bridging the digital divide: how schools can prepare students to be good digital citizens in low...
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AbstractAs technology moves at a rapid pace it is important to review how students from low socio economic areas are catered for. Schools in these areas face many challenges; how they address these issues impacts on the students’ participation and skills as digital and global citizens. The government is implementing policies and funding to reduce the digital divide, but is it enough to prepare students from low socio economic areas to function effectively as digital citizens.TRANSCRIPT
http://www.flickr.com/photos/94334030@N00/3333223048Presented by K. Williams
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Is your Classroom a reflection of the Industrial Age ?
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Digital citizenship:
Informed & participatory
citizenry,
whose online behaviours
uphold legal, ethical, safe, responsible& respectful
use of technologyManitoba education (2006, p17)
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Are you setting less confident students drill and practice problems on the computer?
...Whilst the digitally literate students access creativework?
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•Disadvantaged students use ICT for entertainment purposes and are subjected to remedial drillseg. downloading music.
•Advantaged students use ICT in instrumental ways
eg. sending emails, research and collaborative projects
Schools must provide students with ‘equality in access’ and ‘equity in opportunity’.
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Discussion Questions•Should the school refuse to advocate spending large amounts of the
budget on technology and increase funds spent on training teachers to
integrate these technologies in progressive and sound ways?
•Should the school have an instructional technology specialist who is
also a trained teacher educator, employed to assist teachers, students
and the community in learning about digital citizenship and using new
technologies, whilst providing technology support to fix computers?
•Are you a digital immigrant? What professional strategies or networks
will you undertake to become or remain digitally literate to provide the
best experiences and knowledge to support your students as digital
citizens?
Recommended readings
Banister, S., & Fischer, J. (2010). Overcoming the Digital Divide: The Story of an
Urban Middle School. Mid-Western Educational Researcher, 23(2), 2-8.
Gibbs, M. G., Dosen, A, J., & Guerrero, R, B. (2011). Bridging the Digital Divide:
Changing the technological landscape of Inner-City Catholic Schools. Urban
Education, 44(11) 11-29. Doi:10.1177/0042085908318528.
Morse, T, E. (2004). Ensuring Equality of Educational Opportunity in the Digital
Age. Education and Urban Society, 36(3), 266-279.
Doi:10.1177/0013124504264103.
Owen, M.( 2008). The Digital Divide and Social Justice, Barriers to Citizenship in
the Information Society. Honors Colloquium on Communication and Social Justice,
Dr. Shannon B. Campbell. Retrieved March 25th, 2011 from
http://meredithowen.net/yahoo_site_admin/assets/docs/digital_divide.4122532.pdf
Snyder, I., & Nieuwenhuysen, J. (2010). Closing the Gap in Education? Victoria,
Australia: Monash University Publishing.