What does it mean to be a good corporate citizen? Does it mean corporations bear some responsibility for genuine community development, creating employment and business opportunities and partnering in education at all levels? I think the answer is yes to each of these. This is basic "trickle down economics." When corporations reinvest in communities they create goodwill with their customers which in turn creates more business for the coorporation; when they invest in education, they make better schools and ultimately, more and better qualified employees. I won't judge the motivations so long as the results are genuinely positive for the communities impacted.
A good example of corporate citizenship is Comcast Cable Service. It offers Internet service for 9.95 per month to families of children who receive free or reduced price lunch in its service area. It also provides a computer at a seriously reduced priced and a few other services, including training. This is an attempt to create access to the internet for all school children. This is what I call investing in education at a most basic level.
The Bill and Melina Gates Foundation does a great job of getting computers and technology into schools but this Comcast plan strikes at the heart of my dream of a computer in every home in America. With access at home and a computer, we can begin to educate whole families. I am sure there are others doing similar work but we always speak of lack of access as one of the factors in solving the traditional digital divide. This is a a huge step in the right direction.
To read more about the Comcast program, use this link:
http://www.internetessentials.com/
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Technology Can Dismantle the Hidden Curriculum
Urban and minority students arrive at colleges all across the country excited and eager about the experience yet many suffer social and academic discouragement early on. Despite their exemplary academic records and extracurricular activities, why do so many fail academically and can't assimilate socially? So what is it that the minority students are missing and the other students have? It's the "hidden curriculum."
The hidden curriculum is the formal and informal academic experiences and cultural exposure that middle and upper income students receive at privileged public and private schools and in their homes and communities. This curriculum involves trips abroad and around the country, visits to major libraries and museums, participation in cotillions and study groups, reading newspapers, regular technology access and so forth. Exposure to this curriculum is what makes transitioning from high school to college and college to the work place easier for some students. Dr. Danielle Moss-Lee of the Harlem Educational Activities Fund describes it as the "high definition color education vs. the basic black and white education."
Most minority and urban students only receive the basic black and white education. Lack of funding for public schools, poverty and lack of family education are among the many reasons this is true. Notwithstanding this, as parents and educators, we must first, recognize that there is a hidden curriculum and second, actively seek out experiences and activities that level the playing field and mitigate the effect of the hidden curriculum.
Technology can be the primary tool for dismantling the hidden curriculum. Technology opens up the world to all students. Educators can take students to the Louvre in Paris, a school in China or to the Smithsonian Museums. Students can read the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal or read excerpts from the Economist. There are blogs on every subject and every state has a website to promote history and tourism. PBS, NASA and the CDC have websites with a plethora of relevant information that will enhance any curriculum and the list of online options is almost endless. With the inclusion of IPads in classrooms, Smart Boards, Social Media and other Web 2.0 tools, the exposure and experiences our children receive is only limited by parents' and teachers' imagination.
As educators and parents we cannot afford not to use technology as an integral part of public education. It provides formal and informal learning opportunities that our children might not otherwise receive.
The hidden curriculum is the formal and informal academic experiences and cultural exposure that middle and upper income students receive at privileged public and private schools and in their homes and communities. This curriculum involves trips abroad and around the country, visits to major libraries and museums, participation in cotillions and study groups, reading newspapers, regular technology access and so forth. Exposure to this curriculum is what makes transitioning from high school to college and college to the work place easier for some students. Dr. Danielle Moss-Lee of the Harlem Educational Activities Fund describes it as the "high definition color education vs. the basic black and white education."
Most minority and urban students only receive the basic black and white education. Lack of funding for public schools, poverty and lack of family education are among the many reasons this is true. Notwithstanding this, as parents and educators, we must first, recognize that there is a hidden curriculum and second, actively seek out experiences and activities that level the playing field and mitigate the effect of the hidden curriculum.
Technology can be the primary tool for dismantling the hidden curriculum. Technology opens up the world to all students. Educators can take students to the Louvre in Paris, a school in China or to the Smithsonian Museums. Students can read the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal or read excerpts from the Economist. There are blogs on every subject and every state has a website to promote history and tourism. PBS, NASA and the CDC have websites with a plethora of relevant information that will enhance any curriculum and the list of online options is almost endless. With the inclusion of IPads in classrooms, Smart Boards, Social Media and other Web 2.0 tools, the exposure and experiences our children receive is only limited by parents' and teachers' imagination.
As educators and parents we cannot afford not to use technology as an integral part of public education. It provides formal and informal learning opportunities that our children might not otherwise receive.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
The Digital Divide: It's Not All About Race and Money
When most of us hear the phrase "digital divide" we generally associate the phrase with the access and technology gap among students based on race and economics. However, I've recently realized that there are two situations unrelated to race or economics that can create a digital divide within school buildings within a district.
First, there are two schools in my own urban school district that have outfitted two Title I elementary schools with IPads. One school has chosen to fully integrate technology and use it as an individual incentive for students to self regulate their own behavior. As a result, student achievement at the school has gone up and surprisingly, discipline issues have been reduced by almost fifty percent. The second school chose to eliminate technology use entirely for all students for an extended period of time because a few students violated the district's AUP. Fortunately, technology use was restored after intervention by the area superintendent and parent complaints. In this instance, the digital divide was created by poor decision-making and administrators who failed to recognize the net effect of removing technology from the entire school. Many of those students only had regular technology use at school.
Second, I was a parent volunteer at a magnet elementary school and every week I witnessed some students regularly using computers to perform computer based learning and research. On the second floor in the same school I noticed other students never used computers other than the two weeks every quarter of a one hour technology class. The students who used it all the time had teachers who were teck savvy and accepted the benefits technology offered to improve and supplement education. The teachers for the non users did not make time or alter lesson plans to include technology. They were typically not regular tech users or were afraid their students knew more than them. Here, the digital divide was likely created by teachers based upon their own self efficacy. The students with regular use are more likely to be better disciplined, be better students and more prepared for a 21st century education.
There are some matters within our control as individuals and as educators. Each of us can have a lasting impact, positive or negative, on how students feel about technology. Our goals should be to create as much positive exposure as possible and take school, education and learning beyond the hallways and walls of the school building.
First, there are two schools in my own urban school district that have outfitted two Title I elementary schools with IPads. One school has chosen to fully integrate technology and use it as an individual incentive for students to self regulate their own behavior. As a result, student achievement at the school has gone up and surprisingly, discipline issues have been reduced by almost fifty percent. The second school chose to eliminate technology use entirely for all students for an extended period of time because a few students violated the district's AUP. Fortunately, technology use was restored after intervention by the area superintendent and parent complaints. In this instance, the digital divide was created by poor decision-making and administrators who failed to recognize the net effect of removing technology from the entire school. Many of those students only had regular technology use at school.
Second, I was a parent volunteer at a magnet elementary school and every week I witnessed some students regularly using computers to perform computer based learning and research. On the second floor in the same school I noticed other students never used computers other than the two weeks every quarter of a one hour technology class. The students who used it all the time had teachers who were teck savvy and accepted the benefits technology offered to improve and supplement education. The teachers for the non users did not make time or alter lesson plans to include technology. They were typically not regular tech users or were afraid their students knew more than them. Here, the digital divide was likely created by teachers based upon their own self efficacy. The students with regular use are more likely to be better disciplined, be better students and more prepared for a 21st century education.
There are some matters within our control as individuals and as educators. Each of us can have a lasting impact, positive or negative, on how students feel about technology. Our goals should be to create as much positive exposure as possible and take school, education and learning beyond the hallways and walls of the school building.
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