As technology develops into more advanced ways of learning, the digital divide has become one of the biggest challenges for many teachers in a variety of school settings. When students are not prepared to utilize the technology in the classroom, or the technology that employers are looking for employees to use, they fall drastically behind their peers. My experiences with the digital divide have to do with my current placement and places where I have tutored, as well as where I grew up. In my hometown school, we were lucky enough to have just built a new high school with all new technology, and thus the middle school was able to be updated as well with computers, projectors, and so forth. Where I tutored at this past year also saw quite a bit of new technology as the district was growing, thus more opportunities were available for funding for the schools. At my current placement in rural West Michigan, I am witnessing what budget cuts can do to limit students. Though each class has an Elmo and projector with computers for teachers to use for their lessons, the actual computers that students use within the labs for various activities are by far outdated and unproductive. As students get to work on these computers, they face challenges that limit and frustrate them because many times they simply do not work.
Growing up I was right at the beginning of the age where internet and computers began to take off. I remember having just as much if not more access to the internet as my peers because my family strongly believed in utilizing technology. I remember getting my first laptop my freshman year in high school, which allowed me more opportunities than many of my peers to work on homework and research because I now didn't have to share the family computer like many others did. I felt like this gave me an advantage not just for school, but also for gaining the necessary skills early that many of the students did not have. Being able to quickly work through word and type papers at a rate that seems much faster than some of my peers has allowed me to have more time to work on editing and reflecting on my assignments.
I did know some people who grew up on the other side of the digital divide, and I do think this hampered them both academically as well as socially. Many of my peers did not get family computers until they were in high school, so while they were attempting to learn how to work basic programs like word and powerpoint I was able to succeed more quickly.
At my high school, it didn't seem to make a difference if you had internet at home or not, because the majority of our students did. If they did not have internet access, we had multiple labs and computers in the classroom that allowed for students to get their work done during seminar hours. Though we did not have a 1:1 initiative, the school was able to provide ample opportunities for those who did not have internet access at home.
Finally, I do feel that it is my responsibility as a teacher to bridge the gap between our students who have technology access and those who do not. The skills, specifically at a young age such as middle school, need to be learned and familiarized so they can be mastered and expanded upon when they get to high school. If we are looking to have our students be prepared for the technology gains of the future, they must be able to master the technology gains of the past in order to be able to prepare and adapt.
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