Until I got to high school I had little experience with technology in the classroom. There was one computer laboratory for the entire school. Computer class would take place once a week. It was very exciting to walk into the room and get to play with the computer for a period. There were no projectors, computers, or any fancy gadget in my classrooms...just chalk and a blackboard.
Nowadays this is very different. Most schools are equipped with multiple computer laboratories and some even have at least one computer on each classroom for the teacher to use. Projectors are at the disposition of the teacher and the traditional blackboard has started to be replaced with the fancy smart-board. In a matter of a couple of years the presence of technology in the classroom and in the lives of children seems to be ubiquitous. This has many benefits, of course, but let's not forget that technology is, after all, a commodity and that it can be very expensive. What happens if you are teaching in an urban, low income area where not all of your students have access to a computer and internet from home? Some students feel self conscious and might not even tell the teacher about their situation. They continually show up to class without certain research assignments done and you start wondering why. Some parents even attempt to limit the amount of exposure their children have to technology by cutting down on television and computer time. Technology is everywhere, but we have to remember that it may not accessible to everyone the same way.
I think in order to make myself aware of individual student’s situation and know what tools they can access, I would simply give a short survey at the beginning of term to find out if all students have access to a computer, the internet, a printer, etc. Based on the results I would know if certain students need accommodations to be made and what kind of help they would need from me, if any.
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