Journal #5

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

The title of this article says it all. It describes how students today, more than ever before are online. The article starts by describing a boy who even after he finished hours of school work on the computer, he continued on for hours surfing the net and making post on various sites. But the article goes on to say that this is a luxury that not all students have access to. Mostly students that dont have Internet access at home have to travel to libraries or schools and fight for computer time. This is forming what this article describes as the "participation gap". A quote from the article says, "Technology is too big a part of our world for kids to not know the most simple stuff," she says. "That's where you find the gap—it's where kids can't go online to just mess around, find stuff, explore. Kids want to know about technology. They want to know how it all works and what it can do. It's everywhere, it's the future. Kids who can't access it, well they're just living in the past." This is a great quote describing the significant value that so many students have or dont have. The good news is that as technology continues to grow items are becoming more available for students everywhere. It may take some creativity from teachers to research and ask how they can get more support but as seen in this article it is possible.

1.Is the participation gap something we as educators need to think about when we attempt to use technology in our lesson plans?

I think it absolutely is a issue we need to consider when creating our lesson plans. We need to meet our students where they are at. However, it is not something that should stop us from doing our best to use technology in our lessons. It may mean that we as teachers sacrifice our time so that students can stay later and use the class computers.

2. Is there something we can do to start to close the participation gap?

Yes. Be creative and flexible. Beggars cant be chooser. I think of Brian Crosby a teacher in Nevada who was flexible and creative. When the school replaced their 7-year-old Apple I-book laptops with new Hewlett Packard computers, Crosby asked for the castoffs so he could pilot a 1:1 laptop program for his students. Now Crosby uses them for all of his lessons, incorporating technology into everything his students do and learn.