Journal # 6

Social Justice: Choice or Necessity? By: Coleen Swain and David Edyburn

This article deals with the idea of technology as a social justice issue. According to the article, “In 1992, the U.S. Department of Labor’s SCANS report noted that at least 80% of all jobs in the next two decades would require workers to be technologically fluent”. This means that students who are not given the opportunity to learn through technology will be at a disadvantage later on it life when they enter the workforce. Students that are not given the training needed to use technology will be at a disadvantage for the rest of their lives and will have a harder time gaining the higher paying jobs. Many teachers give students access to computers but still aren’t engaging them in using technology for “higher-order thinking”. They instead use technology as a treat for finishing work, or to type up a paper they have written, or to develop “vocational skills”. Using the computers in these ways give them an introduction to technology but doesn’t show students how to use technology to better their ideas and gain more knowledge. For schools that don’t have the money for computers this article gives great ideas on how to gain access to computers and software that can better student’s education. This article shows the importance of bringing technology into the classroom and the disadvantages students will be at if it is not.

How can I incorporate technology into my classroom to help students gain the abilities they need to succeed?
If computer access is available I would hope to take at least a couple lessons a week that I can add a technology component to. This can be something as simple as having them chart their ideas on a program such as kidspiration. I could also have they go online to learn more about the topics we are focusing on in the classroom. By making students go online and look up data you are not only engaging students into the topic you are focusing on but also teaching them how to research online and find good resources. I think that by adding little lessons in that incorporate technology will help them later on in life when technology will be a large part of their lives.

Should a teacher have the choice to not use technology?
I think that it’s the schools responsibility to make sure that every student is well educated and ready for the “real world”. In the workforce today it is required for most jobs that you have basic skills with technology. Therefore I think it should be ever schools job to teach students about how to use technology. I think that schools should train their teachers and require each of them to pass their knowledge down to the students. I think like any other subject such as math or science teachers should be required to cover it.