Thursday, August 15, 2002

The Digital Disconnect:...students and their schools #

Seems like a very important report for us to read.  From the summary of findings:  Many schools and teachers have not yet recognized-much less responded to-the new ways students communicate and access information over the Internet. Students report that there is a substantial disconnect between how they use the Internet for school and how they use the Internet during the school day and under teacher direction. For the most part, students' educational use of the Internet occurs outside of the school day, outside of the school building, outside the direction of their teachers. While there are a variety of pressures, concerns, and outright challenges in providing Internet access to teachers and students at school, students perceive this disconnect to be the result of several factors: ... Students are frustrated and increasingly dissatisfied by the digital disconnect they are experiencing at school. They cannot conceive of doing schoolwork without Internet access and yet they are not being given many opportunities in school to take advantage of the Internet. Many believe they may have to raise their voices to force schools to change to accommodate them better. In the final analysis, schools would do well to heed the Latin writer Seneca's words, which ring as true today as when they were written nearly 2,000 years ago: "The fates guide those who go willingly; those who do not, they drag."   Posted by Raymond Yee on 8/15/02; 11:57:25 AM from the Web Technology dept. Discuss