Comments on: Reflections from NECC – Equity, Diversity, Social Justice

By: Jon Becker

Jon Becker — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 03:30:26 +0000

Hi Joan,
Better late than never, especially to this post. In what seems like an eternity ago, I was involved in a project called the Cyberspace Regionalization Project. The idea was to connect students like yours with students in a low-income area via a very early days form of videoconferencing. One part of the Project was for students to have a joint, virtual science fair. It was a neat idea that was ahead of its time. And, interestingly, one of the teachers in the school like yours was none other than Will Richardson.

I think it’d be really interesting to figure out ways to connect kids from different socioeconomic circumstances around virtual chemistry activities. I don’t, though, know exactly how to facilitate such a project. I will send out a “tweet” to ask people to come here to see if they can help or if they have other ideas.

By: Joan Gallagher

Joan Gallagher — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 19:57:46 +0000

Sorry to be joining the conversation MONTHS late, but I saw the reference on Twitter…Really think this is an incredibly important discussion. I wonder if anyone has a suggestion for me. I’m a veteran chemistry teacher. I’m also pretty tech savvy. I teach in an affluent suburb with plenty of resources. Anyone know of curriculum (or any ideas) being done where someone like myself can reach out in a meaningful, authentic, doable way to areas that don’t have as much? I would love to find a way to make these connections, to bridge the divide. My students would grow from the experience as well…

By: Cory Plough

Cory Plough — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 18:28:59 +0000

Well NECC just reflects the digital divide perfectly then. Those that have are here, those that don’t can’t be here and the divide expands. Maybe NECC can offer a scholarship program to bring in people who can’t afford to come but want to present on topics that offer a wider vision of our education community.

By: Jon Becker

Jon Becker — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 21:51:29 +0000

Thanks, Sheri. YES, let’s keep the conversation going. I’m strongly considering writing to ISTE to see if they’re attentive to issues of equity, diversity, social justice, etc.

By: Sheri

Sheri — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 06:21:59 +0000

I’m white. I teach Native American students. To reach them in order to teach them, I need to care and know them. Their lives make school irrelevant; my content must be authentic. My students are often virtually connected in some way (cell phones, someone with a computer, iPods) so they KNOW what’s out there. It’s a shame in this country that everyone does not have good opportunities to be connected to each other and to the content that others have at their fingertips. It’s not just a lack of equity in schools. I will find a way to connect with my students — virtually and in person. And together we will learn to be ethical and responsible in our efforts. Let’s keep the conversation moving until every blog begins to find an answer. Thanks.

By: Technicolor

Technicolor — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 02:53:13 +0000

Hello. Great conversation for a problem that is so evident, it baffles me how there are not more conversations about a lack of diversity in most educational technology arenas. I think its safe to say that there was 1 african-american for every 10 to 12 whites at NECC. For some reason, I, as an African-American woman, felt that I was outside of all conversations. I wanted to listen, to meet, to converse, to convene and connect, but was not given an opportunity. We as educators have to come together, black, white, hispanic, asian, etc., because like it or not, students like those from Douglas High, who are being left behind, are the people we will be depending on in the near future. They are our future. As a black woman, I have always taught in predominately black districts, and strive to find out what other districts are doing that are successful. It seems to me that alot of those who are big names in technology are really there to pat themselves on the back, while our students are suffering and falling in the widening digital divide. We have to come together, we have to have conversations with each other. Perhaps people were afraid to talk to me, a young black woman, because of outdated stereotypes. I am not a stereotype, I am a woman who recognizes that a problem exists, and I am willing to work with any and everyone to find a way to stop it before it gets out of hand.

By: Jon Becker

Jon Becker — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 15:52:31 +0000

Fair enough, Chris, but then what? Just shrug our shoulders and accept the status quo? If we accept the status quo, the gap between the haves and the have nots will only grow. Also, how did Chicago Public Schools manage to send a huge contingent here?

So, cost may explain the homogeneity of the population at NECC. But, I’m equally concerned that there are no conversations that problematize the lack of diversity and no conversations about how we might use all of these tools to work with those most in need. Where are the demonstrations of teachers working with students to use technology for social justice purposes?

I could go on. But, I was just walking through the exhibit hall and I have to temper my rage…

By: Chris Lehmann

Chris Lehmann — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 15:19:22 +0000

Let’s be honest… with rising airline fares, etc… it is VERY expensive to get to NECC. How many of us from urban districts or districts with high poverty levels can get here? I wish I had a contingent of School District of Philadelphia people here with us — I wish I had more SLA teachers here. But there is a funding issue around it. It cost $2000 to send Marcie and me here. That’s a budget nightmare for us, but we thought NECC was important for SLA, so here we are. We’re a laptop school with a clear reason to be here. How many other urban schools that are making impossible choices around funding are going to make that choice? How many should?

By: Jon Becker

Jon Becker — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 13:40:38 +0000

Thanks for stopping by and commenting, Ben and Emily. I don’t know that I (we?) are the first to raise these issues; I doubt it. So, I’m hoping others will find or be directed to my post. We’ll see. I do have some direct connections to ISTE’s CEO ( I even have his cell #!), so I know I’ll have an opportunity to speak with some high-ranking ISTE folks about this at some point. Unfortunately, I need to get home and won’t be able to attend the Digital Equity Summit today. My colleague will be there and I’ll debrief with him to see what was discussed there. I have a feeling, though, that those conversations will be about the larger policy context (certainly important issues) and not about ISTE or NECC per se. Again, we’ll see.
Please do “stay in touch” and let’s continue to push these issues along.

By: Emily Kornblut

Emily Kornblut — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 12:58:20 +0000

My unsettled feeling about the lack of diversity here at NECC kicked in at 8 AM Sunday morning. I found your post by way of Ben Wilkoff, who wondered if my organization was presenting here. We failed to put any of the diversity buzzwords in our session proposals (probably for the same reason you and your colleagues joke about them), but completely agree that the social justice conversation needs to be had, and yes, it has to move the usual conversations outside the echo chamber. It’s a two fold problem – lack of representation of all the kinds of people who should be here, but also seriously falling short on the social justice reasons for technology in education. Thank you for getting the dialogue going on this – and would love to be part of moving it forward.