I encountered a common experience with technology this week- access availability. We moved into a new house and the internet is not working yet. I was unable to access Blackboard to complete my class assignments at home and had to find alternative access. I gained more empathy for students who have the same difficulty accessing the internet. As teacher attitudes toward technology change and it is used more and more in classrooms, these issues will become pertinent. What should a teacher do if the student does not have access to the internet? We saw a video about how a girl used her cell phone to access the internet but that only works with certain applications such as Facebook and Twitter. Here are my thoughts regarding student internet access:
- Alternative access points: These could be school computer labs, the teacher’s classroom computer, local library or even a local Starbucks (which offer 2 free hours a month when you register a Starbucks card).
- Flexibility in due dates: I am not advocating a new version of “the dog ate my homework” excuse but the fact remains that technology fails at times and students cannot be held responsible for that. A policy such as informing the teacher at least 24 hours before the assignment is due via email, voicemail or parent note will let the teacher and student come up with solutions and eliminate bogus excuses.
- Alternative assignments: Lastly, when all other solutions are exhausted, alternative, technology-free versions of the assignment should be prepared but not advertised to students. This allows the student to learn the same material without technology. This should only be used in cases where all other options have been tried.
As teacher beliefs toward technology change and it appears in more classrooms, access issues will appear and teachers need to have a proactive strategy in place to deal with them in a fair and consistent way. Sharing these with other teachers will help them avoid similiar problems and change teacher beliefs about technolgoy in schools.
Starbucks offers 2 free hours of Wi-Fi access a month.
Posted by ryanewest 
