Movie Response One

The four high school students, Luisa, Sidra, Travis, and Kep were all shown to be students with motivation and went beyond a normal teenager at the time to discover what technology had to offer. The ability to use technology, especially computers, benefited each student. However it was still hard to bridge the digital divide for some of the students no matter how much technology was incorporated into their lives. 

Luisa came from an area of low family income and was brought up on gangs. She was motivated enough to take multiple media and technology classes available to her, which helped her stray from the dangers of her neighborhood. But, because she grew up poor she didn't have the resources to purchase her own computer. This forced her to work as much as possible and as a results her grades suffered. She also missed the job at a technology firm. Luisa tried to bridge the digital divide it was too hard, despite being exposed to technology and was one of the few teenagers to pursue this, she was still unable to succeed how she wanted to because of her environment. 

Travis also grew up without money and in a single parent household. Even though he attended CalTech he barely graduated and could not afford to go to college, despite him being a bright student. Being financially deprived is the reason he was not able to go to college. His motivation to pursue a career in technology couldn't be taken to the next level because of this. 

There are multiple factors besides technology that influenced the future of the four high schoolers. It is very unfortunate that hard work and motivation during this time could not take Travis and Luis to the next level. To me it was a given that Sidra would go to a good school because of her family background and upbringing. Also, Kep was the American Dream story so it was favored that he would go to a good school with scholarships. I do believe technology influenced each of the four students, but it is unfortunate that income played a role in their happiness and future, despite being motivated, helpful, and bright students.

Movie Response #4

4. Think about the students' school environments and other environments (e.g. family, work, friends) surrounding them. What did you think of the approaches to technology in the three different school environments (Austin, Texas, Cupertino, California and Tech High in California)? Do you think any of the models are more successful than others at their mission? Is Tech High, without a football team and a library, the way of the future or an experiment likely to fail? Could a school like Luisa's in Austin ever catch up with others showcased? Give your opinion.

I think it is very surprising that the different high schools shown in the video can have such vast differences in the way they try to prepare their students for the world. In Tech High, there were more computers than actual students, and all of the students were very well versed in most computer tasks. I think it is a great skill to be able to use a computer and to know a lot about technology in today's hi-tech world, but computer skills are not the only thing needed to get a job or to succeed in life, and it seems like they are one of the only things being taught at Tech High. It is also important to be a well-rounded person, who has taken art classes, or who has learned leadership through being the football team captain. Tech High does not have art classes, sports teams, or even social events like dances. I think even though the Tech High students might graduate with more knowledge of computers, they are not necessarily more prepared for jobs that require more social skill, leadership, or well-roundedness.
On the other hand, Luisa's school in Austin, Texas has almost no technological focus. For some students there the computer lab is the first time they have ever used a computer. Clearly that is a disadvantage to them growing up, but Luisa did realize what she was missing out on and saved up and bought a computer which her younger siblings were able to use. Hopefully the trend of increasing technological interest continues to increase in Austin so the gap between the type of childhood in Austin and the Silicon Valley can be lessened.
Overall I do not think that Austin will ever catch up to the kind of technology used at Tech High. I think that the technology used there will eventually increase to an amount that provides the students with opportunities to go into a wide range of jobs, but not specifically computer jobs. I think at Tech High, the lack of sports teams and a library amoung other things will eventually force it to close. If the students do not learn the more personal skills required for the working world, even though they have a lot of computer knowledge, I do not think they will end up being the best candidate for jobs.

Movie Response #5

I found it very difficult to relate to the students that didn't attend Tech High and didn't have much experience using computers growing up. I could not imagine my life without my laptop. I spend most of my time on it, whether I'm typing a paper, checking my e-mail, roaming around aimlessly on Facebook, or just surfing the web in general. I do however realize that the film was made in the 90s and our nation has seen incredible advances in technology, and in turn, computer education at a young age over the past decade or so.

 

I cannot remember a time when I didn't have a computer in my school environment. Even in elementary school we had computers which would assist us in learning math through games or help us learn to type through tutorials. And the computers were never seen as an extra curricular activity. Instead, there were specific time slots utilized where we would sit down and educate ourselves through their persistent use. In retrospect, I can look back and realize how fortunate I was to grow up in the environment I did and can see now how bad it would have been (especially in this world we live in where it's necessary to be technologically informed) to not be exposed to a computer until high school like some of the students in the video.

I think it is a top priority to familiarize children with computers at a very young age because of how necessary they are becoming. I do not however think this is as much a problem today because of how prevalent they seem to be. But speaking strictly through the framework of the video, I think it's very likely that many of the students that went to say Luisa's high school would pursue a career with computers unless they already knew what they were all about. By not exposing them to computers at a young age, the students are intimidated and don't really have any drive to want to learn how to use them later on.

I also want to note that I disagree with the Tech High way of doing things. I think by being so narrow-minded (not having sports, libraries, or extracurriculars of any kind), they are in turn narrowing the minds of their students. They don't know what the students want to do with their lives, and neither do the students most likely. By not having these other options open, they are not allowing the students to make the decisions for themselves regarding what career path to take, and I think that is wrong.

Movie Response - Prompt 4

The thing I found most blaring to me from the video is that they started a school, New Tech High, that incorporated no athletics, extracurriculars, or even a library. I can see where the good intentions are coming from, but eliminating sports also eliminates lots and lots of skills that these children need in the future. Competition is a huge experience that children need to encounter to be successful in the career fields these days. Finding jobs isn't as easy as it used to be, nowadays, you have to win the job to get the job. And losing is just as important of a lesson as winning, you have to experience these events in a lifetime to be completely successful. But I could go on an on about how athletics can make you more viable for a job in the future. The simple fact is that the implications of losing athletics can be simply robust. New Tech High just doesn't seem like a complete high school to me, instead, it seems like it would suffice as a very very nice branch to a high school. These days, it seems like that is what is being done. Nice high schools seem to come equipped with a very souped up computer lab for the students. Ones that these days, rival that of New Tech High.

Prompt #1

Prompt #1

I can't say that I'm necessarily surprised at Luisa's fate. Let's see what she had on her plate now... Getting through high school, working insane hours every week, and studying for a rather difficult exam; I think this is way too easy, she should learn a new language while she is at it so people do not think she is slacking off. Kidding aside, when people have too much on their plate, they start drowning, and from the looks of it, everything collapsed around her because she was so busy doing stuff that she forgot to breathe. I understand her situation. The family isn't all that well off and she doesn't want to end up in some dead end job and stay down in the economic status she's in, but she needed to make some time for herself. We are not machines, we cannot always be going at 100% because we're going to have a mental/physical breakdown if we do. I hope that the lesson Luisa learned is not that she's a failure, but that she needs to find her limitations and then work within them.

Travis shows us a shining example of Murphy's law. If something is going to go wrong, it is going to be when you need it to work the most. Just look at the poor sap. He's got the camera rolling for what will be a national audience and he has this big ominous review board sitting in stiff chairs with even stiffer expressions on their faces. And come on, the suit? You can just tell that the last time he put something that fancy on was for someone's wedding or funeral. "Uh hello... T-t-this is my project that I have worked on for a long time, I'm very proud of it." And of course it fails to work, that should be an automatic job at Microsoft in my opinion, they are on exactly the same wavelength. Preparation reduces the likelihood of Murphy's law happening exponentially. But I give this to his credit: he can think on his feet. He did a good job of explaining what they should have seen, but as he said: "You can talk all you want, if you don't have anything to back it up, you're in trouble."

Moving on. Sidra and Kep are going to be combined in this paragraph because they were both such standout students and I also don't feel like making a fourth paragraph. In short, they got their stuff straight. What does Sidra have to boast about? She is obviously active in her school as she was holding a microphone at a school assembly. She also understands computers AND she helps out little kids. Seriously, karmic justice should see to it that a big suitcase full of money ends up in her general direction. Finding the time to help out those who are less well off gives you a boost of confidence and self-esteem, which in turn leads to increased performance which leads to more confidence etc. etc. etc. Sidra really benefitted from that self-confidence and it took her places. Kep can speak two languages, right? He was the only one who did surprise me a little. Immigration into a new country is a major life event and stressor, even if he was only two (he was two when they immigrated, right? Just going off memory here as I did not write that down). He could not have had it easy constantly going from one set of values to another (one set at home from a family that lived in a different country and then another set of values that America holds near and dear to its heart). He managed it well and got a good reward in the end, good for him.

All in all, it was an interesting video. It is always interesting to see how different people succeed and fail in different situations...

Wildcard

Wildcard: For this prompt, come up with a response addressing
moments that resonated strongly with you in the film (refer to your
notes). Consider relating what you saw to your own high school
experience. Did things look familiar? Radically different? Naively
outdated?
I am going to discuss the wildcard and talk a little bit about prompt 4. The moments which resonated strongly with me were mostly about interviews on Kep. Kep, who is an immigrant, through going to Tech high, really achieve the goal of crossing the divide. I think being an immigrant means you need to adjust yourself to the new environment and at the same time learn a lot from it. So I am very happy to see that Tech high provides a place for immigrants like Kep have the same opportunity to catch up with not only the new technology which is very useful in the workplace but also develop the other useful skills like leadership, teamwork.
This film was made probably at least 7 or 8 years ago(I forgot the exact date), but compared with my high school experience, their extremely high accessible to the new technology still surprised me a lot. Maybe because I went to high school in China which does not have as same as the facility or capability in America. It seems that they almost spend everyday in computer room, while in my high school, most of times the class is taught in classroom. The good side of Tech high is after graduating, everybody has a great confidence in using computer, I mean applying the new technology in workplace. However, when I graduated from high school, I seem to lack this kind of confidence. Actually, I began to learn most technology in college. Then when I was doing an internship in my freshmen year, I felt really frustrate at using new technology. So I think it is very important to teach the students new technology in high school because if students can not go to college they may not have chance and time to learn it. However, I do not support that all high schools should be operated like Tech high which do not have foot team or library. Tech high, in my mind is more like a training center not a really high school. I also remember some comments from the film talking about that the goal of education is not about teaching students how to find a job but how to be a person, I totally agree with it. I think students in Tech high are very lucky to learn more about new technology but at the same time their high school education is not completed. Maybe they learned a lot about using computer but he do not have a chance in high school to develop other skills or interests like music or chemistry. Although watching a football game in high school will help you find a job, the enjoyment brought to you is a wonderful and necessary experience.

Prompt 4

Though conceptually schools should be equal across the country, in reality this isn’t possible. Too many other factors come into play, such as how much funding the school receives or how much support from the surrounding community. The three schools from the video, “Crossing the Divide,” were all extremely different as far their capabilities went. The high school in Austin, Texas, had barely any access to technology, the high school in Cupertino, California had very good access, and Tech High in California was all about access to technology. Both the high schools in California far surpassed the one in Texas as far as technology goes, and so they seemed like superior schools.

But while schools have a large impact on a student’s direction in life, they are not the only deciding factor. Though Travis attended Tech High and was highly involved with computers throughout high school, he still only just managed to graduate. After high school, he did not attend college, opting to first find a job and save money. Kep, on the other hand, received an award for student of the year and got a full scholarship for college. Though they graduated from the same high school, both took very different paths after graduation.

Now, I don’t know if a school like Luisa’s could ever catch up to ones like Sidra’s or Travis’s and Kep’s, simply because of those outside factors such as funding and surrounding community. But that doesn’t mean the students themselves can’t catch up. For example, though Luisa had little access to technology and had to save for three years to buy her own computer, she worked with what she could. Though she didn’t manage to pass the Photoshop exam, she still tried to. While a factor such as a less technologically advantaged school can initially impede a student, if he or she has enough motivation, I believe he or she can overcome a boundary such as that. Look at Kep. Even though he did have the opportunity to attend the highly advanced Tech High, that wasn’t necessarily the reason he did so well there. If he had gone to a school like Luisa’s, he might not have learned quite as much about technology, but he still probably would have done well. Technology is just a means to the end, not the end itself.

Movie Response: Prompt #4

This film highlighted the importance of computers and technology as tools in education. The film focused on three high schools, each varying in terms of emphasis and access to technology. First, Travis High School in Austin, Texas was shown. Upon introduction to this high school, the audience quickly learns of the significant presence of gangs and graffiti. Only 1/4 of the student population graduates from high school. With this high school, the digital divide was discussed in the sense that by not offering students access to technology/computers, it will negatively affect their ability to look and obtain jobs. Access to computers/technology is what would allow them to be competitive in the job market and without it, they have an unfair disadvantage against those who could afford computers and have been exposed to them all of their lives. It was mentioned that only 1 in 12 students attending Travis High School would have a chance to access computers sometime in the first twelve grades. I think that this environment is right to be worried about a digital divide, when some students are working forty hours a week just to save up for a computer. If the school system was able to offer more computers and access to technology, students could be spending less time working and more time studying to enhance their chances of graduating high school, or for those who are working, they could be saving money for college or their life after high school. Additionally, if programs using computers and technology were offered, it may increase the chance for students to stay in school. When we talked about libraries in the beginning of the semester, it was mentioned that when cities put more money into libraries to provide them with access to resources, it makes people living there feel more valuable. In this case, if the school system put more money into tools like computers, perhaps students would feel that their time in high school is being well spent and would have less of a desire to drop out. Also, if high school was offering them something that they would probably not have access to in any other place (computers) that would also be an incentive to continue going.

 

In Technology High School, the circumstances were much different. They were able to provide a computer for each student and emphasized that their school work should work towards a plan for the future (something, they mention, that is not stressed in regular high school). Here, technology was expressed in terms of being important to the students' futures because jobs constantly require new skills. They talk about how skills become obsolete so quickly in technological fields and the only way to keep up would be to have constant access to computers and updated software. What was especially interesting about Technology High School was that they believed you needed more than just technological know how, they said you must have problem solving skills, critical thinking, and teamwork/group skills. They applied this by providing students with assignments that would have to use all of these skills and tested students, not using multiple choice exams, but by having them apply their knowledge to problem sets etc. Technology High School also only had an online library, they did not provide their students books. I do not think this is a direct disadvantage to the students there because it forces them to enhance their online research skills which is necessary in the work force and in college.

 

Lastly, in Monta Vista High School, so much of the focus was on technology that some students exclaimed that other concentrations, such as English, were very weak as a result. Personally, having attended a magnet high school that concentrated very much on technology, math, and science, I have first hand experience of receiving an education that lacks in English, History, and Foreign Language. Although I took four years of English, three of History, and four of Spanish during my high school years, these classes were never taken as seriously as my math and sciences. I believe that this is a downfall of high schools like the one I attended and like Monta Vista because they are not offering students a well-rounded education. In the workforce, it will of course be an advantage if students are well-versed at using computers, yet it will be a noticeable disadvantage for them to have weaker English Skills. For example, in order to obtain a job, many employers ask for a cover letter and resume. Without strong writing skills, a student's cover letter or resume may not stand out amongst a pile of other individuals, and they will never get a chance to use their valuable computer skills. In almost any industry, strong writing skills are called on for reports, correspondences, work summaries, and more. So to have an education that does not emphasize the importance of writing and English, is definitely something that may have negative implications in the future. Furthermore, it was mentioned that Monta Vista High School had such high costs for the technology they offer students, that they had less money for other spending such as staff. This can also be a disadvantage if this means they will have less funding for extra curricular activities and other programs to offer students. Although these are not necessary aspects of an education, it helps students be well-rounded and grow both socially and mentally.  Skills gained from organization and clubs may be the ones that end up helping students the most in college or the workforce and thus should not be easily cast aside for excessive technology.

 

Another unique element of Monta Vista High School was that they conducted a high school education in terms of a 'training force for corporate business'. This definitely serves as an asset for students in terms of necessary skills (like Technology High School mentioned) such as critical thinking, teamwork, and applying their knowledge in various ways. Although, if many students graduate and go onto to college, they may not be prepared for a University atmosphere where they have to be incredibly independent, have strong time management skills, and study for tests made up of multiple choice questions.

Movie Response: Prompt 1

What were some of the other issues influencing the trajectory of these young people?

Travis: He was coming from a town in Texas where only about a fourth of the kids go to college so he was surrounded by people who weren't really on a set career path. Also, he was forced to move schools which distanced him from his friends and he felt that he had to play a variety of different roles in his house (with his sister, mom, and sister's kids). Most kids his age only feel they need to fulfill one role, so that probably resulted in extra outside pressures for him. At the end too, he got really unlucky and his computer didn't work for his final senior presentation. That is one thing I hate about the new wave of technology, technology can be so unreliable! I'm glad he was able to graduate but the fact that he couldn't go to college because of money is really unfortunate. I think that is one of the hugest problems in our country. There are so many smart kids that are willing to go to college and really want to but are disadvantaged financially and that is really discouraging for them. Finding a job straight out of high school that is going to support you enough and allow you to earn money to eventually go to college is asking a lot, and in today's world seems almost impossible.

Kep: I think the biggest issue in Kep's life was his feeling of separation from this country. He experienced life on the outside as an immigrant and was forced to balance three different languages, come from family where half of the people had at some point been in refugee camps, and probably didn't have very much money (because he hadn't been exposed to computers until he attended New Tech). The fact that he had never really experienced technology at a younger age also set him back and made him work harder than everyone else just to get a basic handle on how computers and technology works. 

Sidra: Although I don't feel like the movie really focused on the issues in Sidra's experience I think one of her biggest issues was the fact that in Silicon Valley, California and particularly at Multivista High, there was a very biased way of learning and a very direct path for all students to be involved in careers with technology. Even though the movie was basically arguing that technology is the gateway to the new economy, I feel like there are other parts to high school and life in general than just technology and that it is more important to experience many different approaches to learning depending on how your brain works and what you want to do when you get older. I don't like the idea that all of the kids there are basically following the career paths of their families because I know from firsthand experience (both my parents are in the Minnesota Orchestra) that it's not always ideal or convenient to be doing what your parents do.

Luisa: Similar to Kep, Luisa grew up in a low income family where it wasn't possible to have computers at a young age. She had always been interested in computers, yet had limited access because they were never available to her in her environment. She was forced to work many hours for a few years before being able to buy her own computer. Although her setbacks made her a stronger individual and made her feel more independent from her family, when she got a job working with young kids she talked about how she wished she had been subjected to that type of training in her childhood as well. She definitely encountered the digital divide often throughout her life.

Do you feel that technology provided a solution to those issues? Why or why not?

I don't necessarily believe that the technology itself provided solutions to these issues because I think it was imperative that each of the students had an interest in computers and technology in order for it to help them. The kids were special cases in which they knew they had a passion for technology. For Travis and Kep, I think it was good that they went to a school where they knew that they would be working in a group environment and on a straight path to internships and businesses that would financially support them. However, I think in Kep's case, it was his hard work and dedication that really made him successful and he truly took advantage of New Tech's program (it's important to note that he was clearly an exceptional student which was shown when he won all of those awards at the end). On the other hand, Travis, who was very intelligent (according to this mother) and who was known to be very talented with computers ended up in a completely different situation than Kep, which I think is due to other external factors besides just the digital divide. In the end, having money in the video seemed to be more essential than exposure to technology, although obviously having resources (in general) helps.

Would you have predicted the outcomes or were you surprised to see them?

I definitely figured that Sidra would be successful because it seemed that her school, the community she was surrounded by, and her family all had every opportunity going for them to get successful. I was happily surprised by Kep's case, because I can only imagine how difficult it would be to come to this country, feel uncomfortable, be exposed to technology for the first time in high school (I'm terrible with technology and I've been surrounded by it all my life), and grow up in a low-income family who is also making adjustments to a new environment. I was glad to see that he was able to overcome those barriers. I was really disappointed to see Luisa and Travis' situations because I could sort of see how them not having money would result in not being able to continue on their "technological path to success." As I've said above, I think money is the factor the plays the greatest role in modern society. Technology tends to come with money (not in the movie's specific cases, but in general), yet it doesn't necessarily create a "gateway" to economic success.