The current discussion about the deployment of broadband fascinates me. It does because, in my work, I go from a place where every kind of connection is possible to a place where there is no cell phone service and no broadband and where the use of the Internet is limited.
I might also add that the media markets are very compromised in what they offer in various regions, but that is a whole different story. Or is it?
In many places I visit, the supporting education community has little information that allows it to trust the use of the Internet so, even if there is Internet access, it is blocked for safety reasons. My work is hard but fun, trying to convince those who think technology is a pain that there are some parts of it that they don’t want to be without.
Today, 1 December 2010, there is a forum being held on this very problem: “Technology, Social Innovation and Civic Participation: What’s the Next Step?” It’s sponsored by the New America Foundation, Washington, D.C., and runs from 3:30 – 4:45pm.
Today is a busy day for groups to share their visions. They are trying to get your attention for their viewpoints. What is your take? How do you see the implementation of technology? What is the right course of action to take for all? What will transform education? Did the Digital Learning Council get it right? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Please post them as comments.
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John Mark Walker: "If educational communities can continue to push platform integration and content portability, in the future, students may be able to design their own personalized degrees from smaller, modular chunks that cross institutional barriers" (
Richard Koubek
Judith McDaniel
Tim Fraser-Bumatay: "Although the format leaves us far-removed physically, the online forum has its own sense of intimacy" (Judith McDaniel, "
Ryan Kelly: "For me to be able to work with people clear across the country for an extended period of time opened me up to new things" (Judith McDaniel, "
Daniel Herrera: "As a Mexican American, I know that words of identity are powerful; so to discuss white privilege with my professor and classmates in a face-to-face class would have been terrifying and impossible" (Judith McDaniel, "
Cathy Gunn: "Traditional methods for effecting change at my institution aren’t getting us even to a trickle yet, let alone to thinking about or planning for a wave!" (
Educational Technology and Change Journal 
Bonnie, for some reason, the feds don’t get it. They’re pouring all of their effort into assessment, evaluative and pseudo-formative, believing that this is what it will take to improve achievement across the board.
With the real-world problems that impact learning staring them in the face, they still don’t see.
But don’t stop shouting — “Here! Here! There! Over there!” — and pointing to the gaping holes in educational resources, including the lack of broadband access and computers for many of our students.
Yes, we can test these students, evaluatively and “formatively” with IT-based systems, and we can report that the teachers in these under-resourced areas are failing miserably — but we’re not addressing the issue.
The issue isn’t “a better assessment plan.” It’s resources. Tools to do the job. Teachers and educators need the necessary equipment, funds, and instructional services to do their job. And they need time and compensation, too, to do it. -Jim S