What are your views? Do you have a story to tell about the digital divide in your context?
Please share your experiences with others in the comments section below.
You may wish to consider some of the following questions when writing your answer:
In your context would you consider the first digital divide (digital access) or the second digital divide (digital application) to be the most significant issue in decreasing the divide as you see it?
What prompted your school's journey towards digitally up-grading? What problems/issues was the school hoping to address?
- How has the implementation of technology influenced of developed your teaching pedagogy?
My own case study: My school has been utilising video conferencing and Moodle as a distance learning platform for the last 5 years. This program mainly serves Year 11-13 students, as well as staff who teach to the satellite campuses. The pioneering of distance learning for high school students has often been a rocky road for both students and teachers. I have observed, as the learning centre mentor, that many teens struggle with engagement, relevance and disconnection profoundly in a class that lacks face to face interaction. Many of the same principles that are outlined for engaging technology to low socio-economic students are completely transferrable to high socio-economic students. Their affluence is not a panacea to educational underperformance. I have learned so much through our community of Massey students/educators in our quest to increase our teaching and learning pedagogies. Keep up the great work.
ReplyDeleteSteve
Hi Steve
DeleteI agree with your observation that often many students struggle to engage in distance education that lacks face-to-face interaction, but specifically meaning face-to-face in person, rather than face-to-face over video chat. In my own experience as a student in Massey courses, I've often felt quite isolated from other students, until I get to video chat with them and make real connections over live dialogue. I'm curious as to how this will play out in future-focused educational settings where demands for efficiency see many students being "taught" online and only having face-to-face time with the teacher via video feed. Personally I don't think it will be such an issue for modern learners who tend to be comfortable with that sort of interaction; however Id be interested to see how things like classroom management play out in these settings. Possible solutions?
In my own experience as a teacher in a decile 10 school, all aspects of the digital divide discussed on this site (ie the first and second) still play out, albeit in sometimes subtly different ways. That is, while many students have access to BYOD technology like smartphones, tablets and laptops (money not being an issue for these students) some still have difficulty acquiring devices due to monetary constraints. For others, it's money, but perhaps their parents are sceptical about whether or not the tech will help or hinder their learning (distraction) so don't let them take it in - perhaps having a more old-fashioned, cautious view around education. Other parents are concerned about security (or rather lack-thereof!). All these factors mean that even in a decile ten school, it's hard to find everyone with a device -- may don't have them for the reasons above.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the second divide: Such a big issue, regardless of decile rating. Many teachers in my school are afraid of technology being brought into their classroom because it can cause distraction (especially if the teacher doesn't use it for what it can do to help learning). Teachers that do allow it often use it for simple substitution tasks, rather than employing it for anything like what it's capable of doing (increasing connectedness etc). PLD is definitely needed to start using it in any transformational way.
From reading through your comment Saunil I am struck with how relevant and helpful the Wesley Intermediate study is across a range of audiences.
ReplyDeletePoints of relevance that occur to me (there's probably more):
Forming trusts.
Perhaps even high decile schools could benefit their students by forming trusts for the procurement of devices. Not all students in high decile schools are wealthy, some parents have secured large mortgages, for example, to secure zoning for a particular school with its own list of expenses and expectations.
Parents questions of concern and parental buy-in:
Nigel answered a number of these type of questions in the interview really well and as I reflect on this it occurs to me that a number of parents fears could be laid to rest in the information he presents and by the stories he tells.
Unconventional Collaboration:
It could possibly be quite beneficial for leaders/teachers/parents from the Manaiakalani or Ako-Hiko clusters to conduct question and answer sessions for parents and staff from high decile schools! I'm sure there would be a lot of questions and a whole new level of collaboration. Why shouldn't high decile schools learn from lower decile ones? Thanks for your comments, has really got me thinking on a whole new level!