Some people don't have computers

I am convinced that technology knowledge and fluency is integral to having the fullest range of options in the 21st century. I mean, who's not.

My concern is how to facilitate the access that all of us techies take for granted. I don't have any answers, but I do have plenty of questions:

• Do I design instruction and programs so that my students express themselves and have fun and buy-in to this tech world? or
• Do I design so that they can get entry level jobs as receptionists and admins?
• Do I try to sell some Puritan work ethic model (high school, college, 40+ hours a week) that I really don't believe in, to some people who aren't likely to buy it?
• What are the upper middle class kids who do have access to computers since birth doing with them? How will they leverage their innate computer fluency as they grow into adulthood and jobs? How do I facilitate my kids having those casual, but oh so very important, experiences?
• How can I sell my path to impressionable youth as one to emulate when I owe more money in student loans than I make in a year, drive a used car and work ridiculously long hours?

Suggestions?

Comments

[H]

I love your last bullet, and I hate to be cynical about education but the debt part rings too true. Your questions are all about values, but they are not all about technology. People can use technology to express themselves and buy into a "Puritan work ethic" simultaneously. Regardless of the tech variable, your questions are about what models kids have of success.

For what it's worth, I think that being smart problem solvers and critical thinkers are going to be a more sought after skill sets than rote technical skills.