Video Discussion Board
#4 EDUC
630
In order to provide equitable access to digital technology
for every student, school districts, administration and teachers must ensure
adequate access to resources. (Roblyer & Hughes, 2019) In my school
district, many schools have a one to one ratio of Chromebooks for students. Some
schools only have a 1 to 2 ratio of Chromebooks to students and must share or
rotate devices in the classroom. During the COVID-19 Safer at Home Order, our
school district made sure that all students either had a Chromebook assigned to
them or had access to another device at home to access the internet. In
addition to this, mobile hotspots were provided for students whose families were
unable to acquire internet access of their own.
“Technology equity is a major concern for state lawmakers
and leaders. States continue to work to eliminate a wide disparity among
individual districts as to how they use technology.” (Whitehead, Jensen &
Boschee, 2013) Often educators are left to their own devices to find ways of
meeting their students' needs in the classroom with their own resources such as
utilizing defunct or outdated smartphones to provide applications for extra play-like
practice for struggling learners. Many
districts are fortunate if they have a SMARTboard or other such device in
their classrooms to assist teachers with interactive group rotations, or
video/other media presentations to keep their learners engaged. The endless
uses of the SMARTboard can save those educators hours planning and executing
lessons that don’t have to be recreated by hand on a whiteboard each new school
year.
Resources
Roblyer & Hughes (2019) Integrating
educational technology into teaching. New York, NY: Pearson.
Whitehead, B. M., Jensen, D. F., &
Boschee, F. (2013) Planning for Technology. Thousand Oaks, CA: CORWIN
