Ken Reid

Ken Reid, school social worker at Elizabeth Blackwell Elementary School in Schaumburg, Illinois, discusses the pitfalls of purchasing technology without making plans for student learning and curriculum application. Excerpted from a videotaped interview for the video series Learning with Technology, program #3, Planning to Plug In (North Central Regional Educational Laboratory, 1996).

"Right now what I'm seeing is that kids in many ways are limited also by what's in print and what they have in front of them. Very seldom do I hear about kids who go to the library, and I know some do, but the children that I'm often concerned with as a social worker are the kids who might have not all the family support that others might and might not have the resources available to them of getting to the libraries or even a library card for that matter. After that often up to them, technology allows them to explore and do things any of the other students who might have wealthier and more organized they're able to do, so it opens up that possibility and kind of equalizes the playing field in many ways."

Date posted: 1997