Introduction

We cannot continue to allow our limited resources to dictate our students' use of technology. In our language arts classes, we can see the difference between those with and those without in not just digital literacy, but problem solving, research, and literacy skills as well. We need to face the facts; we work in an inner city middle school. Our school district will never decide we are important enough to get the best and newest technology available to them. Our community will probably never decide that we need 1-1 technology enough to fundraise to make it happen. Many, if not most, of our students do not have Internet access at home. This does not mean that we give up on using it. There are ways around our obstacles and we have to overcome them. Our students are depending on us.

Just about every career or job involves the use of some kind of technology. Most minimum wage jobs involve running at least one computer program or app. Even many farming jobs involve using some technology. At the student level, many schools require students to complete some form of distance education during their career. Understanding and using technology is becoming more and more important, and the technological divide is wider than ever. We know that better than anyone. Students who do not have Internet access at home and also do not get the quality practice in school will not be prepared to enter the job market. That's all there is to it.

We can sit around and dream about the technology we would like to see our students using, but most of these dreams will never come true. Yes, it would make life easier if our students had internet access at home. Yes, it would be wonderful if they could take home laptops and wireless cards. Yes, I would love it if we could go completely paperless and do all lessons in a digital format. Although we (and our school administrators) wish this was possible, the resources simply aren't there. Let’s stop having this conversation and start having a more productive one: what we can do about the situation, rather than what we wish we could do.

Therefore we must find a way to give our students the practice with online learning that they desperately need while they are at school. We know that our students are getting enough practice to pass the state tests. The district made sure of that by implementing online textbook resources that mirror the format of the test. But we have to remember what our real job is; we are not here to get our kids through the tests. We are here to lead them through childhood and help them begin to navigate their way to adulthood, and in this century, adulthood will most definitely involve distance learning. It might take a little more innovation, a little more knowledge of the resources available to us, and a little more effort, but it is what our students need to be competitive when they grow up, so it is what we must do. In this blog, I will discuss best practices for creating successful online learning modules for our students, ideas for incorporating distance learning inside the classroom, as well as how to give our students opportunities to access the online learning community outside of our classrooms.