EDT 634 - Blog Post #3 - Digital Divide

• What problems have you witnessed in your own place of work with respect to technology, power, and a divide?
• In what ways, if any, do the items you covered in your tech plan or policy review address these (it may be that they don't simply because of the topic you chose)?
• Do you see yourself on the "have-not" side of any of the divides mentioned in the presentation (or one that was not)?  Can you think of any action on your part or the part of your supervisors to alleviate any issues this may have caused.

In this interview, Ken Barrons discusss the the many issues related to digital divide.  This is a topic that is always on the forefront of any technology planning iniative and one that is not always easily resolved.  As I listened to the interview I was able to reflect on what I have seen and experienced in my own school district.  

One thing that he mentioned was that digital divide doesn't always mean that it refers to socio-economic factors.  Digital divide can refer to gender and age.  In my school district I think the biggest disparity I see is a divide among age.  Specifically, between elementary and secondary.  Through the years, I have observed that new hardware is always given to middle and high school while the elementary received their hand-me-downs.  Additionally I notice that they have better access to IT/Tech support.  The IT department is house in the highs school.  And when the iPads were first rolled out, they started with the high school with the elmentary recieving their devices one year later.  When funds became available for a tech coach, they hired a coach who serviced the secondary teachers leaving the elementary teachers to fend for themselves.  

My tech plan proposal deals with providing digital tools to English language learners.  So in some respect, the notion of a "social" digital divide must be addressed in this plan.  It would be short-sighted to assume that all students who may be immigrants, refugees or transients have Internet access or devices to access the tools.  Therefore, an alternative plan for access to the tools must be considered.  

As stated before, as teacher at the elementary level, I often find that our students are often the second thought when new technology is rolled out.  Another thing is the limited amount of sharing privileges is limited at the elementary level.  realize that safety is an issue.  But sometimes, promoting a global and collaborative environment is difficult when there are so many sharing restrictions.  I have already petitioned my administration to ease up on the sharing privileges in Google Docs and Gmail for elementary students.  It seems counterproductive to provide them with these collaborative tools and but then not allow them to collaborate with them.