. In today’s society, children are confident in their ability to use technology. They often seem comfortable using technology because it has been such a significant part of their lives since birth. Integrating technology into the classroom seems logical and necessary since most children have a well-established preexisting knowledge of technology and value their multi-media talents.  Digital immigrants, or those of us like myself who are a combination of both worlds, may not have such a well-rounded preexisting knowledge. When digital immigrants become the teachers of digital natives are we doomed to be subject to digital disconnect?


Digital disconnect is a term referring to the way technologically savvy students perceive their teachers, as slow by comparison.  According to the textbook, “30% of students see smartphones and 36% see mp3 players as essential for a 21st century classroom, which is double the number of teachers and administrators who see those tools as key to school learning” (p40) Students are voicing their wants and needs for technology in the classroom. Students will be more engaged in learning when they have access to learning tools that interest them and fit their generational upbringing. As technology integrates into more classrooms, it is likely, that teachers will apply student-centered learning more frequently. It is important to me, as a future teacher, that my future students do not feel disconnected from me, digitally or otherwise. I look forward to implementing my student-centered teaching philosophy and bridging any digital disconnect we may have. 
Technology in School



Resources:


Maloy, R., O’Loughlin, R., Edwards, S., & Woolf, B. (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc. 

Lmmatz728. (2014, September 5). Technology in School.  ToonDoo. Retrieved September 6, 2014 from http://www.toondoo.com/MyToondoo.toon

1 comment:

  1. Great ToonDoo to enhance the content of your post - they are fun to create...and even students do well re-creating their own perspective of knowledge they have gained. Your question about the digital disconnect as a gap between immigrants and natives in the classroom grows is relevant to yesterday's and today's gap. I hope the future gap is smaller, but it does take effort on the part of adults to keep informed and to attempt to use. Sometimes all it takes is honest conversation between the generations , so the ever importance of good relationships.

    The issue of affluence will always undoubtedly maintain a gap but that is all the more reason for classrooms to have and teachers to effectively use technology - not as the primary focus, but as that ubiquitous tool that we all come to expect in our everyday world.

    Enjoying your reflective thoughts - hope you are too!

    ReplyDelete