I judged a deaf and hard of hearing speech competition this morning and my mind kept coming back to a quote I read earlier this week. According to Levin and Arafeh (2002), “Large numbers of students say they are changing because of their out-of-school use of the Internet – and their reliance on it. Internet-savvy students are coming to school with different expectations, different skills, and access to different resources” (as cited in Solomon & Schrum, 2007, p. 31).
I find this information is extremely accurate. In my own classroom I find that students are very diverse in their computer and Internet knowledge. Some are extremely literate and can cruse through assignments whereas other students are apprehensive and literally are unable to complete assignments due to their skill deficit.
This is where I struggle as a teacher. I want to increase the amount of technology that I use in the classroom however, when I create assignments designed to integrate technology I don’t know what skill set the group of students have. Upon review of my past assignments, I notice that the coursework I create are either very basic or super high tech. Thus, I either insult the intelligences of those students who are tech-savvy or I leave a dust trail for the students who lack computer skills. How can I as an educator create meaningful lessons with such background knowledge discrepancies?
Levin, D., & Arafeh, S. (2002). The digital disconnect: The widening gap between Internet-savvy students and their schools. Washington, DC: Pew Internet & American Life Project. Retrieved April 4, 2009, from http://www.pewinternet.org/~/media//Files/Reports/2002/PIP_Schools_Internet_Report.pdf.pdf
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Hirt,
ReplyDeleteHow do you introduce the technology before using it in a lesson? I complete understand your issue because I have experienced it too. Combine the basic and super high tech activities, and differentiate based on individual skill level. To my suprise, some of my students who traditional struggle academically, and even those with various disabilities exceed my expectations when I give them an assignment or project using technology. I have a student who is severly handicapped. I usually look for him to perform very basic skills. However, I was in awe when I gave him an assignment where he created a movie using www.xtranormal.com on ethical issues in health care. He figured out how to customize it on his own to make it interesting and humorous, while discussing the issue and reflecting on things that he had learned. So really, with some students you don't know until you try.
You may have to have two tracks one for your more technological savvy students and one for the lower students. Another thing you can do is let your higher students help teach the lower students. This helps to keep everyone involved.
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