Educ 517 reflections

Do students need access to technology in the 21st century? If so, why? If not, why not?

First of all, we need to define "technology." Technology for my purpose here means anything to do with computers and beyond. That means I'm not talking about overhead projectors, copy machines, mechanical pencils, etc.

The basic answer to this question is "Yes!" Students do need access to technology in the 21st century. However, there is a huge variance in degree of access as well as type of technology. In my opinion, every student should have access to and knowledge of how to use a computer to create word documents. I don't think, however, that every student needs his own computer in the classroom or even at home. If this were a requirement, then every school district would somehow be responsible to come up with the funds to provide them to the students who could not provide their own. In Nebraska, for example, the state constitution explicitly states that every student must be provided a public education with no cost whatsoever to the student. Nebraska schools can no longer require students to purchase school supplies beyond a basic notebook and pen. Yes, that means that school districts must provide everything from crayons, glue, construction paper, hand gel, and boxes of tissues to scissors, colored pencils, and anything else the students at one time had to provide for themselves. If computers were required, those, too, would have to be provided by the school district. This would be ridiculous, in my opinion!

That doesn't mean, however, that schools should not have computers in them at all. On the contrary, I think that all schools should have some sort of computer lab if at all possible. Students in our country need to have a basic working knowledge of how to manipulate information in a document as well as how to access information on the internet, especially for research purposes. If a school district cannot afford to have a computer lab, then they should apply for grants. The next level is to provide a computer in every classroom, again by whatever means are available. I believe that computers in the classroom aid the teacher to keep up with not only grades, communication between faculty members, communication with students and with parents, and professional development needs, but they also provide a link to the internet, which can greatly enrich the curriculum by bringing in information resources from all over the world.

Requiring schools to have computers does not lessen the need for good teaching, however. Computers are merely a tool--albeit a very valuable one--that open up a world of learning that would otherwise not be available. While a computer also cannot replace a good library, some schools simply do not have the resources for an extensive book collection. Computers are so much more affordable now than in previous years, and they can help bridge the gap between what a school has in its library and what a teacher would like to offer in the classroom. Students also need to be prepared to enter a world in which computers dominate. Even those who work at McDonald's have to be able to use their computers! Public libraries everywhere have computers, and students should be required to use them if their schools do not have a computer lab that is accessible.

Computers are too valuable a tool to ignore in education. Neither are they a panacea because, after all, they're just a tool. We can argue until we're blue in the face about how much technology is enough and how much is too much. In the meantime, each school district needs to address this issue and come up with a solution that they find is reasonable and achievable.