The document discusses challenges related to English learners and technology. It questions whether schools are closing the digital divide for students and preparing them to be engaged digital citizens. It also discusses the costs of digital exclusion and how content, not just access, can create barriers. While a digital divide exists along racial and income lines, becoming deeper issues of generation, culture and education. The document advocates for rethinking assumptions about literacy, learning, and assessment to ensure all students can meet technology standards and participate in a global, digital society.
2. English learners in the digital age:English learners in the digital age:
natives, immigrants, or outsiders?natives, immigrants, or outsiders?
Ruslana Westerlund, Ed.D. (Cand.)
Collaboration Convention and unConference,
November 11-12, 2010
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4. Questions to be addressed:Questions to be addressed:
If our students are tomorrow’s world citizens,
are we serving as agents of change to close not
only the achievement gap, but also the digital gap
that exists among our students?
Do we view technology literacy as literacy
worthy of our pursuit?
Do we have a sense of urgency to prepare our
students to be engaged digital citizens or do we
still believe that media competes with literacy?
What are the costs of the digital exclusion to our
schools, communities, and the world?
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5. Social Inclusion & DemocracySocial Inclusion & Democracy
““To communicate in the post-modernTo communicate in the post-modern
society is the power to interact withsociety is the power to interact with
networks of information. It is not sufficientnetworks of information. It is not sufficient
to have a free mind, if our words cannotto have a free mind, if our words cannot
circulate like the words of others.”circulate like the words of others.”
Sergio Amadeu de SilvaSergio Amadeu de Silva
The National Institute of Information Technology,The National Institute of Information Technology,
San Paulo BrazilSan Paulo Brazil
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7. Digital Divide in the U.S.Digital Divide in the U.S.
The digital divide occurs along racial and
ethnic lines, where income, language, social
networks, and education influencin
technology access and literacy (2005 data):
77% of white children have Internet access
at home, compared to 40% of black and
Latino children. 86% of white children have a
home computer, while only half of black and
Latino children do.
American Indians have lower rates of
computer ownership and Internet access
than whites.
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8. Offline in AmericaOffline in America
source: U.S. Department of Commerce, A Nation Online, 2004source: U.S. Department of Commerce, A Nation Online, 2004
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9. ““Don’t need it, not interested in it.”Don’t need it, not interested in it.”
18% of those not online answered:
◦ “I’m not interested in anything on the Internet.”
This exceeds the 12% who said they either weren’t
sure who to use the Internet or couldn’t afford a
computer.1
A Children’s Partnership report on online content
reveals “not interested” means “content/information
is not designed for me, or my family or my
community”.2
1.Pew Internet and American Life Study, 2005
2. Wendy Lazarus and Francisco Mora “Online Content for Low-Income and
Underserved Americans: The Digital Divide's New Frontier”
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10. CONTENT, NOT ACCESS BARRIERS AND SOLUTIONSCONTENT, NOT ACCESS BARRIERS AND SOLUTIONS
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11. e lingua franca?e lingua franca?
70% of website pages70% of website pages
are in Englishare in English
70% of the worlds70% of the worlds
population doesn’t speakpopulation doesn’t speak
English as their primaryEnglish as their primary
languagelanguage
2000 U.S. census:2000 U.S. census:
18% of residents report18% of residents report
English is not theEnglish is not the
primary language spokenprimary language spoken
at homeat home
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12. Deeper Causes for
THE Digital Divide
a generational issue
a cultural issue
an educational issue:
do you have the
basic training to use
it?I’m hungry. If we had a computer, we would
have been able to order it on the computer
Julian: Mom, can you make some blueberry muffins?
Mom: Julian, I don’t have a recipe to make blueberry muffins.
Julian (age 5): You can google it.
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13. Left brain, right brain, new brainLeft brain, right brain, new brain
The Internet is nothing
less than the equivalent of
a the development of
phonetic alphabet in
ancient Greece.
Students are acquiring
new desirable skills:
◦ Networking
◦ Associative Logic
◦ Graphic Literacy
◦ Information Space
◦ Multi-tasking 13
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14. Power of ICTPower of ICT
User-driven media is exploding around
the globe – this is not a western fad
Blogs are being created in places like
China and Singapore, where traditional
media is restricted
Human rights and indigenous democracy
movements benefit from instant,
international attention
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15. Power of ICTPower of ICT
People without a voice in the mainstream
media or with limited political
representation can use the Internet to
become active participants in civil
discourse and engage others in campaigns
for positive change.
Let’s look at some examples
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16. Burma VJ: Reporting from a closedBurma VJ: Reporting from a closed
countrycountry
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17. “Students see themselves as change-
makers!”
Multimedia enhances project-based
learning (Edutopia Expeditionary
Learning)
Students as Critical Consumers of Media
18. reThink Literacy…reThink Literacy…
ICT provides new opportunities for
knowledge creation, should we expand
our (centuries-old) definition and our
assumptions of literacy?
What is your definition of literacy?
Discuss with the people at your table.
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19. Technology Literacy is:Technology Literacy is:
The ability to responsibly, creatively, and
effectively use appropriate technology to:
◦ Communicate
◦ Access, collect, manage, integrate, and
evaluate information
◦ Solve problems and create solutions
◦ Build and share knowledge; and
◦ Improve and enhance learning in all subject
areas and experiences.
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20. ISTE’s National EducationalISTE’s National Educational
Technology Standards for StudentsTechnology Standards for Students
Creativity and Innovation: students
should be able to use technology and
their existing knowledge to generate new
ideas, products, processes.
Communication and Collaboration:
students should be able to work
collaboratively, both in person and at a
distance, and to communicate ideas
effectively to multiple audiences using
new media.
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21. ISTE’s National EducationalISTE’s National Educational
Technology Standards for StudentsTechnology Standards for Students
Research and information fluency:
students should be able to use a variety
of digital media to locate, organize,
analyze, and evaluate information from a
variety of sources.
Critical thinking, problem solving, and
decision making: students should be able
to define problems, plan and conduct
research, and identify solutions using
digital tools and resources.
22. ISTE’s National EducationalISTE’s National Educational
Technology Standards for StudentsTechnology Standards for Students
Digital citizenship: students should take
responsibility for their own lifelong
learning and should practice safe, legal,
and ethical use of information and digital
tools.
Technology operations and concepts:
Students should understand technology
systems, select and use technology
applications effectively, and be able to
troubleshoot systems and applications.
25. Learning: Engage and EmpowerLearning: Engage and Empower
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National Education Technology Plan 2010 released November
2010. US Department of Education. Office of Educational
Technology
26. Assessment: Measure What MattersAssessment: Measure What Matters
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National Education Technology Plan 2010 released November
2010. US Department of Education. Office of Educational
Technology
27. Teaching: Prepare and ConnectTeaching: Prepare and Connect
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National Education Technology Plan 2010 released November
2010. US Department of Education. Office of Educational
Technology
28. reThink assumptions…
Rethink basic assumptions about
◦ “seat-time” measures of educational
attainment created in 1800’s.
◦ Age-determined groups,
◦ Structure separate academic disciplines,
◦ Organize learning into classes of roughly
equal size with all the students in a particular
class receiving the same content at the same
pace, and keep these groups place all year
31. Working toward Social InclusionWorking toward Social Inclusion
Technology should combat social
exclusion, not reinforce it
“Access” is not about computers and the
Internet – it’s about social inclusion and
equity
Participation in the global, knowledge-
based economy requires the ability to
access and manage information
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32. Closing questions:Closing questions:
Define your current reality: Are your
English Learners digital natives,
immigrants, or outsiders?
Vision for the future: Where do you
want your students to be?
Getting it done: What are the next steps
you can take?
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33. References:References:
Cummins, J., Brown, K., Sawyers, D. (2007)
Literacy, technology, and diversity. Teaching for
success in changing times. Boston, MA: Allyn
Bacon.
Transforming American Education: Learning
Powered by Technology. National Education
Technology Plan 2010 released November 2010.
US Department of Education. Office of
Educational Technology
http://www.ed.gov/sites/default/files/netp2010.pdf
Lazarus, W.,& Mora, F. (2005) “Online Content
for Low-Income and Underserved Americans:
The Digital Divide's New Frontier”
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Notas del editor
This presentation will focus on a larger picture to understand the world for which we are preparing our students.
Give credit to Digital Access.org
Sergio Amadeu de Silva is the head of the National Institute of Information Technology (ITI) and father of the Telecentros.
Digital Divide Around the World:
The categories included in Digital Access Index are: Infrastructure (number of fixed and mobile subscribers), Affordability (internet access price as percentage of the Gross National Income per capita), Knowledge (adult literacy and school enrolment level), Quality (international bandwidth per capita and broadband subscribers) and Usage (internet users).
Top 10 Countries are:
Sweden
Denmark
Iceland
South Korea
Norway
Netherlands
Hong Kong
Finland
Taiwan
Canada
Bottom Five:
Guinea Bisseau
Chad
Mali
Burkina Faso
Niger
A Nation Online?
Spanish-speaking Latinos have strikingly low rates of computer ownership and home Internet use.
60% of all workers used a computer at work – which means their jobs required computer literacy. It also means that those individuals found a job, an activity which, in itself, increasingly requires Internet access and savvy.
Content Barriers Cited by Low-Income Adults
it's never been cheaper to get onto the Net than today. People need to get their heads on straight about this.
While that might be true, there might be deeper causes around the divide than simply cost.
Prensky’s words: Digital natives, digital immigrants
Julian: Mom, can you make some blueberry muffins?
Mom: Julian, I don’t’ have a recipe to make blueberry muffins.
Julian (age 5): You can google it.
Why did poetry, drama, philosophy, mathematics, and science develop so quickly and powerfully in Ancient Greece?
Most scholars attribute these developments to the Greeks' creation of a phonetic alphabet.
ICT = information and communication technology
Media is a misnomer
“Armed with pocket-sized video cameras, a tenacious band of Burmese reporters face down death to expose the repressive regime controlling their country. In 2007, after decades of self-imposed silence, Burma became headline news across the globe when peaceful Buddhist monks led a massive rebellion. More than 100,000 people took to the streets protesting a cruel dictatorship that has held the country hostage for more than 40 years. Foreign news crews were banned, the Internet was shut down, and Burma was closed to the outside world. So how did we witness these events? Enter the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), aka the Burma VJs. Compiled from the shaky handheld footage of the DVB, acclaimed filmmaker Anders Ostergaard’s Burma VJ pulls us into the heat of the moment as the VJs themselves become the target of the Burmese government. Their tactical leader, code-named Joshua, oversees operations from a safe hiding place in Thailand. Via clandestine phone calls, Joshua dispenses his posse of video warriors, who covertly film the abuses in their country, then smuggle their footage across the border into Thailand. Joshua ships the footage to Norway, where it is broadcast back to Burma and the world via satellite. Burma VJ plays like a thriller, all the more scary because it is true.”
“Media” should not compete with literacy, it adds layers
The International Society for Technology in Education
This is a model of learning powered by Technology. In contrast to traditional classroom instruction, which often consists of a single educator transmitting the same information to all learners in the same way, the model puts students at the center and empowers them to take control of their own learning by providing flexibility on several dimensions. A core set of standards-based concepts and competencies form the basis of what all students should learn, but beyond that students and educators have options for engaging learning: large groups, small groups, and activities to individual goals, needs, and interests.