Week 10 Discussion Post, Participation Gap

I am not a full time teacher yet, but the subject field of the participation gap that is existent in schools is a topic that needs to be written about more. As stated in the discussion question, the participation gap is held by students that realize that they do not have the same opportunities, resources, and/or knowledge, which then then use to form a low self-worth or have issues with identity. The decreased value of themselves that they see, in turn, affects there participation in school or halts their drive to succeed. Many factors can be prevalent in an issue such as one like this, however, since this is a web-design course, we can talk about how technology can play a role in this.

I only have two different teaching experiences, one was during my practicum in a diverse middle class area with a very high access to technology, and my student teaching in a similar district demographically, just with less access to technology. My practicum classroom, was a middle school classroom where each student was given their own Chromebook and participated digitally in the teacher's Google Classroom website. The class I student taught in had a projector in the classroom, and had access to computer labs if the teacher reserved the lab for particular dates.

The middle school students I taught were very proficient in technology at such a young age. They new how to download documents, annotate pdfs on the computer, conduct research, and understand the workings of Google Classroom. I am not too sure if all the high school students in my student teaching experience were able to do the same. Most of them did know how to use certain google apps, and conduct basic research. Although they did not have their own personal computers in the classroom, I think they were pretty knowledgeable in digital literacy mainly due from their personal experiences with smartphones, laptops, and other devices.

Although the students from my student teaching did not have as many resources in the classroom, they still had enough resources out of school that they were able to participate in the classroom. However, what about the students that do not have those resources inside or outside of the classroom? What if a school cannot afford computers for the students, and families cannot afford to have laptops? This can affect those students in the long run. Students who might not have the resources outside of school might not have the right skill set to keep up inside a classroom. On the other hand students without any resources that others have might have difficulty in the future when it comes to aspects like getting into college, or getting a job. The reason for that is mainly because since they do not have the resources, they do not have the experience using them. So when they get into the job market or into a college class, that student can fall behind. For this reason, educators must find a way to close this participation/educational gap. This is why we need creative teachers in districts that might have a lot of resources, because they can have the students build their critical thinking and inquiry skills that can help them face the challenges that they have ahead and overcome them.