Technological Justice

I feel as though there is no choice on my part whether I can use technology in my classroom or not. I think I HAVE TO use technology in my classroom. "Students must be technologically fluent and able to use technology to solve problems with various sources of information, create new representations of their knowledge, and enhance their learning through the diverse strategies afforded by technology. Students without these skills are at a decided disadvantage in terms of future educational and employment opportunities in our global, technological, and information-based society"(Swain p.15). If this statement is true, and I believe it is true, then how could I remove technology in my classroom. And for those students that do not have access to technology outside of the classroom, they will be at an even bigger disadvantage if I do not use technology. I think I would be doing them a huge injustice if I decided they did not have to use technology.

"An important aspect of adopting a framework of social justice when using technology in the classroom is for the educator to be reflective about how it is used in the classroom" (Swain p. 16). The way I will approach social justice in these terms is by making sure that I use technology inside my classroom walls as often as I can. For those students that do not have access outside the walls of my classroom, I will try to give them more in class time on the computer, and I will have opportunities for them to do their work on the school computers outside of class time.

But even the students that do have access at home, they need a lot of computer time as well. "We might question whether students are really as techno-savvy as popular media often portrays or whether they merely have a positive attitude toward technology systems and a broad knowledge of various basic technologies" (Greenhow p.17). Of course they will be more advanced than the students without access, but they will not be to the level they might need to be to make it to the next level (college or career). As teachers, it is our job to get our students as ready as possible, to push them to be as capable as we can. So both those who don't have access at home and those that do need teachers to require them to work with technology.

References

Swain, C., & Edyburn, D. (2007, March). Social Justice: Choice or Necessity? Learning and Leading with Technology, 14-18.

Greenhow, C. (2008, September/October). Who Are Today’s Learners? Learning and Leading with Technology, 16-17.