I think it is sad to see the many differences among schools across the nation. I do not think that all schools should be exactly the same but I do feel that every child should have the same educational opportunities no matter their background or where they might live. But as Eileen Gallagher (2001) mentioned, technology is expensive. Because of this many urban schools children are missing out on a number of these opportunities. For children who attend urban schools that can not afford these technologies, they may eventually be left behind, the working environment, by those students who may have had these opportunities. The United States is one of the riches countries in the world so I do not see why any of our schools should have to struggle for money; but sadly it happens.
Before reading this chapter, I did not realize the different challenges many urban schools face when it comes to technology integration. I agree with Gallagher (2001) about we needing to find a way to provide technology to urban school and any other schools that may be in need. We are in the technology age and many businesses are going to require that their employees know something about technology. It is up to the schools to prepare our youth for the job force. But this can not be done in schools where the average of student per computer with Internet access is 20 to 1 or worse 67 to 1 (Gallagher, 2001).
References
Gallagher, E. (2001). Technology for urban schools: Gaps and challenges. In LeBaron, J.F. & Collier C. (eds.). Technology in its place: Successful technology infusion in schools. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
2 comments:
My question is how do you get these school in urban areas like Chicago and Cleveland where the schools are over 100 years old that getting them the infrastructure to have technology is their schools is so difficult. New schools need to be built with the technology infrastructe to support it, but that cost a lot of money. A lot of those schools are in areas of poverty where the students do not have access to technology at school or home. We as a country need to find a way to get them the funding needed to have the technology and staff development for these students to become successful in the 21st century.
You know that I didn't realize the problems with urban schools either before I read this Chapter. Sorry that all schools can't get the same funding. Very hard to equalize the amount that goes into education everywhere.
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