Maya brought up a good point the other day about students from poor areas and their inability to use the internet in a flipped classroom.
I teach in a school that covers the whole town so we have children of successful doctors and lawyers and we have kids who live up the mountain in tents with no electricity.
It's really hard to think about putting a newspaper online and using social media in a classroom setting with kids whose biggest worry is being able to eat that night.
What do we do? Leave out the poor kids in order to advance the technology or hold back the other kids so there is a level playing field?
Two years ago I was homeless with nine kids. We had to celebrate my daughter's first birthday in a hotel room someone donated to us. It really changed the way I look at teaching and how to work with students. I still don't have the internet at home and it is hard for my kids to get homework done when teachers assign things online. People will tell them to just use their phones, but my kids don't have phones. Thank goodness I have access to school computers, but there are plenty of students who go to my school who have less than I did. How do we handle that?
Right now, more than anytime I can remember, the technology gap is huge. So many things are being introduced every year that almost nobody can keep up. Some can't even afford to try to keep up. I had to open a twitter account and a blogger account after getting here. The school let me borrow one of their laptops to use here. I hadn't checked my facebook account in over a year. How do I teach technology to the students? I know they need it in order to work in newsrooms like at the Republic and channel 12, but how do you do it when the students don't own the technology and the school doesn't let you use it?
Ryan Peacock
Tooele High School
Tooele, Utah
Ryan brings up an excellent point here. My students are in a similar situation- most don't have phones and almost none have the internet at home- homes with multiple siblings and extended families living off of immigrant wages. I've had students- 9th grade students- who are the family's primary bread winners. For me personally, my head has spun after several of these sessions because I'm thinking along the same lines- who am I kidding trying to equip kids to enter college in order to be savvy with social media or digital technology- convincing families to subscribe to a newsletter or purchase a yearbook when they struggle to pay utility bills.
ReplyDeleteBy the grace of God I've never been in similar personal circumstances- but at a school with limited resources where students have to compete with faculty to borrow technology like cameras, I can suggest scheduling on campus with librarians and any and all available computer labs, on our campus or at neighboring campuses. I also point students to our local public city libraries, universities and community colleges- high school ID cards will get students into these buildings, most with a wealth of resources (they have to leave the neighborhood of course, but most are familiar with the bus system and I happily pay student bus fare when the time is right). While it is a hard lesson in doing what it takes to get an assignment completed, I can only write it off as a lesson in how hard work pays off- and I know that my students are already harder working and better equipped to handle the stress of college once they get there having come from where they come from.
Tapping local businesses, corporations, charity groups, churches, missions, and the alumni and faculty- while taxing on the teacher or mentor- are usual grateful to reach out and help level the aforementioned playing field.
Cody Roberts
Milby High School
Houston
I hear you both. I face similar problems at my school. Many of the kids have the technology we are talking about, but some live way out on the Navajo Nation without even the benefits of electricity and running water. There is internet available at most of the Chapter Houses, but students lack transportation to get to them, and time, as they have long bus rides, and are often the primary caretakers for large families. Luckily my classroom is well-equipped with 32 computers with great internet and plenty of cameras. The kids who think I live in my classroom are almost correct, so there is time for them to use the technology after school, but to be connected like we have been during the Institute requires even more available technology than that. I like your idea Cody, of taking advantage of charities and businesses that are willing to help. It seems that soon, every student will need to have some sort of device with mobile internet capability just to keep in touch with the world.
ReplyDeleteDeann McBride
Page High School
Page, AZ