One thing that I will take with me.....

This course gave me a much better idea of how collaboration can be used in an online course. My previous program at St. Scholastica only had 3-4 students in each class which limited interactions. This was my first time doing a group online project and I found it quite enjoyable and a good learning experience. I hope to be able to bring more online group projects to my courses. I will also take Blogger with me. This is a great way to share information with fellow students.

Digital Divide Memo

To: Minneapolis School Board

From: Dr. Glori Hinck- Downtown District

CC: Administration, Faculty, Staff Minneapolis School District

Date: 7/14/2008

Re: Digital Divide

What is the "digital divide" and how and why should we address this issue?

The digital divide refers to the gap between those who benefit from digital and information technology and those who don’t. Simply put, those who use computers and the internet and those who don’t. Digital divide refers not only to differences in physical access to technology, but also to unequal acquisition of related skills necessary to succeed in today’s world. This digital divide is simply another symptom of a wider and more pervasive problem- poverty and inequality.

Who is at risk from this digital divide? At risk groups are often discussed in terms of socioeconomic, racial, generational, or geographical factors. NTIA and the Economics and Statistics Administration published a report based on the 2001 U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey and found that groups at risk include low-income households, those with a high school education or less, Hispanics and Blacks. (1) Fewer than 60% of the households in these groups have computers and internet access. A large number of students in the Minneapolis school district fit into these categories. It is imperative that we begin to address this digital divide so that our students have the tools and skills that they need to succeed. The entire world is moving into a digital age. The Center for Justice, Tolerance and Community believes that bridging the digital divide can help children accomplish the following (2):

1) Improve educational achievement
2) Lead healthier lives
3) Increase economic opportunity
4) Participate in their communities

The NTIA report found that the greatest barrier to internet usage is cost. Cost not only for computer equipment but for internet access and peripheral equipment and supplies. Another barrier may be cultural or social. If your friends and family and the people in your life do not use computers or the internet, you are also less likely to. This can also be a positive situation. If members of a group are exposed to computers and internet usage it can have a cascade effect with more and more members of that particular group also becoming involved in technology. If children are exposed to technology at school, they will carry this information to their families. The following suggestions will help address the barriers to computer and internet usage in the children and families of the Minneapolis school district.

Suggestions for bridging the digital divide in the Minneapolis school districts

To truly bridge the digital divide, technology resources should be made available at school, home, and in the community. The following suggestions will address all three.

o First and foremost we need to educate our teachers as to the importance of technology to this generation of learners and provide training to teachers to aid in the implementation of technology in the classroom. This is not an easy task and will require a multi-level approach. We can encourage teachers to pursue advanced degrees with an educational technology emphasis and can provide workshops on educational technology related topics. Online resources for teacher education can be an efficient means of distributing information.

o Afterschool Programs and Community Education programs emphasizing technological literacy for children and their families should be developed. If we build relationships with community organizations such as Waite House, Pillsbury House and others it can help with the infrastructure for this. Grant proposals can be written in conjunction with these organizations to help with the costs.

o Identify at risk families and provide refurbished computer equipment to these families. Contract with a local internet service provider to offer internet service on a sliding fee scale basis.

o Work with churches in the Hispanic and Black communities on multiple levels. Use this avenue to communicate the importance of technology to the success of children and families. This could be an additional source for assistance with Afterschool Programs and Community Education programs. As mentioned above, exposing members of a group to technology can result in a cascade effect.

o Update, expand and improve the equipment available in computer labs and classrooms. Yes, this will result in additional costs but the benefits truly outweigh any costs. The suggestions below will help offset these costs but the school district must also contribute to this critical need.

o Obtain free computers and accessory equipment from the community, federal agencies and area businesses. Hold a computer and equipment drive with the help of the community and work with area companies such as Best Buy and Target. Ask them to offer a discount on a new computer with every old computer turned in. These computers can then be refurbished by volunteers and distributed. The link below outlines a federal government program through which computers no longer being used in federal offices may be obtained simply for the cost of transportation. As there are a number of federal agencies in Minneapolis, these costs would be minimal.

Funding Factory

http://www.fundingfactory.com/

o Collect recyclable printer cartridges which can be exchanged for computer equipment and printers to use in the school as well as the other programs recommended above. ETCEP (Educational Technology and Conservation Exchange Program), is a unique fund-raising plan that can provide schools with state-of-the-art computer technology without any cost to area taxpayers. A school collects used printer cartridges and packages and sends them to ETCEP for points. These points may be exchanged for new computer systems and peripherals.

Computers for Learning: http://computersforlearning.gov/help/doc/cfl_school_instructions.pdf

Funding education is never easy. However, the Minneapolis school district cannot afford to ignore the digital divide. The future of the children in our district depends on it. Most of the suggestions listed above involve minimal direct cost to the school district but do involve indirect costs primarily related to staff time required to plan and administer these initiatives.

These suggestions can be divided into two categories- those directly related to the school district and those involving the community. I suggest that we start immediately by meeting with the school board, administrators and faculty regarding the importance of narrowing the digital divide in our students. This group can begin to address the issues of faculty education and updating and improving equipment in our classrooms. We can then ask for volunteers from the school group to be a part of a task force of parents, business owners, and agencies to address the other community based suggestions.

I hope that this memo has been successful in drawing your attention to the issue of the digital divide. A majority of students in the Minneapolis school district are members of at-risk groups. Those in at-risk groups have a diminished chance at academic and economic success in life. It is imperative that we minimize this digital divide in our students to the degree possible.

Thank you for your consideration and I look forward to our meeting.

Dr. Glori Hinck

References

1. NTIA and the Economics and Statistics Administration. A Nation Online: How Americans Are Expanding Their Use Of The Internet. http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/dn/nationonline_020502.htm

2. http://cjtc.ucsc.edu/digitaldivide.html

Trends- Teaching and Learning in Virtual Worlds (e.g. Second Life)

A trend that I am watching closely is the use of virtual worlds in education. I have been exploring and have purchased two books to help me with this- "Second Life the official guide" and "Second Life for Dummies". I have to say that I find "Second Life for Dummies" to be more helpful. I have mastered the basics of navigating my avatar (see Glorious Guisse in the Boise State Second Life site at left) but I have not yet been successful in really seeing how virtual worlds can be applied to education in my field. I definitely need the Boise State course that I plan on taking next spring. I did find one chiropractic site with a chiropractic clinic. I think that there are applications that I can use in my teaching but I have a long way to go with this. I'm also concerned about the time it takes for a student to get up to speed with learning how to navigate in Second Life. Maybe I am just a slow learner.

Using Virtual Worlds in Science Teaching
This link will bring you to a PDF document published in the March 2008 issue of Cable in the Classroom that contains a number of sites that use virtual worlds to teach K-12 science. I hope to find some sites that are appropriate for university students in anatomy and physiology and health care. Let me know if you come across something.

Glori aka "Glorious Guisse"

Trends

One of the biggest emerging trends is Web 2.0. Several weeks ago I had the opportunity to attend a conference where Dr. Michael Wesch gave the keynote address entitled “Human Futures for Technology and Education”. During this talk he shared his ideas on how Web 2.0 and other new technologies are changing education. Dr. Wesch is a cultural anthropologist and media ecologist studying how new media impacts human interaction. Did you even realize there was a career field called “media ecologist”??? Below I have posted a fascinating YouTube video that created by Dr. Wesch's and his students in one of his courses. It has apparently been viewed on YouTube more than 2 ½ million times. It really makes you think about the world that today's students are living and learning in.

Dr. Wesch has developed a number of innovative teaching techniques that you can learn more about at his web site at Kansas State University: http://www.ksu.edu/sasw/anthro/wesch.htm

If you are like me, you still don't exactly know what Web 2.0 is. Hopefully, the video below will help a bit with your understanding:

Understanding Web 2.0


The Michael Wesch video below gives additional insight into how pervasive the web has become in our lives and how we are already using Web 2.0 even if we don't realize it!

The Machine is Us/ing Us

Definition

I agree with Reiser’s emphasis on instructional design, I just didn’t think of this aspect when I wrote my definition of educational technology. The term educational technology first brings to mind the tools that are used (computers, software, games). However, the instructional design component is how these tools can be used effectively.

I’m not sure how I would expand on Reiser’s ideas as they are pretty expansive as is! Rather, I would probably try to simplify them.

We should have learned over the past 50 years that new technology and systems alone do not equal improved learning.

My first definition of educational technology was “the use of technology to enhance learning”. This definition is much too brief and doesn’t address all aspects involved in the field. I was thinking of tools such as computers and software rather than all of the other components that are required- analysis, design, development and evaluation among others. I would change my definition as follows:

Educational technology should not be looked at in isolation and is cannot be separated from instructional design. Both encompass enhancement of the learning process through the use of technology in analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation of an educational project or system.