epilogue what remains as barriers for selected populations written by mary kolesinski, edd evelyn...

EpilogueWhat Remains as Barriers for Selected Populations

Written ByWritten By

Mary Kolesinski, EdDMary Kolesinski, EdDEvelyn Nelson-Weaver, EdDEvelyn Nelson-Weaver, EdD

Daryl Diamond, PhDDaryl Diamond, PhD

Aunt Sadie is 88 years of age, living on a fixed income.

She is also geographically isolated from access to some city services.

Sadie purchased an inexpensive laptop computer and pursued connecting with the Internet.

She received a "kit" with the necessary equipment (modem) for Internet connectivity from her phone company.

When she couldn’t make the modem work she made a phone call for technical support. When she still could not get connected, the phone company sent out a technician who connected her modem but offered no explanation except to say, "hit this button" to connect.

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Case Study: Aunt Sadie

Aunt Sadie tried to follow the minimal instructions, but after a month, she was no longer able to access the Internet.

When she contacted the phone company they told her that there would be an additional charge for further technical support.

Since she was unable to access the Internet and was not willing to pay another service charge, she requested removal of Internet services.

She was told that she had agreed to pay for the "free" modem with a contract and therefore would be charged on her phone bill for the Internet service for the remaining 10 months.

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Determined to secure Internet access, Sadie visited a local computer store and they diagnosed her laptop’s lack of memory as the problem.

Next she tried another low-cost Internet service but was unable to successfully download the installation disk and the company was going to charge her for a home visit.

After more than a year of trying to secure Internet access, Sadie was extremely frustrated, with her fixed income providing limited options.

Finally, she decided to "bite the bullet" and go with the "bundle only" option provided by the cable company.

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However, Sadie still lacked the training she needed to be able to understand the steps to accessing the Internet.

A home care provider, who comes to visit, ended up supplying the repetitive training that she needed on the laptop.

Aunt Sadie was soon able to reach Google to secure medical information from the Mayo clinic.

Recently, she learned how to click on the link for e-mail.

Her e-mail messages continue to be prefaced by the statement…"I hope that you are getting this e-mail message," but Sadie is learning and her persistence has paid off, but at a cost.

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Crawford (2012a) equated Internet access by Americans today with the way privately owned electric companies offered electricity to them in the 1880s. Back then electricity was made available to cities and homes of the rich, with everyone else receiving it either intermittently or not at all.

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Electricity is now a regulated public utility. Perhaps it is time for access to the Internet to be a regulated public utility as well.

Access to High Speed Internet

In America we have believed in the “power and benevolence of the free market” (Crawford, 2012a, para. 33) from which no competition amongst and no regulation of our Internet providers has resulted.

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Each of the large cable companies across the nation “dominates its own region and can raise prices without fear of being undercut” (para. 17).

In essence, Americans are paying more for Internet usage and are receiving slower service as a result of the strangle-hold these telecommunications companies have on the market.


Communities are requesting fiber -optics because they generally deliver faster and cheaper Internet service than those offered by the private carriers.

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Fiber connections are expensive – approximately $1,200 to $2,000 a household (Crawford, 2012a).

Cable and telephone companies are attempting to hold onto their telecommunications dynasties by taking legal action against requests made by communities for local municipal, community-owned fiber optics networks.

But the difference is that fiber optics can last for decades and provide significantly faster service.


The telephone and cable companies sued the city, tried to pass laws that would stop the network, and forced the town to hold a referendum regarding the project.

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In 2007, after five lawsuits, the Louisiana Supreme Court ruled in favor of LUS and voted to allow the fiber optic network. $110.4 million in bonds were issued for the LUS Fiber project (LUS Fiber, 2012).

In 2004, Lafayette, Louisiana citizens asked for speedier Internet access through fiber-to-the-home service. Their new network called LUS Fiber was met with push-back from the local telephone and cable companies.


The FCC’s National Broadband Plan 2010 stated that the appropriate speed for American households by 2020 should be 4 megabits (Mbps) per second for downloads and 1 Mbps for uploads. • South Korea’s plan was to install 1

gigabit (Gb) per second of symmetric fiber data access in every home by 2012, with.

• Hong Kong, Japan, and the Netherlands plan on offering similar access

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The United States reports that about 7 percent of their households have fiber access.

• South Korea has more than half of its households connected to fiber lines.

• In Australia the plan is to have 93 percent of homes and businesses connected to fiber.

• The United Kingdom plans to offer a 300 Mbps fiber-to-the-home service on a wholesale basis.

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To accomplish this, the recommendation is for the U. S. to move to a utility model where all Americans receive fiber-optic Internet access at reasonable prices.

Crawford (2012a) insists that the FCC’s 4 Mbps Internet access goal is shortsighted and “allows the digital divide to survive” (para. 27). She recommends giving Americans access to 1 Gb of reasonably priced symmetric fiber-to-the-home networks.

Using Technology Seamlessly in the Classroom

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Fear of not having the right skills to implement technology enriched lessons along with fear of giving up control of the classroom.

Teachers have a disconnect between teaching with technology and high stakes assessments that are made up of multiple choice questions

Teachers who have not grown up with technology lack a belief in their own ability to create and implement technology integrated lessons

Spencer (2012) identified 11 reasons why teachers

do not use technology in the classroom.

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Teachers may only use computers for entertainment and social interaction and are ill equipped to use them for educational purposes

Teachers worry about how students will behave when having groups of students work on computers

Principals are concerned with other facets of their school and do not care to manage the liabilities that come from ongoing technology use



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Teachers are more comfortable delivering instructional strategies that align with what they did when they were growing up

Many teachers are unwilling to admit that their non-technology approach might be wrong or that implementing technology in the classroom could offer positive results

Leadership needs to make technology use a priority and not a personal choice by mandating its use in the classroom



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Recent budget cuts have made it difficult to replace outdated equipment with new equipment that can run the latest software.

More solid research needs to be conducted that demonstrates the positive correlation between teacher training, technology integration into the curriculum and student achievement to convince educators to use technology routinely



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The authors suggest that one way to improve the use of technology in American

classrooms is to give teachers the opportunity to see good technology

integration in practice.

• By identifying those educators in your school building who can act as mentors to others

• By evaluating technology integration using the Technology Integration Matrix (TIM)

• Through videos of teachers in classrooms, the TIM illustrates how teachers can use technology to enhance learning in K-12 students.

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Using Technology Seamlessly in the Classroom

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Sustainability of innovational technologies in schools demands:

In designing, selecting, and using the various technologies available currently and planning for emerging technologies, one important issue emerges if we want to secure a better world for the future… sustainability.

Sustainability in Educational Technologies

• Accessing and maintaining funding resources• Ever-present and always-available tech

support• Providing incentives that encourage

participation in technologies training by educators

• Upgrading infrastructures and training • Ongoing research of the quality and

educational effectiveness of technologies

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How to be a Good Digital Citizen

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Guidelines and best practices for staff, students, and parents that have been adapted from those

provided by Montgomery (2010) :

Social media guidelines are created to allow employees to participate in online social activities within an atmosphere of trust and individual accountability.

Social Media Guidelines

• Be yourself• Know you are always “on”• Be respectful• Think ahead• The Internet is not anonymous, nor does it

forget• Avoid hazardous materials• Maintain confidentiality

General Guidelines

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Guidelines and best practices adapted from those provided by Montgomery (2010) :


• Employees are personally responsible for the content they publish online

• Establish that your views are your own• Post no confidential student information• Moderate content contributed by students• Observe copyright and fair use guidelines• There are no private conversations• Get permission before posting photographs

and videos

Faculty and Staff Guidelines

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• Leaving a digital footprint – Be aware of what you post online.

• Follow the school’s code of conduct• Be safe online• Do your own work! • Write well• Report inappropriate material

Student Guidelines

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• Expect communication from teachers prior to your child’s involvement in using social media

• Sign a release form for your child when teachers set up social media activities for classroom use

• Use social media responsibly as an example for your children

Parent Guidelines

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Educators use the in-game experiences to lead students in discussions pertaining to how to protect oneself in a virtual environment as well as taking responsibility for one’s actions.

MinecraftEdu•Teaching digital citizenship in the classroom•Through virtual interactions with others in the class, “the game exposes students to a wide variety of concepts such as ethics, privacy, research and safety” (Lutz, 2012, para. 3).

Tools for Teaching Digital Citizenship

Questions?Questions?More More

Information?Information?

www.digitalsolidarity.cowww.digitalsolidarity.comm

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ReferencesReferences

Crawford, S. (2012a). U.S. Internet users pay more for slower service. Bloomberg View. Retrieved from http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-27/u-s-internet-users-pay-more-for-

slower-service.html.

Lutz, Z. (2012). Educators battle eternal September by teaching digital citizenship with MinecraftEdu. Engadget. Retrieved from http://www.engadget.com/2012/11/20/educators-teach-digital-citizenship-with-minecraftedu/

Ribble, M. (2013). Nine themes of digital citizenship. Digital Citizenship: Using technology appropriately. Retrieved from http://digitalcitizenship.net/Nine_Elements.html.

Spencer, J. (2012). 11 reasons teachers aren’t using technology. EdThink. Retrieved from http://www.educationrethink.com/2012/07/11-reasons-teachers-arent-using.html.

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epilogue what remains as barriers for selected populations written by mary kolesinski, edd evelyn...

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