Apr 7, 2009

Easily Distrac...

Yeah Baby! BEDA #7 and Going Strong! My flock of followers is overwhelming me with comments and I just can't keep up! Who knew that library and education research would be so intriguing? (thinking ...resist the urge to write edutainment that is snarky, crass, and basically unworthy of my time just as a ploy for more readers.)

So, yesterday I mentioned that I would discuss more about "what I would do differently" if I were in charge of my own school. I alluded that this blog would be about Internet connectivity for students/families who could not afford a line.

Today, I discussed one to one computing and digital divide with one of my peers Kym Kramer, doctoral candidate at IU. Well, calling her my peer is generous to me, because she knows a hell of a lot more than I do about the world of school libraries and also (wondering... should tell these people I am mentioning their names in my blogs...)

Anyway, she mentioned something about the Bush regime causing a greater rift in the digital divide and something like it being more expensive to get Internet connections and therefor is (speculating.... will the evil residue stain of the last 8 years ever wash off our educational system...)

So instead of brainstorming with you, my imaginary audience, and just articulating the "problem" in my head before I go out and get the real information, I am going to pretend I am one of my YA students and multi task and (googling... Bush Digital Divide... is there a better search strand like maybe, oh, here is one...).

Right, it looks like I found an article on edutopia.com that (listening... husband talking about his car battery dying at soccer practice and now he needs too...). Umm, Oh yeah, anyway, discusses how the Bush Regime thinks federal funding is no longer necessary because of the fast rate of growth for Internet usage in America. OK, well, yeah, for the more affluent people (80% of these school children with Internet in their homes) but not for the poverty line households (less than 30% of these school children with Internet in their homes).

It turns out that general statistics of Internet usage in American, without controlling for specific socioeconomic criteria, convinced Conservative leaders that continuous grant funding for technology in homes would not be slated for renewal and instead (thinking... WT!? Where did these people come from? No Rich, White, English Speaking Child Left Behind World. I can picture it now, myspace is a sparkly white testament to our society's abilities to...).

I guess I am not the only one distracted. This article (swearing... I can't find the original publication date, shame on you edutopia, I thought you would have a higher level of ...) and it discussed events "to happen" in 2003. Six years later, what are we doing about the digital divide? Has it been off the agenda since then? Is the Obama administration including this in the stimulus plan? How could I find funding for my "dream school" to make sure all my kids had access? Oh crap, now I have six more research questions to track down and (pondering... I wonder if @cantconcentrate every replied to my DM of if I should RT that request for...).

Oh, hello "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins. Don't we have a date tonight?


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