Education and the Digital Divide :: essays papers

preparation and the digital Divide Closing the digital divide involves many components, starting with the pedagogics program and appriseers. While schools are integrating new technologies into their programs, teachers are say to keep up with the latest technologies and use them in their curriculum to teach students. According to a U.S. Department of Education Report (1999), only 24 percent of new teachers felt sufficiently prepared to integrate engine room into the curriculum they were using (Brogan, 2000). The problem is, many teachers did not grow up with computers and are not receiving the training they need to operate them (Brogan, 2000). Starting drill as early as 7 a.m. and leaving school as late as 5 p.m. to go home and do still more work, leaves teachers lacking the time to learn new technological skills. galore(postnominal) schools offer training programs for teachers. For example, the Palm Beach County, Florida school district teaches nett basics for teacher s at middle schools and magnet schools (Brogan, 2000). This is a great bringing close together because it is giving teachers the opportunity to learn about engine room and it is showing that the school district is interested in helping its employees become better at what they do.Andy Carvin states internet access in schools isnt worth a hill of beans if teachers arent prepared to take full advantage of technology (2000). Schools degenerate a lot of money on computer hardware and parcel as well as other technologies without realizing that many of their employees are offhand to include them in their teaching and use them to their advantages. Educators often use technology as a classroom management tool rather than an educational one, allowing computer time as a reward for good demeanor (Clark & Gorski, 2001). The problem with this is that students learn to use the computer for games and such because it is their reward kinda of using it on their own time for educational pu rposes. This is teaching them the disparage idea. Margaret Honey, director of the Center for Children and Technology in NYC said it best, The bottom stemma is, you dont just put technology into schools or into homes and call miracles to happen. The technology is only as good as the program that surrounds it (Meyer, 2002, p.2).Education is probably the most important issue that affects the ability to benefit from technology.