According to the National Educational Technology Standards for Students (NETS-S) and Barron (2006), higher learning involves the use of Web technologies in complex learning projects, such as developing Web sites, designing app games, or altering robotic programming. In order for students to experience higher order thinking with the use of technology to produce student centered artifacts, teachers in the classroom must be knowledgeable of technology (Attewell, 2001). Being an older teacher, 50
years of age and older. I have found that younger teachers are more likely to integrate technology use compared to the practices of senior teachers. In my building, it appears that math teachers include technology more frequently than other departments. The increase in technology use by math teachers could be related to more online instructional initiatives that are available for math
content.
Another issue I take as an equity concern is the age of the computers available to my students. With the exception of the computer lab and a number of laptops, classroom student computers are 10 years old and run too slow for some new software applications available. In addition to having older hardware, on-site information technology technicians are only available upon a building request. Requesting technology assistance requires a minimum of a days’ wait before help arrives.
All these things, higher application instruction, teacher technology knowledge, sufficient infrastructure, and hardware maintenance, must be in place for students’ intellectual capabilities to reach the levels of technological fluency.
References:
Attewell, P. (2001). The first and second digital divides. Sociology of Education, 74, 252–259.
Hohlfeld, T. N., Ritzhaupt, A. D., Barron, A. E., & Kemker, K. (2008). Examining the digital divide in K–12 public schools: Four-year trends for supporting ICT literacy in Florida. Computers & Education, 51(4), 1648–1663.
Moersh, C. (2001, November). Next) Steps: Using Loti as a research tool. Learning and Leading with Technology, 22(3),
22-27.