In the article "No Longer a Luxury: Digital Literacy Can’t Wait", Troy Hicks and Kristen Hawley Turner compare two fictional schools which represent real situations. Surprisingly, the schools that do not have access to modern or plentiful technology or reliable internet access are the schools which try to incorporate technology the most. On the other hand, they explain, "in the districts where technology is plentiful, and access to the Internet is reliable, teachers and students report that they are not using the technologies available to them to create and consume texts in critical, creative ways. Technology is an add-on, rather than an opportunity to develop digital literacies" (Hicks, Turner).

 I think that the schools which have access to multiple technologies need to make better use of them, and schools that do not have access to it need to find funding or ways for their students to access it. Technology education, in my opinion, is just as important as education in all other academic subjects. It is becoming so prevalent that by the time students finish their education, they will need to be fluent in it in order to be successful.

The SAMR model includes four parts: substitution. augmentation, modification and redefinition. All four parts are important for technological literacy. The schools who have technology but do not take advantage of it are missing out on most of these categories, and the schools who lack technology would likely cover all four aspects - but are currently unable to. Based on the digital literacy article's description of schools on both ends of the spectrum, most students are missing out on all that technology has to offer. They are likely only experiencing the substitution aspect, which only includes basic parts of technology such as email and document writers, and perhaps the augmentation aspect, where students need to demonstrate a slightly deeper understanding of technology by selecting their own note taking apps, sharing notes and using a Dropbox.

There are so many programs that students could be taking advantage of to become more advanced with technology. Many programs are free or inexpensive and offer a multitude of functions. Students should be getting used to using different programs and finding which ones work best for them. The students are hardy to blame for this. Teachers and schools in general need to introduce new programs to their students and give them the freedom to explore them. They should be providing ample opportunities for students to work with technology.