Addressing the Digital Divide

The digital divide is live and well. I don't need to travel to another country to experience it. It is a major issue right in my school district. In a large district, you would think most schools would be treated equally, but that is far from true. There are schools in the district where every student is assigned their own laptop, and there are other schools in the same district that don't even have a functioning computer lab.
Even in my school building, there are students who have access to technology at home and students who do not. While I know that many of my students do not have Internet access at home, most of them do have smartphones with Internet capabilities. Just the other day, I gave students an assignment where a computer isn't necessary, but the students wanted to look up images in the Internet. I only had two laptops available for 33 students to share, so I told them to use their phones. However, cellphones are supposed to be banned during the school day, so I was breaking the rules.
As a leader, I think it is important to allow students to use what technology is available to try to close the digital divide. Everyone may not be able to have a laptop, but many will have a phone. Why not allow students to use what they have if it is monitored and used responsibly?

Laureate Education, (nd) "Diversity and Globalism" [Vodcast]. Baltimore, MD.
David Thornberg.

Red Queens and Increasing Returns

When I was required to watch “Minority Report” for my class assignment, I figured I’d just go down to the video store and rent it. When I went online to get the hours of the store I couldn’t find the phone number. Then I realized it was because the store was no longer open. I then realized that the whole chain of Hollywood Video had closed down. This was a video store I used to frequent often, and it was located in a shopping center I visit all the time. I never noticed that it was no longer there. There used to be four video stores within 10 minutes of my house. This time I had to drive about 30 minutes away from my house to get to the nearest Blockbuster.
Video on-demand and the red boxes in the supermarket are diminishing the need for the video store. This is an example of increasing returns. While both the video store and the on-demand services can offer the same products, the video store cannot compete with the convenience offered by the on-demand services. The on-demand services obsolete the video stores. Now you can rent movies directly from your TV, computer, phone, Xbox, Wii, and Playstation, and through the mail. I wonder how long the Blockbusters will stay around.