What really resonated with me in this video was how well both the students and the professionals each addressed the fact that the economy in America is changing and that a new workforce is developing. It is very true what they said – that those who do not have the skills and knowledge about new technology will be left behind in the workforce. Technology really is, as the video stated, “the gateway to the new economy,” and when individuals do not have access to that technology, they are automatically limited to the number and types of jobs they can carry.
In terms of the digital divide, many people who are born into low-income and/or minority families do not have access to computers and other technology that are needed to gain the skills and knowledge for certain types of jobs in our new electronic world. Not only is the younger generation in general having to compete with each other in this new economy, but also those who do not have the availability to attain the necessary skills and knowledge do not have the option to get ahead or even in line with their peers. There is an enormous need for these new skills to be learned in order to hold new jobs that technology is creating. The pressure for the younger generation to stay current and ahead of the trends is not equally distributed throughout the population because of the unfortunate lack of access to certain people. As the video said, “computers can change the lives of inner-city children.”
These new high schools specifically designed for teaching technology are able to help give minorities and low-income students a profound and immediate impact in their world of computers and technology. It gives them expertise, and it also changes their attitudes towards computers and technology in general. While cost is always an issue for schools like these to even begin, the benefits for those who would not have otherwise attained these new skills completely makes up for it, especially in their eyes.
- Valerie Figlmiller
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I don't think that many low-income students were attending schools like New Tech High or Multa Vista High, so I don't really see how these schools help the low-income/minority students. New Tech High gave me the impression of being private, so its tuition fees put it out of the reach of these students, and Multa Vista High is populated by students whose parents work int he heart of Silicon Valley, an area where there aren't an abundance of low-income/minority students. I think that if more industries partnered with schools like the one presented in Austin, TX, then more students would benefit than if schools like New Tech High were built up all over the place, because the students that would really be benefitting need more than a purely technology-based education.
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