Providing Equal Access To The Digital World

How can students be given equal access to technology in the classroom?
Classes are made up of students that vary in socioeconomic status. The differences in students means that there are those who do not have access to computers at home. To provide equal access to all students means that administrators, policy makers, teachers and the community needs to get involved.
Stategies that can provided equal access to students include having students allowed a certain amount of time on the computer or access to computer lab. The students can be allowed to come in before or after school and during lunch. Teachers should be using technology in many of their subjects and having a variety of tools available to the students. Using more technology will benefit groups that may not have had interest in one particular subject area using a single technology lesson.
A support system needs to be in place for the technology access to exist. Making sure the school has adequate up to date connections to the Inernet, technical support, training programs for the teachers on software and how to incorporate technology.
Finally, the funding needs to be available to the school for adequate equipment. There may be grants available for the school and also the need for community support.

Websites Visited
www.ed.gov/pubs/EdReformStudies/Edtech/index.html
www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/methods/technlgy/te400.htm

Teachers Evaluating Websites

Should teachers have to evaluate websites before their students view them? Yes, teachers should be evaluating websites. You wouldn't teach content of a book without reading the book, so why recommend a website to students without evaluating its content.
The reasons it is important for teachers to evalutate website content include validity, currency of information, point of view, authenication and relevant content. If the students have to research through websites, teachers would want to make sure the information that the students need is located on the website. It would be a waste of time to send the students on a scavenger hunt through wasteful websites. Give them the sites you know they would benefit from.
Teachers should make sure the information on the website is not only from a valid author or group, but that it is also up to date. Websites should be evaluated for point of view. Is this author being too biased? Is there enough information for the student to form his or her own opinion about a matter? Is there going to be offensive content in the webpages that are not appropriate for the students to view?
These are important reasons why teachers should be viewing all websites they use during their lessons.