“digital divide in education goes beyond the issue of access to technology”

Through my blog browsing (in this case, Tony Bates’ e-learning and distance education resources site) I have found information about a book published within the past week or so from the Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (2010) Are the New Millenium Learners Making the Grade? Paris: OECD

I did a bit of exploring of the parts of the book that are freely available online (seems to be actually most of the book), and learned that the second digital divide (deeper than the issue of access – which is rapidly fading as a concern) refers to students who may appear to be “savvy” with technology but who, in fact, are not “critical and creative users of technology”.  This may not seem particularly new (lots of us have speculated about this) but what is truly interesting is that the report is highly research-based which gives a credibility to conclusions such as:

• 7. ICT familiarity matters for educational performance… differences associated with the length of time students have been using a computer remain once socio-economic background is accounted for
  
• 8. There is a stronger correlation between educational performance and frequency of computer use at home than at school.

and policy implications such as:

• 4. Adopt holistic policy approaches to ICT in education
• 5. Adapt school learning environments…. students should be able to locate and use a computer at any time, according to the particular needs of their individual and team assignments…. governments should provide the conditions for them to flourish and should assess their effects.
  

Let’s hope that policy makers look at this very closely.

CBC’s Spark (and others) on cellphones for learning

Our CBC (Canadian Broadcast Company) has a great series of interview/podcasts focusing on technology. Hosted by Nora Young, the series is called Spark. A couple of recent interviews have been with teachers (Homer Spring and Marie Bjerede) who use cellphones in the classroom and have experienced some good results. I encourage folks to contribute to the feedback on the CBC site if you have thoughts on this topic.

http://www.cbc.ca/spark/2010/04/full-interview-homer-spring-on-cell-phones-in-the-classroom/

http://www.cbc.ca/spark/2010/03/full-interview-marie-bjerede-on-cell-phones-in-the-classroom/

I’ve posted about mobile learning previously (e.g. http://elizabethtweets.wordpress.com/2010/04/06/228/ ) in the context of literacy in developing nations. Because mobile devices are accessible in ways that computers have not been, rural areas in Africa and elsewhere are finding that technology is finally accessible to them and the benefits to literacy seem very obvious.  It’s interesting to compare the North American views, where cellphones are often banned from the classroom. In fact, when teachers decide to include mobile devices as part of the learning repertoire, the results can make headline news (see the links below).

http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100426/NEWS/100429736

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2010/apr/25/pa-students-use-phones-to-discuss-bullying/life-education/

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2p6iUw/www.eschoolnews.com/2010/04/22/panel-cell-phones-have-much-potential-in-classrooms/

At the same time, when I read about cellphone/internet addiction http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE63M4QN20100423?feedType=RSS&feedName=technologyNews&utm_source=Reuters&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=reuters+tech+news I believe that misuse is a real possibility – again pointing to the need for strategies to support thoughtful use of these types of tools.

I’m hoping that a good conversation will emerge from this. How can a learning environment be designed to maximize what’s good about mobile learning and reduce the potential problems?

#edchat

Here’s a tweet that is worth thinking about

@tomwhitby proof Web 2.0 are having a positive impact..at my cancer dr’s office checking #edchat on my iPhone

Tom Whitby is the author of a great educational blog that I follow http://tomwhitby.wordpress.com/ – he calls his blog #edchat — but #edchat is also a regular event on Twitter… where topics are decided on by online voting and all tweets on that topic are to include the hashtag #edchat. If you’re on twitter, and you search for (or use) that hashtag, you’ll be immersed in a conversation with people you’ve never met sharing an interest in education. It’s fascinating!

And the ability to be engaged in this fashion while waiting for a medical appointment is pretty amazing.  Perhaps this is sort of a “poster moment” for understanding social media.  And it’s allowing us to share ideas that go beyond technology… for instance, the industrial model.

A recent and great blog post of Tom’s is here on exactly that topic along with thoughtful responses.

http://tomwhitby.wordpress.com/2010/04/07/education-industry/

Again — exemplary use of social media.

Cell Phones for Literacy

Not much more to do here than quote from what Scott Isbrandt has written:

“The recent proliferation of cell phones in Africa has now meant that it is possible to bridge the informational access gap”.

Check out the complete article (includes a great video)

http://www.isbrandt.com/index.html