Sundeen,
T. H. & Sundeen, D. M. (2013). Instructional Technology for Rural Schools:
Access and Acquisition. Rural
Special Education Quarterly, 32 (2), 8-14.
Review
This
article was written to explain how rural school districts can obtain resources to
implement educational technology. The
authors’ belief in the importance of educational technology is identified in
the following statement, “Preparing students with 21st century
learning can be facilitated, in part, through the integration of instructional
technology into classrooms.” The authors
of this article explain the main struggle many rural school districts face in obtaining
educational technology is funding. Rural districts just do not have the large
student populations that urban districts have.
While the costs to educate students are theoretically the same, larger
districts are able to reduce the fixed cost through higher enrollments. The need for educational technology is even
higher is rural school districts because historically rural districts have high
populations of special student groups (English Language Learners, students
living in poverty, and students receiving special education services).
Educational technology can help close the language and ability gaps of these
students and those students in urban districts.
The article goes on to list technologies that are available and emerging.
What they are and how schools can use these technologies in the classroom. This article is very useful for rural
districts because in addition to describing the technologies available, it
lists the costs associated with acquiring them. The authors also explain that
educational technology can be procured through grants and names particular
grants, their funding amounts, criteria needed to qualify and deadlines.
Personal
Reaction
The
reason I chose this article to review is because I grew up in a rural school
district in the 1980’s. My school
district did not have the money that larger districts had. Today my former school district has embraced
educational technology and I believe they exceed many larger, suburban school
districts use of it. The district has
been given many grants to implement educational technology mainly because it is
a rural school district.
I think it is very important for rural school districts to pursue alternative forms of funding for technology. Students in rural districts need to be prepared to function in the 21st century. Technology is here to stay and in order for students to obtain the skills necessary to procure employment, schools must equip them with the necessary skills. It is true that schools in the urban districts have more funding available to educate students due to the large number of students, but the size of the school does not change the overall goals of education. Rural districts have the same obligations and responsibilities as urban schools and it is their duty to figure out how to fulfill these responsibilities and provide students with a quality education.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this article. I found it very interesting because I grew up in a rural school (PK-12) long ago. It kinda blew my mind when the article said that rural districts historically have a lot more special population groups. I know from our little district, this was not the case! A few years ago when I was back home visiting my former school, I was shocked to see that every classroom had Smartboards, especially since my big school district didn't have them! Maybe embracing technology is what made my former school a National Blue Ribbon School! :)
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting topic. I also reviewed an article that described a study of technology access in rural schools. These schools also received large grants for technology and teacher technology training, but after a year, the gains were not as substantial as expected. Could it be that technology access is sometimes not enough? Teachers and students should be encouraged to also take on the disposition of 21st century learners. It often may be a case of attitude over access that makes a big difference.
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone for your comments. I was able to teach in my former school district for 2 years about seven years ago. I was amazed with the technology they had even then. I was used to doing paper & pencil TPRI but when I got to the rural district they were testing using PALMS! Now when I check on them they are using SMARTboards, iPads, some type of tablet table, video conferencing during class. It's just amazing!
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