Equity of Educational Opportunity

If we value the experiences technology can provide, it is important for public educational institutions attend to equity issues. All students deserve quality learning experiences. This chapter presents some of the numerical data on equity issues, but stresses that descriptive data are not enough. Descriptive data tell us only that students have very different experiences, but the numbers cannot tell us why. Did any of the explanations the book gave for specific inequities surprise you?

Differences in Using Technology

The descriptive data addresses two issues;

• how much access do students have to technology and
• what do they do with technology when they use it.

In the 1980s, lower-income and minority students had less access to technology, but government programs have since had a major impact on these disparities. Internet access remains an area of concern, but federal initiatives have targeted this problem for correction.

Access can be viewed on a broader scale. School access is only part of total access and there are large differences in resources available to students outside of school.

Gender differences in access are also present and the nonschool and voluntary school use of technology by males is substantial.

Differences in the ways in which groups of students use technology are more marked than differences in the amount of access provided. Females are less frequently involved in programming experiences. Low-income and low-ability students are more involved with drill and tutorial activities.

Gender differences provide an opportunity for classroom discussion. Is there a difference in the class in the proportion of males and females who have taken a college programming course? Is there a difference in the students who enjoy playing computer games?

Possible Causes of Inequities

Resources

The equipment is a resource, but it takes other resources to use equipment effectively. The way teachers use technology depends on training and resources for training are not always available in schools. You will probably appreciate that some of the uses of technology advocated in this book would be unlikely without staff development activities. In comparison, some types of applications, such as drill and practice, requires less background to implement.

The availability of technology outside of school accounts for a large proportion of the variability in how much time students spend with technology. You might want to investigate community programs to provide low-income children access to technology. The conclusion that parents seem less willing to purchase computer equipment for daughtors interests many students. Were you sent off to college with a computer? Assume a classmate were trying to convince her parents to purchase a computer for college. What arguments would you suggest?

Role Models and Stereotypes

When others we feel are like us engage in a behavior, we are more likely to imitate that behavior. If others we feel are like us seldom engage in a behavior, we are less likely to make the choice to engage in that behavior. One possible cause of differences in voluntary use of technology may stem from stereotypes we have formed about who uses technology. There are very large differences in the frequency with which different technology using role models present themselves. Check out whether there is a female faculty member in the Computer Science department at your institution. Are there any minority faculty members?

Learning Styles and Personality Types

Are there social situations and academic activities that are more "comfortable" for males than females? Some observers contend that the limited resource computer environments existing in schools provide an advantage for more aggressive males and that computers have been associated with male-dominated math and science content areas. There are specific tactics that can be used to counter these inequities, but one wonders if it would not also be appropriate to deal with the core problems more directly. Are there ways to use technology that encourage more general interest in math and science and encourage sharing of resources?

Perception of Student Needs

Schools need to get back to the basics! Schools need to make learning more relevant! These are powerful themes that often lead educators in different directions. In addition, the equity data suggests that these themes may be moving educators in different directions with different groups of students. One assumption responsible for ability and SES differences in computer experiences seems to be that low ability and low-SES students need to build up background knowledge in various domains (verbal skills, math skills, etc.) and the way to do this is through tutorial and drill activities. The down-side to this logical position is that these same students then miss out on using technology in ways that allow greater learner-control and opportunities to apply knowledge. What do students with poor academic backgrounds need? Does this have to be an "either-or" situation?

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