“How can, we as teachers, provide equal access to the digital world to all students.”

The answer to the question is concrete in some situations and philosophical in others. Some school districts may provide mandates for the implementation of technology in the classroom. An educator, who faces technology in a school district that does not define how to implement it, has to ask the question, do I change the entire class structure for one or two children? Either way the answer could be frowned upon. I would tend to fall in the middle of the discussion. I would address the problem with the parents to get an understanding of the situation then discus acceptable workarounds. I don’t want parents to feel like I am being sneaky or circumventive with the use of a workaround. If an assignment required the use of Power Point, and a student was forbid to use a computer, I would have the student look at the assignment in a low tech manner. With the use of conventional resources such as books, magazines and newspapers I would have the student make the equivalent to a Power Point slides on paper. I would not change the assignment for the entire class but I would edit the assignment for the effected student. The other issue that comes into play is making sure the student is not alienated. With children and teens it can be an almost insurmountable task avoiding alienation. I would try to be proactive by discussing effective low tech approaches to help the student feel included in the class process. It comes down to the use of tact. I don’t think this is one of those questions that has a 100 percent perfect response because every teacher, student and parent is different.