The first article that came to me was about how Turkey plans to distribute 2.5 million tablets to education. This is amazing to me as just this year, I have had two families come from refugee camps in Turkey! Now, I can't be quite sure that these resources will be available to refugee camp families since I have heard from both families that they are very much viewed as 'vistors' of Turkey but they did attend a non refugee school so my fingers are crossed! This initiative is a further step of Turkey's Ministry of Education project FATITH (conquer in Turkish) but means 'Movement to Increase Opportunities and Technology' which since the beginning has been placing Smart Boards in classrooms. Great steps to further technology for all students! Read It! Turkey to Distribute 2.5 Million Tablets
The second article that I read was, surprisingly about Nigeria. It was only discussing one school Fourier International School, but it only takes one to get the ball rolling. The Administrator comments how the school can 'no longer wait and be playing catch up with technology'. I felt like this administrator knew exactly what I have been saying and thinking all year. My ELs just can't catch up! The article discusses as well how increasing technology means more resources and valuable information for their teachers as well. Read It! Fourier International School
I know that these were just two alerts about two countries that are taking steps further but it means so much to me. Technology in our schools is a blessing and children as young as one can operate devices and apps. However, this is an added pressure to our ELs especially when everyone around them is playing on their phones, snapping chats, and tweeting about after school sports. Our young people are definitely communicating more by phone than in person these days and in the one area where our ELs might have a chance to learn more language, they can't! Add on that they have to use them in school for center time or school work and they are frustrated before they can even start to look at the content. By advocating and continuing to push global technology for all schools all over the world, all students will have a common area and language; even if it is a virtual language.
Really interesting post! In my blog post this week, I too posted about the idea that integrating technology into education makes the world much smaller. Having the technology, however, is merely half the battle. It's refreshing to see that some countries are investing in technology, but again, that's not quite enough... Now what?
ReplyDeleteYou seemed to have touched upon a paradox in L2 education... While the resources online are rich and plentiful, access for L2 learners is scarce and limited. We have this amazing ability to close a growing communication gap, yet there is still no level playing field for access to this incredible technology.
Hopefully, as this technology becomes cheaper and more widely available, there will be less of a gap!
Thank you for sharing your reflections this week!
Amy,
ReplyDeleteThis was a great post and reaction to the articles you linked within your article. I can appreciate your concern as well being a Business/Computer teacher at the middle school level. We have 4 elementary schools currently each filtering in students to the middle school with all different levels of technology skills. This can be frustrating to reverse some bad habits, build a foundation from 6th grade instead of earlier, and get the students prepared for the world of high school and beyond.
This world is filled with technology everywhere you turn. Students from a different country or a dominate language that is not English definitely suffer to handle the culture of technology, but also the basic technology skills needed. I can appreciate your response to be on top of technology with ELs and overall in your district.
Great posting & the articles were a great resource to read more about technology development in schools. No matter where or when the technology education for students is on the fast track. We all need to be prepared for this age to close the gap. Thanks for posting!
Hi Amy,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for sharing this article and your reaction. In my blog, I mention about the issue of students coming to the US with varying degrees of experience with technology. I have had students that had never seen a computer, much less knew how to use one. On the other hand, I have had students arrive that have every type of technology readily available in their home and their previous school.
This was very informative! Thank you so much for sharing!
Hi Amy,
ReplyDeleteTo start off, I really like how you incorporated a picture along with your blog post. As I stated in the discussion, I tend to skip-over blogs that have a confusing or 'bland' layout. The picture just adds that extra emphasis and makes your blog post more appealing.
Also, thanks for sharing your article regarding the country of Turkey. That is amazing the initiative was taken to incorporate more technology in the classrooms. I didn't have a chance to read the article, but how did the schools raise the money for the tablets? Was this a government initiative?
Thanks for sharing