The question posed: Can teachers provide equal access to the digital world to all students?
I believe that within the classroom we can provide equal access to the digital world to all students. However, it is important to keep in mind that outside of the classroom it is a different story. More and more students are now fortunate enough to have access to a computer with internet at home, but not all. Therefore, some students will have a better understanding of the digital tools that are available. This is true for anything we teach in the classroom. Students have different life experience and know more or less about certain concepts because of these experiences. This is why our goal as teachers is to meet the student where they are.
With that said, we can provide every student with opportunities to explore, manipulate, and use various digital tools while in the classroom. We can also use these tools to enhance their learning, based on the standards and goals we are working towards.
Until the day comes where every student would have a personal computer with internet access this is the best we can do. However, I think it is highly unlikely that day will ever come, as across the country there are still many students who do not even have a safe warm home to sleep in each night, and still do not have three meals each day.
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I like your thought about meeting students where they are when teaching, whether it be math, reading or technology. I agree that we need to offer the opportunities within the classroom whenever we can, in whatever subject we can, so that students are better prepared.
ReplyDeleteI like your comment about meeting students where they are in the educational cycle. That, I think, is the greatest challenge to teachers, because every kid is different and has different lives outside the classroom. It's hard to meet their needs outside of school, but we can do our best to meet them inside school. Nice post.
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