In the past decade, schools have made great strides in adopting technology in the classroom. However, there is still inequity in the ed tech space — high-poverty schools are less likely to have state-of-the-art tools, and technology-integration training for teachers is often not a priority.
In Pittsburgh’s suburbs, these disparities can be quite evident:
In the South Fayette School District in McDonald, Pa, where just 13 percent are poor, technology is a major focus. In the video below, Aileen Owens, who is the director of technology and innovation, discusses her district’s goal of preparing students to solve the world’s most vexing problems by teaching them how to think in sophisticated ways.
Ten miles away, the Sto-Rox High School in Mckees Rocks, Pa., has a very different situation. Seventy-seven percent of students live in poverty, and half of the school’s students go directly into the workforce upon graduation. Tim Beck, the school’s principal, discusses the district’s focus in preparing students for this future.
For more about these schools, check out this article on the digital divide, which is part of Education Week’s Technology Counts 2017 special report.
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