Equity of Access

I was intrigued by many things in class today, including the FLIP camera, the National Technology standards and the analysis of our schools' administrators with regards to where they fall in the continuum. I was particularly intrigued at the idea of equity of technology access among teachers, students, and sub-groups such as ELL and Special Education students within a school. Working in a school with a relatively high SES, I have noticed how much many of our students rely more on their own personal technology and what they have at home, compared to what the school offers. Given the filters and aging nature of many of our computers, students who have means simply bring their own laptops or save work for home, simply because it is more easily done there. Our school technology people have made this home use easier by creating a home-accessible U-drive and going paperless with regards to grades, parent newsletters and most communication. There are, however, 11% of the students who fall into the low SES category who can't do this, and they oftentimes lag behind their peers in finishing technology-related projects. It is "assumed" that if they need computer access outside of school, they can go to the library; given where they live and the nature of many of their family structures this is not equitable at all. Having a few of these students in class, I am concerned that this 'have not' in a world of digital natives who 'have' has led to increased low SES dropouts and a host of other issues.