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It is no debate that technology has become
number one on public agenda when it comes to schools. At least, it is no debate in my mind with the growth in the
amount of technology that has been thrown into our schools and classrooms. But, I still have a question about all
of this technology into the classroom.
Obviously the state plays a huge role in the ed tech policy throughout
the state of Indiana, but are they playing a good role?
If you were asked what they new and “hot”
technology of today’s schools was, you would most likely say I-Pads, and
personally I would say you were right.
That being said, I’m not going to talk about this, I would like to dive
deeper into the bases of all technology, the Internet. Without having accessible Internet in
the classrooms, I-Pads are pretty much pointless. So what percentage of schools do you think have Internet
access in their school??
In 2010-2011, the Indiana Department of
Education spent roughly 4.3 million dollars towards 22 schools for “Classroom
Innovation Grants.” That is a lot
of money for schools to use to add technology to the classrooms, but what about
the basic Internet in other schools?
What percentage of computers in classrooms do you think have access to
Internet the students can use??
Any ideas? Well according
to National Center for Education Statistics, 93% of these computers have access
to Internet.
I don’t know about you, but that was surprising
to me, I personally thought that number would have been a great deal lower than
it is. Technology runs on that one
thing called the Internet and it is the base to start building off of. However, from looking at that
statistic, it would seem as though the schools are set up with a solid base to
start building off of. That
ties back into the thought about how they got that base, the answer… Indiana
policies. So all of that being
said, I personally think that the state government plays a huge/important role
in the educational technology policy that is created and are a big factor in these
technologies.
"How Indiana Schools Are Integrating Technology In The
Classroom." Indiana RSS. State
Impact, n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2013.
"Fast Facts." Fast
Facts. Ies, n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2013.
I am still surprised that Indiana does not have 100% of its schools and computers connected to the internet. I think it is odd that we spend millions on some schools to have ipads or smart boards, but other schools can't even get on the internet. I think a high importance would have been placed on equality for all schools first. With that said, I am sure that the schools with Ipads and other technologies have written grants and acquired the money. This makes me want to know if the schools that are do not have internet are attempting to get it through the same grants. All of this is very interesting to me.
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