Chapter 4

Focus Question: What are “digital inequality” and the “participation gap”?

Digital inequality is a term that researches use when discussing the digital divide amongst different social groups. In the words of Mark Warschauer, “It is insufficient to conclude ‘that the mere presence of technology leads to familiar and standard applications of technology, which in turn brings about social change.” And he is absolutely right; adding machines in homes/schools itself will not make a difference in how students understand newer technologies.

 

Participation gap refers to the lack of technology between students. Basically minority, as well as low-income students, do not have the same opportunities to access or use new technologies for learning, like their peers do. The lack of the use of new technologies, unfortunately, causes these students to be less competent with this form of learning, therefore causing them to fall behind. (They never have the same experiences navigating the internet, engaging in online conversations, etc.)  

Tech Tools:

Unfortunately, there was only one Tech Tool throughout the whole chapter for me to choose from, however, it did  make the process of elimination super easy this time around. J I feel on love with this website called Edutopia. (I actually found that that was the website that I was interested in doing for the discussion board assignment. That’s why I love this book! The tools that the authors provide always correspond with the lessons that you teach us.) Anyway, this website just provides a plethora of information about how to incorporate technology in/outside of the classroom. What I love about the most is that everything on the website is organized in such a way that everything and anything you can think of is easy to find. There’s also a blog, which means if one chooses they can be a part of the Edutopia community; I found that to be really cool. All in all, I love it! J  

Summary:

This chapter, in my perspective, really focused on digital divide, digital inequality, and the participation gap. There was also information about the integration of technologies, educational change, and the infusion of technology in the classroom and for professional work purposes. This chapter helped me understand how to use technology outside of the classroom. I’m used to teachers using the regular email and grading systems, but I never thought about using wikis or blogs with my fellow colleagues before. I thought that was pretty cool!