Kim's Journal # 6

JOURNAL # 6
Social Justice: Choice or Necessity?
By Colleen Swain and David Edyburn

This article was very interesting to me. I never really thought about technology as a form of social justice. I have considered the issue of who has access to technology, but not in the framework of social justice. I believe that sometimes as educators we are bombarded with so many issues that we actually forget that there are solutions.
According to the authors, access to technology is only the first step. Being technologically fluent is a necessity to compete in our “global, technologically, and information-based society.” I find the framework provided by Swain and Edyburn to be very helpful. The article serves as a guide for teachers.

QUESTION # 1

The writers suggest that one way to equitably implement technology is to monitor teacher and student progress over time. Why is it important to monitor teacher progress and technology use over time?

Teachers can’t teach what they don’t know. If a teacher is not technologically fluent, the students are not accessing the skills that are vital to their learning.

QUESTION # 2

Swain and Edyburn also suggest that reflection is a key aspect of adopting a social justice framework. Why is reflection an important component of social justice?

Reflection allows the individual to evaluate and re-evaluate each lesson. Some questions for consideration would include:

What strategies worked well?
What needs improvement?
Who benefited from the lesson?
Did everyone have access?
What recommendations would you make for the future?