Technology Equity

There are thousands of buildings in this country with millions of people in them who have no telephones, no cable television, and no reasonable prospect of broadband services. They are called schools. (the Milken Foundation, 2001)

During the 1990s, President Clinton had the goal that every classroom would be wired by 2000 and every home by Obviously, this hasn’t happened. If it had, would there be technology equity?

What is technology equity? 1. Access to technology and the internet both at school and at home 2. Access to instructors who are willing and capable of using the technology creatively 3. Curriculum which allows creative use by students and teachers

Indiana Statistics (2005 – 2006 school year) Students per computer Students per computer All schools – 3.3 All schools – 3.3 High poverty – 3.4 High poverty – 3.4 Low poverty – 3.3 Low poverty – 3.3 High minority – 3.0 High minority – 3.0 Low minority – 3.3 Low minority – 3.3 (Education Week

Students per high-speed internet computer Students per high-speed internet computer All schools – 3.3 All schools – 3.3 High poverty schools – 3.6 High poverty schools – 3.6 Low poverty schools – 3.3 Low poverty schools – 3.3 High minority schools – 3.1 High minority schools – 3.1 Low minority schools – 3.3 Low minority schools – 3.3 (Education Week What other resources are needed?

Computers in Homes Many homes still do not have computers or internet connections. In households with an income of $15,000, 23.4% owned a computer and 14.3% had internet access (U.S. Census Bureau September 2001) Is this somewhat due to attitude also?

Capacity to Use Technology Indiana includes technology in its … Indiana includes technology in its … Teacher standards – yes Teacher standards – yes Initial teacher-license requirements – no Initial teacher-license requirements – no Teacher-recertification requirements – no Teacher-recertification requirements – no (Education Week Should Indiana change its teacher technology qualifications? How much?

Teacher Training Teachers who don’t know how to use technology won’t be able to give their students creative assignments. Are teachers receiving adequate training and support? What training do they need?

Teacher Training (cont.) Do teachers need to be educated on gender bias in using technology? Does each gender have a different attitude toward technology?

Curriculum Some schools require that particular computer programs are used in the district. Many of these do not allow for creativity or inquiry based questions. How can school curriculum committees investigate whether software programs do what they say they will do?

What advantages would there be to having a technology person on curriculum committees?