Reflection on Knowledge learned in Week 2: Technology and the Effects on Students of Low Socioeconomic Status
Through the course of week two I learned more about the results of research on how technology has positive effects on students of low socioeconomic status particularly in their self esteem and the area of mathematics. I found it particularly interesting that it was centered more on the aspect of their self esteem. This made perfect sense. In my teaching experience it seems that the students with the lowest self esteem are the low socioeconomic groups. It goes without saying that when there is low self esteem there is also low performance and achievement. Many of my students in this subgroup do not have access to the technology that their peers have. This puts them on an unequal playing ground socially as well as academically. At the beginning of each year I send out a questionnaire to parents about their child. One of the questions I ask is if they have access to a computer and if they have access to the internet. I want to find out early on the students that I know will need more specialized instruction. As I receive these questionnaires back from the parents I notice the correlation between those students that do no have access to technology at home and being labeled as “At Risk” in our district. I feel it is important to make my desktop publishing lab available before and after school. Students can come in four mornings and four afternoons during the week and use my lab for whatever needs they may have, whether it is for tutoring, more time on an assignment we are working on, or needing to work on an assignment for another class. I have even had friends of my students come in to work that are not taking Desktop Publishing. Something that I am trying to start up at our campus is a computer club where students can come in a learn more about how to use software packages for creating dynamic products for school and home. My purpose in this is to offer students in the lower grades (sixth and seventh) more exposure to technology. I agree with Page (2002) that if we increase technology in the U.S. classrooms we may see this as an important step for low socioeconomic citizens to rise up from poverty (Page, 2002).
Page (2002) argues that children in technology-enriched classrooms appear to score higher on standardized tests in mathematics, to take control of their own learning environment, to work well in cooperative groups to accomplish a common task, and to place worth in their ability to be productive students and citizens (Page, 2002). I often get students who come back to visit me years later and tell me how much they learned in my class and how it has helped them to be more successful in high school. I also receive comments from teachers that they can tell which students are taking my class by the work they produce and the knowledge and self esteem they possess. I believe one of the things that truly motivate and capture my students interests is that we use industry standard software programs such as Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. As my students master the tools they learn in my class I get to experience first hand the increase in their self-esteem and the work they produce. It is exciting to see them grow in their expertise in manipulating the programs. "Students gain a sense of empowerment from learning to control the computer and to use it in ways they associate with the real world” (U.S. Department of Education, n.d.).
References:
Page, M. S. (2002). Technology-enriched classrooms: Effects on students of low socioeconomic status. Journal of Research on Technology Education, 34(4), 389-409. Retrieved February 27, 2011, from https://www.lamar.epiclms.net/Learn/Player.aspx?enrollmentid=1702535
U.S. Department of Education. (n.d.). Effects of technology on classrooms and students: Increased motivation and self-esteem. Retrieved from http://www2.ed.gov/pubs/EdReformStudies/EdTech/effectsstudents.html
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