Addressing The Digital Divide

As I think of emerging technologies I think of how successful the use of technology is in the classroom when students do not have access to technology once they leave school. Throughout my coursework at Walden University I have focused a lot on collaboration among students. There are so many ways to collaborate online in groups wikis, blogs, nings, google docs, just to name a few. I have created assessments using these tools for future use with my students. I have to be creative on how I implement these technologies into my own classroom because many of my students are of low socioeconomic status and do not have access to computers at home. Furthermore education is not the top priority for my students so they are not going to make a way to a library or other access point where these technologies are available. As a leader in educational technology I must take these conditions into consideration when designing lessons for students. I realized just because many of them cannot use these collaboration methods outside of school does not mean that they have to be kept ignorant to the fact that these technologies exist. As I speak with other teachers about the usefulness of technology in the classroom they also have no idea what some of these things are or how easily accessible these technologies are. I must keep my students abreast of all of their options so that those that continue their education will have equal opportunity to succeed as those who are not as disadvantaged when it comes to access of technology. I began creating lessons that will allow my students to use technology during class when it is available. I have also created collaborative activities that encourage students to stay after school to use the technologies available for them at the school. I realized through my experiences at Walden that all students must be given equal opportunity to be successful.