MALET Issues

An Investigation into the Unique Challenges of Online Math Instruction in a Virtual School

Digital divide[1], participation gap[2], cultural divide[3]: over the decades the language of equity issues in technology have shifted along with the technology. This shifting language reflects the way we view technology and our relationships with it. What hasn't changed is the challenge that these terms highlight-that some individuals have greater access to technology, both inside and outside the classroom.

ABSTRACT: The teaching of digital literacies is regarded as an important facet of literacy teaching in the 21st century. With many literacy tests continuing to indicate that students' levels of achievement tend to be differentiated along socioeconomic lines, it seems timely to consider the connections between home and school and how these play out in relation to digital literacies. This is particularly important in light of the considerable evidence that has demonstrated how important home-school connections are in ensuring improved traditional literacy outcomes for students from low socioeconomic backgrounds. With these points in mind, this article reports on an investigation into the usage of digital technologies in two middle-years classrooms in low socioeconomic suburbs in a regional Australian city. Using a range of ethnographic techniques, the study explored two teachers' approaches to teaching students how to use digital technologies in one school term. Through snapshots of digital practices in the two classrooms, three issues are considered: teachers' pedagogical approaches; students' access to digital technologies at home and at school; and the teachers' recognition of students' prior knowledge of digital technologies. The article concludes by reflecting on the need for teachers to draw on the digital literacies that students are using in their out-of-school lives, to make bridges to school learning and thus address the challenge of preparing students to be literate in the 21st Century.

July 31, 2015 | Sedinam Worlanyo "At high school, I had little access to assistive technology. This was because my teachers were not aware of the existing assistive technology that would be helpful to me.

Think about students in special education classrooms. Perhaps you knew these kids when you yourself were in school, or through your own children's classes. Even with this type of daily interaction, you probably don't spend much time thinking about how to improve the ways these students learn, probably because you believe as most do, that it doesn't necessarily impact you or your kids.

According to a September 2010 survey by Pew Internet, nearly three in 10 American adults (27%) live with a disability that inhibits their daily functioning. The U.S. Census Bureau, which uses a more restrictive definition of disability, estimates in mid-2012 that nearly one in five Americans (19%) live with a disability.

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities stresses that persons with disabilities should be able to participate fully in all aspects of life, including education. Nevertheless, statistics shows than a low percentage of persons with

There is broad consensus among educators, communication scholars, sociologists, and economists that the development and diffusion of information and communication technologies (ICT) are having a profound effect on modern life.

This article focuses on the experience of children with disabilities in an increasingly technology dominated world. Wise addresses many associated issues including: disparities for healthcare including children with disabilities. Certain ethical questions arise with the advent of new technology, for example terminating a childbirth because you know that the child will have some disability. In the end it comes to technology access, Wise believes. As long as there is inequity in access, technology may have a negative impact on those with special needs.

This article investigates learning and emerging technologies in a disadvantaged community in Britain. The authors recognize one of the major problems in the UK is social exclusion. The method used in the study includes interviews and observations of its subjects. What they learned is that there is a basic distrust of information in disadvantaged communities in the UK. One of the problems is the definition of information. Then recognizing the information needs of this community.

This article is about evaluating a program to expand library service to the visually impaired. This is also relevant to our module in that it is exploring access for patrons with 2 distinct disadvantages. 1) Access for special needs - expanding service to the visually impaired. 2) Rural South Africa - providing access to people in economically depressed areas. In the article, librarians are trained especially to accommodate visually impaired patrons.

This is right up my alley as a librarian. This article was delivered at a library conference concerning ethics in digital libraries. The article attempts to answer questions relevant to this module such as: How can a democratic right of access to knowledge be guaranteed? How is the integrity and sustainability of these collections economically, technically and culturally guaranteed? SOme of the answers include: How to recognize and articulate ethical conflicts in the information field. To activate their sense of responsibility with regard to the consequences of individual and collective interactions in the information field.

In this webinar, Janet Sylvia, Web Accessibility Group Leader and Web Accessibility Trainer, and Lily Bond from 3Play Media will go through 10 tips for implementing accessible online media at your institution. Looking at several different scenarios, they will discuss actionable strategies to help you find a solution that will work for you.

Accessible resources give better experiences for all users and reduces risks for your organisation - for example less risk of learners failing and less risk of disabled learners being disadvantaged. Xerte is being used with learners across the spectrum - from entry level and basic skills to undergraduates.

A look at making resources available at no cost or affordable cost so that there will be equity in access.

A look at teacher prep and professional development suggestions and opportunities to help teachers navigate the prevalence of mobile devices and uses in education.

A survey done of math teachers rating various tools for visually impaired students. Interesting read just to show the wide range of adaptive technologies that have been developed to ensure access to material for all learners.

A study into how effective MOOCS have been at realizing the goals of open education resources and the audiences that are actually taking advantage of the courses.

This brought up some good points about the effects of teacher and student perception in technology integration in the k-12 setting and some interesting statistics to consider such as "Even though schools have embraced the digital revolution, reading and mathematics test scores are at about the same level that they were 40 years ago...it is evident that the positive impact of technology does not happen automatically. Its impact is determined by how teachers use the technology in their classroom instruction, not just the acquisition of technology."