Journal 7
Social Justice: Choice or Necessity? By Swain & Edyburn

This article presents the issue of social justice and how it relates to the availability of technology in the classroom. Simply providing students access to technology is not enough. For example, allowing students to use computers for tasks such as drill and practice programs for a subject like Mathematics, or for the purpose of developing “vocational” skills such as keyboarding and word processing is not enough. Students must be provided with the opportunity to use the computers for the purpose of developing creative minds as well as more advanced problem solving skills. A great example is the opportunity provided by Scratch, a program for used for online story telling, animation and game design. Children using Scratch have to problem-solve to fix programming bugs and set design goals for their projects. (For more information about Scratch, check out Journal # 4 of this blog.


If social justice is to be achieved, individuals in a community should have a similar chance at obtaining the good things in life and that includes higher paying jobs. Access to more intellectually stimulating activities on the computer is therefore a social justice issue because students who are not well prepared in using technology and problem solving will have fewer opportunities for well paying jobs when they grow up. Providing adequate training in technology is NOT a choice- the quality of life and future of our students depends on it!

Question: How will I ensure social justice with regards to technology in my classroom?

I will do everything I can to provide equitable learning opportunities for the children in my classroom. That means that if a student needs more time on the computer or more tutoring in order to master a particular skill, I will provide it. If that means keeping the kids after school and giving them more of my time- I will do it. Also, it is my hope that my school will allow me to develop a peer-tutoring program that focuses on technology.

Question: Have I seen first hand, the availability of technology affect the career opportunities of individuals in my life?

Yes. I found that the individuals in my life who came from wealthier backgrounds were far more likely to own a computer as teenagers. These same individuals were far more likely to go into fields that required tech savvy workers. These same individuals make FAR more money than those who have not been able to acquire those kinds of jobs because of their comfort level with technology.