Of course the families that are in survival mode and have to attend substandard schools are not going to have as much access to technology and more of an uphill battle to achieve in school. Not all American children fit the stereotype of taking everything for granted, either.
The issue of substandard schools is a hot button topic. In the state where I live passing the high stakes mandatory MCAS test is required to graduate from high school. There is now a guarantee of some level of basic proficiency in Math, Reading and Writing. Now that MCAS was unable to be defeated after it became a requirement for the class of 2003, there are other questions being raised. Some of the relevant ones are why multiple intelligence are not recognized and cultivated in our schools. Now that we have raised the bar so that a basic level of proficiency is required we can begin to help those students who have other gifts and talents that technology - especially multimedia applications can help them discover and cultivate, but which may never show up as an advanced score on a high stakes test because the high stakes MCAS test doesn't recognize diverse talents and abilities. It does, however give us a place to start. I am digressing completely from my earlier thread. Anne Houlihan Dept. of Information Technology Westfield State College 413-572-5765 [EMAIL PROTECTED] -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Raza 205 Sent: Thursday, June 23, 2005 12:05 AM To: The Digital Divide Network discussion group Subject: Re: [DDN] Education, Foreign Students, & Technology Hi Anne: I couldn't resist responding to your assertion about foreign students appreciating education so much more than American students. I think you are right about foreign students spotting opportunities, but many foreign students were already privileged in terms of education. They may have attended very rigorous institutions as children and are well prepared to take advantage of the great post-secondary educational offerings in this country. But it really depends on their socio-economic circumstances in their home country. In other words, a child who comes from an educated family will likely "understand the value of the education and opportunities that are offered in this country" because of previous education and their relatively educated family is not strictly in survival mode. Other immigrant students who did not grow up privileged and whose families are not educated are in much less of a position to appreciate the educational bounty that the US has to offer. I'm basing this argument on statistics I've compiled after 10 years of teaching lower division courses at the undergraduate level. I think it is important to understand that some 2nd generation children of non or poorly educated immigrants have a difficult time appreciating educational opportunities because they have attended sub-standard American public schools. There is usually also a clear digital divide between these two groups of students with the relatively privileged group more likely to have access to technology. Brigitte Davila, J.D. College of Ethnic Studies San Francisco State University 1600 Holloway Avenue San Francisco, CA 94132 415-338-1054 On Jun 22, 2005, at 5:30 AM, Anne Houlihan wrote: > Hi I'm new to the Digital Divide discussion group. I joined it as part > of a requirement for a class I am taking on Internet Research for > Educators. I really enjoy reading the different threads and wanted to > respond to this one. The digital divide is a problem that is both > social and technological. Cindy is right in that we need to teach > basic respect for other people's knowledge and contributions and > technology is not a substitute for this respect and responsibility to > others. > > Young people in this country have so many opportunities that are > theirs to take. Often it is the foreign students who really understand > the value of the education and opportunities that are offered in this > country because they have lived in countries where such rights do not > exist. > > > Anne Houlihan > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Cindy > Lemcke-Hoong > Sent: Tuesday, June 21, 2005 12:26 PM > To: The Digital Divide Network discussion group > Subject: Re: [DDN] podcast me a lecture (the educational piece) > > Hello Teresa, > >> There were many times in college I wish I had had the opportunity to >> listen to a lecture again - not because of the brilliance of the >> content, but rather because the content had eluded me during the 50 >> or > >> 90 minutes of class. > > One point in time we used to tape the lectures so that we can listen > it over and over again. It is especially true for foreign students > such as myself studying in the US. > > BUT .. the departure here is ... WE took the responsibility to tape > the lectures ourselves. WE attended the lectures, we asked permission > to tape the lectures. > > My initial command is: students should take the responsibility of > 'lectures' instead of being "pampered". Again this is my personal > opinion because I take strongly that students should at least > understand the minimum requirement of respect FOR their lecturer ... > attend the lectures and show your keeness. > > Over the years, I see so much attention pay to technology, but we > forget about how to raise responsible citizens. We forget about the > social aspects of many things. Therefore even if we have the greatest > digital bridging initiatives, would that stand the chance being topedo > because there is no social and human decency to support it? > > Digital Divide is a social problem . NOT a technology problem. > > Cindy > > _______________________________________________ > DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list > [email protected] > http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide > To unsubscribe, send a message to > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. > > _______________________________________________ > DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list > [email protected] > http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide > To unsubscribe, send a message to > [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the > body of the message. > _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
