Editor's
Note
Imagining
a Technology Blackout Day
Imagine for
a moment what it would be like if we had a day long technology black
out. What would our lives be like for that 24 hour period of time
without access to televisions, radios, computers, cell phones, or
handheld devices? What would it be like without the technologies we
depend on day in and day out--the ones we reach for without thinking?
This is exactly what the first ever Imagine a Technology Blackout
Day (NITBOD)
is all about on April 20, 2005. The State Educational Technology Directors
Association (SETDA),
the host for this event, wants students, teachers, administrators,
parents, and lawmakers to recognize the increasingly vital role technology
plays in education, and to acknowledge how crucial technology literacy
skills are for our students of the 21st century. It is the hope of
SETDA
that those who participate in this event will “analyze and share
the impact technology has on closing the achievement gap, enhancing
accountability, and increasing teacher quality--not to mention providing
a 21st century environment for students to learn, share and grow.”
By reading
the articles in this edition of Meridian you can certainly imagine
the impact a technology blackout day would have on our schools. The
first of our two feature articles looks at how adolescent boys and
girls conceptualize and use computers in the current computer culture,
while the second article explores Internet filtering and restricted
Internet access in schools, a different type of technology “blackout,”
but one with equally significant impact.
The first
of our two in practice articles looks at revitalizing staff development
by incorporating PDAs, while our second article highlights students’
authentic learning through an interdisciplinary study using spatial
technology with Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and Geographic Information
Systems (GIS). Additionally, we have an update to an earlier Meridian
article that spotlights students using video.
We at Meridian
are proud to support SETDA’s
mission with articles such as these that show students excited and
motivated by real-life applications of technologies that are, indeed,
preparing them for crucial 21st century technology literacy skills.
Imagining
a technology blackout for our schools is difficult but even more so
frightening when we realize it could actually happen. SETDA’s
2005 National Trends Report finds that “nearly a quarter of
the states report that the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) II D funds
are the only source of funds local education associations (LEAs) award
to schools for technology. Another 50% of states identify these funds
as their ‘primary’ source for educational technology funding.”
Seemingly ignoring these statistics, the Administration has asked
Congress to consider eliminating NCLB’s Enhancing Education
Through Technology (EETT) program which is currently helping to fund,
among other things, technology opportunities for rural students. As
our federal and state governments falter in their support of technology
for schools, an imagined blackout could become a very unimaginable
reality.
2005 National
Trends Report. Retrieved April 11, 2005, from the State Educational
Technology Directors Association Web site: http://www.setda.org/content.cfm?sectionID=185
Anne Akers
Co-Editor, Meridian: A Middle School Computer Technologies Journal
