Digital Learning Philosophy

My path to education started during the pandemic when the world was forced to quarantine and students attempted to continue their education online. In this day and age, the task did not seem particularly daunting for me or my family, but unfortunately, that was not the case for many families in my small border town of Eagle Pass, Tx. 

What I was ignorant of was the fact that the MAJORITY of early childhood students in my district were Spanish-speaking or bilingual students who did not have the resources at home to successfully complete their assignments. While my kindergartener and I got along just fine following vague instructions from teachers, many of her classmates found it impossible. 

This is when I volunteered to help other parents from her class navigate and translate google classroom in order to help their students succeed. That is how my appreciation and curiosity about digital literacy and online tools began to grow. It became very obvious that digital literacy would be vital from that day forward and that having access to the internet was a priority for every household.

The deeper I researched digital learning tools and more familiar I became with them, I realized that having these tools at our fingertips could drastically improve the learning experience of so many struggling students in our district. Especially bilingual students that struggle to learn ELA. Technology is the future and it is important we begin to teach our children to use it to the full extent in order to succeed.

I love seeing that digital tools are now standard in our classrooms and students are being taught how to use and communicate through these computer applications. 

If teachers and parents work together to find the right digital applications and tools to make a student's learning experience more attainable. There are applications for anything and everything a student might need to create, express, present, and share work with their classmates.

Technology may seem daunting to veteran teachers and older parents who may not be familiar with it, but regular and mandatory training can serve to educate and buffer the learning curve. Not only for teachers but for parents alike. 

Technology is vital in every aspect of our world and preparing our students with it in a productive way is the only way forward.