Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Technology and student success

This week’s readings all discussed technology access and its impact on student’s education as well as technology in the work force. After reading all of the articles, it reaffirmed that in this time in society to advance yourself you must be technology savvy. As a computer instructor, I can see how the drive for students to be proficient in computer use is so strong. In most occupations today in order to be successful one must be proficient in technology.

In the article Multicultural Education and Progressive Pedagogy in the Online Information Age and Technology as a Tool in Multicultural Teaching, both articles discussed technology and how it has influenced student success. In the first paragraph of Multicultural Education and Progressive Pedagogy in the Online Information Age, Gorski states that there is no evidence that computers and internet strengthen teaching or student achievement, so why is there such a push for technology. In my opinion, I feel computers and the internet at times can make a student’s task more difficult since, there is so much information provided. I can recall being in high school and not having a computer nonetheless internet access and I did just fine in all subject matters. Perhaps, having a computer may have made my homework assignments a lot easier to complete but in the end, it made me more disciplined since I had to work harder than those who had computers and internet access.

Internet access can be a powerful tool in the classroom when students understand how the internet can open doors to different avenues of education. As Sleeter stated in the article Technology as a Tool in Multicultural Teaching technology and multicultural education can be important in engaging students in all subject matters, to help facilitate and bridge access to language, literacy, math, science etc. technology gives students the ability to interact and learn from other students all around the world.

In the article Connecting Kids to Technology, the author discusses the accessibility different ethnicities have to technology use. In reading all of data, it is sad to find that most minorities have limited access to technology. In many homes students do not even, own a computer. Unfortunately, this expands the technology accessibility gap between ethnicities. What will be done to fill this gap? Is it the responsibility of public education to narrow this technology gap?

2 comments:

  1. I see this gap in my classroom everyday. My students can to go to special lengths just to purchase a jump drive to use for class assignments. Most of them do not own a computer. Any skills they have on a computer are learned at school through the library, or by going to the public library. I try to get them as much time as I can on the computer. They really had fun looking through all the filters in adobe photoshop this week. They liked being able to put their names on their work by using the layers. I think any new knowledge they can gain in computers is only going to be helpful for when they start looking for a job outside of high school.

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  2. I enjoyed reading your blog, Jacci. I agree that sometimes the Internet causes more difficulty than it should. I have asked students to look up information on the Internet, but they become lazy. If they can't find information easily, they just give up. They show no critical thinking. Other students go the extra mile and keep digging. I am led to believe that easy or not, those who want to find information will. Personal drive becomes the issues.

    It does seem ironic that as much as the business world needs proficient computer users the schools don't do a very good job of preparing students. Of course, that is what keeps business colleges in business. I think a shift in thinking is the issue. Most teachers see computer literacy as being the job of business teachers. High school teachers, by and large, see education as compartmentalized. It is going to take awhile to change this thinking, especially with the high-stakes testing that is focused on individual disciplines. Also, so many ideas and initiatives are thrown at teachers that it becomes overload--PLC, academies, integration of subjects, vocational education, benchmarks, etc. After awhile, we begin to fee like we are going to short-circuit.

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