In my Multicultural Education class we recently watched a documentary on refugees from Sudan. It was one of the most imteresting things that I have ever seen. This group of people have never lived with technology. In fact, they didn't even know what electricity was. This got me to thinking that there is always a very diverse group of people that I will be teaching in my classroom, and some of them might be behind in certain aspects.
I was just curious, how should a teacher deal with students who come from different backgrounds and simply don't know how to understand technology. I'm not sure that this will happen all too often, but it still might.
I mean, I suppose a teacher could spend one on one time with the student and try to help them understand, but if the older generation (who has been around technology for decades now) can't grasp it, how can we expect people who have never dealt with technology to understand it.
What are some suggestions to how a teacher can make the class accessible to all the students without robbing any student of the education that they deserve?
Hmmm... That is a tough one... I can attest to that because I grew up overseas for most of my life with people who never had the availability of computers or technology in general. I think the best answer for this is not to make it a learning barrier for students, but to use it as a tool to help you teach them. In other words, entice them with technology, because it is fascinating to someone who has never seen it before. Just make it easy for them. I remember I wasn't and am still not the best typer on a computer, but my teachers knew that I was going to need it in the future and pushed me to get better at it. However, they didn't force me to become the best typer ever, they just made it more necessary for me to type. The thing about humans is that we have the capability to learn new things, and we eventually make them routine. I think this is how a teacher should go about teaching someone who is technology illiterate.
ReplyDeleteI think this is really interesting to consider and I'll admit I hadn't thought about it before. It's not really possible for students growing up in America today to really be fully technologically illiterate, since in some way they are bound to have interaction with some sort of technology. But definitely in the case of immigrant students, it is very possible. I think that this is an instance where a teacher would have to be intentional about finding resources for the student so that they could get extra help, and even find partners in the school or community to help the student along.
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