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Digital Literacy in the Urban Classroom

A kindergartner uses her finger to spell out the word

When we talk about new technologies such as the iPad, we often talk about the access gap for urban students.  How do we get these technologies into urban classrooms?  Some districts, like the Los Angeles Unified School District, outlayed massive expenditures (to the tune of $1 billion!) to equip every student in the district with an iPad.  Michael Manderino, MEd Language, Literacies and Learning '06 and PhD Literacy, Language and Culture '11, argues educators need to go a step beyond the tools of technology.  He says in order for students to master digital literacy, they need to master print literacy skills as well, or the same literacy problems will fester using tools such as the iPad.  Watch the video: