It’s About Class: Interrogating the Digital Divide

The bold is what came from the article. I found those to be powerful statements.

My cool article talked about the digital divide and how there is open access to everyone, but it comes with a price. I loved the comment about those students who have a small source of technology does not know how to use it or misuse it and they should misuse their technology but again the price for added supplements like data plans, smart phones and the price cause parents to nag about using technology as toy and not are resources. Not only that working for money keeps families occupied from using the technology they have, because of being tired and not having the extra money for repairs and replacements. With that being said some students are just against using technology in the classroom which sounds funny to me but the writer said her students were taught to fear technology for X reasons. “One of the reasons they disdain the technology is because many of them don’t see how it will help them get a job in their low-tech worlds; better to know how to hunt, grow gardens, slaughter cows, sew quilts, fish, forage, weld, etc. I am constantly in awe of all they do know how to do, versus what I (unfortunately) think they should know how to do. I’ve had students in my class who are computer science majors who only recently bought their first computer…”

This article is so OMG right now. I am typing as I read and I could not believe that I just read the university it self has taken a stance on technology in the classroom. The message from the university is clear, tech doesn’t or shouldn’t matter. Focus instead on what you are supposed to be doing: teaching writing. I don’t teach naked because of some pedagogical point, I do it because I have to. Allow me to explain! In the comparison given to me. The business major receives the cool updates on technology with computers and sufficient classroom tools such as a functioning white board and more, whereas the English department was stripped of their technological resources and the grungy whiteboard. The message the university is sending is reinforcing what the students think. I don’t need technology to learn how to write. The 2 big parties that could fight for technology, the university and students are not.  The teachers are left in the cold to use what they have but they have minimal impact vs. the students who pursue their education at that particular school.

 

 But, you might say, a great teacher can find a way to overcome these limitations! This brings up another class issue: tenure-track versus non-tenure-track faculty and the increasing standardization of curriculum, particularly in the writing classroom. I am off the tenure-track, teaching writing according to an increasingly limited script. How much room or freedom do we have to play ourselves, to integrate technology and digital pedagogy in our classroom? How much time do we have to figure out the best ways to help our students learn and engage? What are the incentives? What are the punishments for failure? Low-paid, underappreciated, exploited, we are expected, in 15 weeks, to create college-ready writers out of students who don’t initially know how to attach a file to an email.

These are the digital divides that worry me, that discourage and prevent many teachers from embracing a more hybrid form of teaching. Both students and teachers need the support and encouragement to play, to have the time and fearlessness to use and “misuse” tech.