Technology through the eyes of babes

I interviewed four students at a rural NC school in the county where I work in central office. I conducted interviews in a fifth grade teacher's class. Two children's names were picked out of the teacher's name bin, and she chose two more. Three were girls, one of the girls was white and the other three children were African-American (which reflected the racial make-up of the class, and the school). The school is a Title I school, and a Reading First school. They have not made AYP in two years, so parents had the option of moving children to an "opt-out school." When I conducted the interviews, I was only in my third week of working in the district so, I was anxious to see what technology students had available to them.

The first question threw each of them a bit. One girl asked me to explain what I meant by technology, and the other three named ovens, lights and microwave ovens in their list of what they had at home. All of them had TV's VCR and DVD players, some sort of gaming product, like GameBoy, Nintendo, or both. All of their parents have cell phones, and most had digital cameras (and the moms were the ones who were the ones who used them). Each child also had a computer in the house, although one girl's was her aunt's laptop. The girls, Princess Mia, Red, and Alijah (I let them choose their own pseudonyms) all used the computer for online games, Study Island, and for "writing reports," but all three admitted that they usually resorted to the computer when they were bored. "Snake," however, was much more excited about the games and he was also more aware of the technology in the house, but he even admitted the computer was a last resort for something to do (when they said their favorite thing, it was to ride their bikes).

These kids have access to a lot of technology in their classroom and school. Each classroom has four (relatively new) computers wired to the internet, a cd player, TV's and VCR's, and Smart Boards (new this year). The school has a digital projector, digital camera and video camera. Students mostly use the computer for study skills (Study Island) and testing (Accelerated Reader, Accelerated Math, etc). However, they did mention that they have used the computers for research, and typing their writing. All of these children reported learning to use technology by watching a relative use it, having a relative show them how, or just by playing around on it.

Snake was the only students who actually got excited in thinking about the technology he wished he had- at home and at school. He seemed to really connect technology to learning, whereas the girls thought about it as a production tool. For example, Red, a horse lover, wanted a digital camera to take pictures of people with handicaps working with horses (she wants to be a physical therapist who utilizes horses when she grows up- cool!!). She would like to use the photos to keep as inspiration as she goes through college. (cool!!) Snake, however, wants a Wii to play in virtual reality.

I was thoroughly surprised (pleasantly) that these children have as much access to computers and other technology that they do. Each of them were also excited about the possibilities the Smart Boards can present. They thought teaching teachers about them would be very good. Overall, the schools are trying to give students every opportunity they can to provide them with a technology rich environment (even though half the school buildings are very antiquated). It appears that girls have less of an interest in using the technology for entertainment purposes, but all students realize that computers, dvd's, and the internet are tools for learning.