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.

Second Life as a Disruptive Technology

I had not heard of Second Life until I started taking these courses. Even then, I hadn't actually looked at the site until now. It looks very fascinating. It has disrupted previous virtual worlds like The Sims. It is much more life-like and allows more interaction. I don't think it has much time though, before being displaced by something else. I believe virtual characters are on the way that will be able to sense your movements and emotions. Check out Xbox's Milo.
In the world of education, we sometimes offer cyberschool as an alternative to students who can't cope in public school for a myriad of reasons. I could see Second Life benefiting them by creating a better sense of real life interaction between the teacher and other students. However, thing like this always scare me a little because they give people a false sense of reality. In real life, you cannot be in control of the outcome of every situation, or just logout if you get uncomfortable.

Rhymes of History

One technology that rekindles thoughts from the past is something that I use on a daily basis-the copy machine. I usually take for granted the ease of making copies of documents I need for my students or for personal matters. The machines today are so sophisticated that they can copy on two sides, staple, collate, shrink, enlarge, and perform other functions that I haven't yet discovered.
Thinking back to when I was a little girl in elementary school in the late '80s-probably in third or fourth grade-being the teacher's pet that I was, I often had to make copies for the teacher. Back then it was not as simple as pressing a button. The teacher had to first hand-write or type (with a typewriter) the information that needed copying on this messy blue carbon paper. Next I would take the carbon paper to a big machine with a round drum. I remember ripping the top sheet off the carbon paper and laying it across the drum. Then the drum had to be rolled one time to make a master. The machine had to be filled with a smelly, clear liquid in order to work. Somehow, once the master was made, the machine was ready to roll. I would make copies, in blue ink, and you had to stand there and count the number of copies you needed. The earliest machines I remember had to be cranked by hand. I think we later got automatic machines. What a process!

Emerging Technologies Tetrad

CLICK IMAGE FOR A LARGER VIEW


The Flip camera is an emerging technology in digital videography. The compact size, and the low price makes the camera appealing to the everyday consumer. The Flip is now available in high-definition which allows superb video quality. The camera plugs directly into a computer's USB port, eliminating the need for cables, and video tapes. It also makes it easy to upload and share video with others. My guess for the next technology to replace video cameras would be a device that records in 3D.

Identify an Emerged Technology

I responded to Laine and Emmorfia.

An emerging technology in my field is the use of Engrade, a free, web based grade book system for teachers. In past years many of the teachers in my school purchased Easy Grade Pro, which made life a lot easier on teachers. It stored and averaged all grades on your computer, but it was not free, not web based, and the teachers had to print out progress reports often.
The challenge is getting all of the teachers to buy in to using the program. Many prefer to stick to their old-fashioned ways of keeping records. If it were used by all, the teachers could all join the same network. Students and parents could access grades from all classes using only one username and password. Teachers would no longer have to waste paper and ink printing weekly or bi-weekly progress reports because the student could just go online and view their progress. What would make this technology even better would be if Engrade could pull grades directly into the report card system, eliminating the need for teachers to manually enter grades.

Click here to view a demo of Engrade.

NEW TECHNOLOGIES

I responded to Amanda and Kimberly

I teach in a fairly new high school. The building is old but the school re-opened in 2006 under a new name and new concept. I have been there since the beginning, and have watched the school grow from 118 students and 8 teachers to 600 students and 30 teachers. With that growth, we have been continuously adding to our technology. However, the interactive white boards still have not totally caught on in our building. The first year, we had two portable boards, but no one was proficient in using them. Our technology leader somewhat trained himself on the basic functions, but when trying to turn it around to the staff, nothing seemed to be working correctly.

In the third year, the science labs were renovated, and all were outfitted with interactive white boards. Those teachers do use them on a regular basis. Last year, boards were installed in two more classrooms. These are rooms in which teachers are to bring their classes into to use the technology. The principal asked someone from the district to come in and train the staff. The woman had a two hour block of time, and spent most of it downloading software onto everyone's laptop. Presently, outside of the science department, the boards are not being used for much more than movie screens.

I don't think the resistance is due to lack of interest, but to lack of training. We would have more success if all of the conditions of Keller's model were met:

ATTENTION - Each time, the trainer had the attention of the staff at the beginning, but as things were not properly functioning, and people had nothing to do while waiting for software to download, people began to lose interest.

RELEVANCE - All teachers want to know how the technology can be used in their classroom. Often when these types of things are presented the focus is n reading and math. In order to get school-wide buy in, the art, music,and phys. ed. teachers also want to know how they can enhance their curriculum.

CONFIDENCE - Teachers want to be sure that they are not going to be fumbling around with the technology when they get in front of the class. They need enough training to feel proficient using it, not just a one time lecture.

SATISFACTION - Teachers need to be able to try the activities with a class, then go back and evaluate with their peers or a coach. Something must work right in order for them to be motivated enough to want to go back and try it again.