Issues and Implications

The use of technology in education and society creates many new issues. The use of technology is drastically changing the demographics of the workforce. With many manufacturing jobs being forced to third world countries in exchange for technologically advanced jobs, voids are being left within the US's economy. As a teacher of students with disabilities, the jobs that my colleagues and I often prepare our students for revolve around the manufacturing world. Without this vital niche in society, many people who were once capable of holding moderately paying jobs are now left with minimum wage jobs or no job at all. An unintended effect of the technological advancement of our society will likely be a greater divide between the rich and poor and a higher unemployment rate.

Paralleled with this, greater disparities in socioeconomic equity and access are likely to result. My experience has been that the wealthier and more educated families who are often better in supporting students in traditional learning tasks are also the families that have computers and web access at home. Additionally, these students are learning vital computer survival skills which will open additional job markets for these students. With limited budgets and an increasing network of excellent free web resources, I increasingly find myself referring families to web-based activities as reinforcement of skills taught in class. Clearly, my "haves" have a greater access to these activities than my "have nots." Many also have challenges with gender equity resources on the Internet. While inequitable sites do exist, with careful review and screening, it is possible to find many unbiased sites with equal or better academic content. One of my favorites is www.readinga-z.com. This group of web sites has a number of downloadable books which are representative of a number of cultures, genders, and diverse topics. It is truly an amazing site!