Technology in the Schools

How is it with all the new technology available out there that our kids get the cheap left-overs for their education?  I guess people in the community feel like if they "donate" their old computers to the schools that they are helping kids learn and stay up-to-date with technolgy? Whatever!  Actually, most of these donated items cannot even be used and simply get dumped.  Others can be kept as free-standing computers in our classrooms but cannot be hooked through our servers because they are so old.  Kids could play games or type on them, but only one at a time at that.

Yes, we do receive funds to purchase new equipment for the kids, but how many kids in a school of over 800 can really be taught using ONE Smart board in ONE lab with only 25 computers?  With over 40 homerooms, kids can usually see a computer lab one to two times per MONTH if they are lucky and nobody has workshops to attend.  Rarely do they touch digital cameras, thumb flash drives, CD burners, or any of the other incredibly common items out there that most adults have become very familiar with.  They master few if any programs such as Word, Excel, and Power Point.  Most of my students don't even know how to capitalize letters using the Shift key!  They hit the space bar 5 times before starting a paragraph instead of just tabbing over, and if they make a mistake ANYWHERE in a paper, they push delete until they get back to the mistake and correct it, then retype the rest. 

When we discuss saving any files they have, they are still learning how to use the "floppy" disk (which most new computers don't even now have!)  They are completely unaware of the concept of stored data, the size of it, how to retrieve it, or even where it goes.  Some are aware of a thumb drive, but don't have a clue how to operate it. 

This is sad.  As a teacher, I think kids should know this by the time they are finishing elementary school.  My son had his own folder on my desktop (which he made himself) to keep all his data in by the time he was 4 or 5.  But I worked with him and he had access to a decent computer on a regular basis.  Unfortunately, if a child does not get the opportunity at home (which many do not - believe it or not), school is their only avnue to explore technology.  Unfortunately, by the time they learn what is available to them at school, it will be so outdated they will have to start all over again when they get out!  We simply need to find a way - financially and logistically - to make technology in the schools a priority!