While I was able to see the relevance of integrating digital technology and project based learning into my classroom, I did not see the relevance to certain sub-population of students that are prevalent at my district. Where I teach there are a lot of at-risk students who come from low socioeconomic backgrounds. There are a lot of these students who do not have computers, Internet access, or digital devices such as ipods or mp3s. These students have limited access, at school only. Therefore, I was not able to find a link with relevance to help to motivate these students to learn digitally. The article Real Projects in a Digital World points out that "students naturally turn to digital tools - which they have grown up using - to investigate, analyze, communicate, and connect" (Boss,S., & Krauss. J. (2007). However, it does not address those students who have limited access as children and progress to high school without gaining a strong enough background in technology to perform critical thinking. The article Bridge the Digital Divide for Educational Equity provides some ideas for students who have limited access because of disabilities, but not for students who are poor. Therefore I am still searching for a rationalization or a remedy to help poor students obtain the necessary hardware to want to gain the necessary 21st Century Skills.
Boss, S. & Krauss, J. (2007). Real projects in a digital world. Principal Leadership, 8(4), 22-26.
Mason, C.Y. & Dodds, R. (2005). Bridge the digital divide for educational equity. The Education Digest, 70(9), 25-27.
No comments:
Post a Comment