Background

Image by numberstumper via Flickr

Public schools are one of the most valuable resources in any community, and one of the first areas to suffer budgetary cuts when shortages arise.   Additionally, public schools (when compared with their private counterparts) are more likely to contain students with less access to technology, and more likely to have teachers who have been constrained by budget deficiencies.  Many public schools suffer computers that are between ten and fifteen years old, making them obsolete.

Middle school sets the stage for high school selection, and those students who have been exposed to technology will be the ones with the knowledge to do well in placement tests.   As a result, a cycle is enacted whereby those students with less access to technology are likely to score more poorly on assessment tests than their peers who have had access to these resources.  These lower scoring students are then sent to schools with less resources than private and magnate schools accepting their higher scoring peers.  As a result the divide between the two groups continues to expand, resulting in a highly competitive atmosphere for access to the limited spaces in those schools able to offer a solid, well-rounded education.

Students looking to continue their education are faced with increasing competition for a decreasing number of available collegiate openings.  Those not continuing their education, have more need of real life skills to find a job or career directly following graduation.  As a result, education (especially middle and high school) needs to occur in a way that allows application of the concepts being taught and not simply referencing those concepts – for all students.  Computers are an incredible tool for testing applied knowledge, as opposed to theory.