Educators: Computers are tools, not a replacement for teaching, especially for poor students

[Bozita]

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2011/03/educators_computers_are_tools.html

Educators: Computers are tools, not a replacement for teaching, especially for poor students
Published: Saturday, March 19, 2011, 12:29 PM Updated: Saturday, March 19, 2011, 2:32 PM
By Dave Murray | The Grand Rapids Press


NEW YORK -- How great is the digital divide among poor and middle class families?

University of Michigan professor Susan Neuman said the National Center for Education Statistics report that nearly 100 percent of schools have Internet, but studies have shown that learning with computers occurs primarily away from school.

And while studies show that 95 percent of upper and middle class families have computers, studies show that only 54 percent of poor families have them.

Neuman spoke about the dangers of relying too heavily on technology, and realizing that students from poor families will struggle to keep up with others to attain all of the things that can be learned from being connected.

Neuman was the second U of M professor speaking at the event about digital education and at Columbia University's Teachers College, sponsored by the Hechinger Institute for Education and the Media.

As director of the Michigan Research Program on Ready to Learn, she focuses on projects working to change the odds for children in poverty. She's also served as the U.S. assistant secretary of elementary and secondary education.

She said many students from poor families can get computer access from public libraries. But once there, they face long waits and 30-minute time limits. And she said many students, after waiting for so long to get online, will spent much of those 30 minutes on fun sites instead of doing their work.

“I know you are all impressed by the razzmatazz of these things, but really they are hurting these students basic literacy skills,” Neuman said. “When they're looking at these sites, they can see photos in different ways and pick out videos. They can avoid reading.”

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[exboyfil]

1. I can't help but think about how it is assumed that students

have Internet connections in my daughters' middle school. Teachers put homework and grades on the computer. They even put clarification of assignments on Facebook. Both of my daughters have laptops, and we have high speed Internet connection, but I wonder about the poorer students. My daughters do so much of their homework on the computer as well.

[proud2BlibKansan]

3. The majority of my students have no internet access at home.

I wouldn't even dream of assigning homework that involved the internet.

[eppur_se_muova]

4. Even college students don't always have net access.

I've taught in a couple of rural areas -- not necessarily poor, but not enough population density for installation of internet infrastructure to be profitable -- and knew some students had to wait in line to use school computers before they could go home to do homework, when instructors didn't pay attention to this limitation. Students in the dorms had online access whenever they wanted it. Not really a level playing field.

I use computers very intensively for certain tasks, own dozens, do upgrades and repairs myself. So I'm no stranger to computers, but I just don't see them as (1) the best solution in every case, or even (2) a good solution in many cases, or even (3) a workable solution in some cases. Sometime the effort of learning how to use the particular, local instantiation of

[CountAllVotes]

2. I'm not a "poor" student

I have a couple of degrees but could not pass a test nor a course via on-line learning.

You really need the teacher to learn. :dunce: