Week Six of LIH (Capstone Class)

I enjoyed the readings for this week, and I see a strong correlation between the adaptive technologies and UDL. The screen tools that minimize what appears on the screen when online would be hugely beneficial when teaching young students about using the Internet and finding information. And of course the keyboards, the touch feature in WebConnect, and the use of audio in place of writing would all benefit younger students learning to navigate computers not to mention the special needs students they were desgigned for.

I was fascinated to see the Dr. Martin Luther King, almost 50 years ago, recognized the digital divide. I feel strongly that it is the role of public education to close this divide, to provide students access, and to educate them in the uses (and abuses) of the Internet, social networking, video postings, email, and so forth. In reading the "Digital Divide" article quoting from Pew research, I noted how already the reality has morphed. Recently I read that African-Americans are more likely to access the Internet through mobile devices rather than through a traditional computer. The reality of public education, though, is to be 20 years behind the times. The Virginia state Standards of Learning do exist for computer technology, but those are woefully out of date. Social networks didn't exist when they were written, and there is no opportunity to address mobile device computing since most school districts ban the mobile devices. What I see resulting from the divide is that most of the students, when given free access to the computers, play games. This isn't all bad, but due to filtering and lack of access, these students don't bother blogging, chatting, emailing--all of which I believe they will do as adults in the workforce.