While I was watching “Digital Divides”, I continuously had the question of whether “tech high schools” were a good thing or a bad thing. My thought process on the matter is as follows. I feel that the idea of a tech high school, like the one in the movie, although having good intentions, closes more doors than it opens. Although they have very nice equipment and opportunities, the opportunities are limited to computers only. It is a simple breading ground for business professionals, and is so specialized that kids get locked into a field and area, at such a young age. Although for some this is a good thing, many kids at this age are still making up their minds as to what they want and should have the freedom to take different classes, etc. I was also thinking how unfortunate that the arts and extracurriculars are not a part of the schooling. This is another area that is vital to kids being well rounded and tech schools close this out. It was disturbing to here Kep say that he left behind libraries and the football team with his old high school.
This movie exemplified the notion of the “dual city”, the concept of some having access and some not. The kids that go to this school have access to a wide variety of technology, while people who don’t go to this school ( maybe because of geographic or financial disparities) do not have access to computers and new technology. This widens the gap between the digital divide. It is interesting to note how this is a continuous pattern, because those with access to technology have access to an information network and continue to thrive because of it, and those without access are on the outside looking in, and usually don’t prosper or benefit from having no access. This cycle is what widens the divide.
From the footage they showed in the video in the actual classrooms, I found the “content” of the work the kids were doing rather meaningless. Maybe it was just for one class, but it seemed like they were working on a rather meaningless project. Travis in the video seemed to be spending all his time creating an animation for a project that didn’t even work at the end. I felt the use of more pragmatic technologies would benefit the kids more, who since they are going to a tech high school are probably going to go into
I agree fully with you. This school acts well to bridge the gap between digital divides, but at what cost? Yes it helps the kids with technologies but it could be hurting them with other life situations. After watching the video, it seemed to say that all this school was was for kids to get out and to go into technology jobs. There are only so many technology jobs out there and the school doesn't seem to prepare the kids for other obstacles they might face in life.
ReplyDeleteI didn't even think about the project Travis was working on, but after reading your post I completely agree. This was his "senior project" so I would think it would be a culmination of everything that he has learned at tech high, and all it seemed to be was a more complex powerpoint type presentation about music. The classes I took in high school incorporated these same ideas of using computer programs to complete projects but they also incorporated the subject matter (science, english, spanish etc.) so in a sense you were using technology and your class subject while doing research and learning, instead of just one or the other.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you about the tech schools. it seems ridiculous to me that a kid could fail high school because of a technology assignment. high school should be about a well-rounded education, and this school just seemed to focus on getting kids into technology-based businesses. its true that the reason that kids go to this school in particular is that they are getting this specific kind of education, but i feel like they don't know what they are missing. I believe that high school should be about learning a lot of different things, and computers and technology should be included in this, but it should not be the only thing.
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