The top ten issues shaping today’s technology uses in education include:
(1) Accountability and the standards movement (how it can help students/ educational purpose)
(2) Funding for educational technology
(3) The Digital Divide (divide between wealthy v.s poor)
(4) Racial and gender equity (male dominant subject area)
(5) The role of distance education
(6) Privacy and Safety
(7) Viruses and hacking
(8) Online plagiarism
(9) Anti-technology sentiments
(10) Information literacy (how to effectively use technology)
As an early childhood educator, the issues that I believe are most significant to the Pre-K/ 3rd grade age students include: (2) Funding for educational technology and (6) Privacy and Safety.
Funding for educational technology in the classroom is relevant in today’s economy. Many communities, school districts, families, etc cannot simply afford to buy this type of equipment. Many school budgets are shrinking while the cost of technology is growing. Technology has been placed at the bottom of the priority list. I have experienced classrooms with minimal technology, such as, a single out dated computer, basic over-head projectors, and televisions. I have also been placed in classrooms with numerous amounts of technology, including, smart-boards, ELMO projectors, tape recorders, I-touches/ I-pads, and stereo systems. It is very difficult to compare the two types of classrooms due to the extreme difference in educational tools provided.
Privacy and Safety is my biggest concern as a teacher of young children. The internet is used more and more in the classroom. It is important to block any sites that could possibly put children in a harmful situation (i.e. chat rooms, social networking sites, etc) Also, as more schools/ teachers rely on school websites to communicate with students and their families, the amount of personal information about school events and children could be shared with the public. These sites should have as little personal information as possible with secure privacy settings.
