The Digital Divide in Education Response

The digital divide is a way for schools to argue that technology is taking over and not in a good way. I completely understand what the author is saying about many kids not being able to afford laptops, computers, internet etc, but that being said, there are many solutions to that problem. Schools could offer more library time or even allow students to take home and borrow the laptops that the school provides. Another argument being made is that students who come from low income homes have lower computer literacy skills due to many of them not having access to computers. Since technology is so prominent I feel that schools should be able to incorporate classes in where computer literacy skills are improved. This could really aid in fixing the digital divide.

Lessons from History: Teaching with Technology in 100 Years of English Journal Response

I have always shied away from technology. When I would see people reading off of eReaders, Kindles, eBooks etc, I would always become upset. To me, there is nothing better than holding a book in your hands, and being able to physically turn the pages of a book. Or the smell of a book that hasn't been opened in awhile, is a scent that always takes me back to the my childhood library where I first fell in love with English. Those are all things that you can't get when reading off of an electronic device. I will always prefer reading an actual book rather than an electronic one, but after reading this article I can see where technology is going to be very important to incorporate into my future classroom. There were many good points made in this article that I had not even thought of before reading it. Technology in some way has been incorporated into teaching English for awhile now. I never really thought of that because the radio isn't new technology to me, but when it was first invented, well it was their equivalent of a new iPhone launch. Teachers used this new technology to engage their students in what they were learning, just as in my eleven year old sisters classroom, iPads are being used. A quote from this article really stood out to me. It reads, "English teachers too often continue to be stereotyped as conservative traditionalists com-mitted solely to musty books and antique inkwells."and that made me think of the TED talk we watched in class, and it would be a shame if English teachers were limited to a single story.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's "The Danger of a Single Story" TED Talk Response

This TED Talk was very interesting to me. As Chimamanda tells about her life it was amazing to see all of the various cultures she had been exposed to throughout her life. I think that her definition of a single story relies heavily on stereotypes. When she explained how she would draw and make stories about the children with blue eyes who ate apples and spoke about the weather, that really showed how impressionable children are, even to stereotypes. I believe that this is very important to understand as a future teacher. That we should not be teaching single stories, but rather teaching all of the different perspectives on different topics. There is one single story that I think I am guilty of holding onto, and that is the single story about children with disabilities. I am also taking EDU 250 and EDU 251, which is a class about children with disabilities or children that are exceptional learners. My whole life I never really thought about the wide spectrums associated with all the different disabilities. I had believed that if you had autism, well then you had autism. I was unaware of how many different forms and levels of autism there is, this goes for different types of disabilities as well. I am very happy to be taking this class, so that way I can see many different “stories” when it comes to the children I will be working with. I believe that we are all culprits of falling into the habit of having a single story for different aspects of the world, but if we take the time and educate ourselves then there will be many more stories to tell and a world with more stories is a great one in my eyes.