ICT lit review

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ICT lit review

by Nathan McWayne

Apr 19, 2014

Ritzhaupt, A.D., Feng, L., Dawson, K., & Barron, A.E. (2013). Differences in Student Information and Communication Technology Literacy Based on Socio-Economic Status, Ethnicity, and Gender: Evidence of a Digital Divide in Florida Schools. Journal of Reasearch On Technology In Education (International Society For Technology In Education); 45(4), 291-307.

The research for this article was collected across 13 school districts and included 5,990 middle school students. The main purpose of the study was to determine if students were using Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for self empowerment purposes. The authors described the digital divide as having three levels. The first of these, and most studied, is that of equitable access to ICT. This includes statistics on student-to-computer ratios and how many technology teachers are available to students per school. The second level would be how often students have access to ICT, why are they using it and how. The auth...See MoreRitzhaupt, A.D., Feng, L., Dawson, K., & Barron, A.E. (2013). Differences in Student Information and Communication Technology Literacy Based on Socio-Economic Status, Ethnicity, and Gender: Evidence of a Digital Divide in Florida Schools. Journal of Reasearch On Technology In Education (International Society For Technology In Education); 45(4), 291-307.

The research for this article was collected across 13 school districts and included 5,990 middle school students. The main purpose of the study was to determine if students were using Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for self empowerment purposes. The authors described the digital divide as having three levels. The first of these, and most studied, is that of equitable access to ICT. This includes statistics on student-to-computer ratios and how many technology teachers are available to students per school. The second level would be how often students have access to ICT, why are they using it and how. The authors state that this level is contingent on the infrastructure of the first level. The third, and arguably most important, level is concerned with the use of ICT for self empowerment. This is the least researched of the three levels. In addition to these levels of access and usage the authors collected data on different groups based on socio-economic status (SES), gender and ethnicity. The findings discussed were generally aligned with previous studies. The results showed that students from low SES families have less access to ICT in their homes for self empowerment. In addition access in these areas may be limited to before school and after school programs. The authors also discussed the types of software that is made available to students from different SES groups of students. Many times the software used by low SES students is

focused on drill-and-practice where students from higher SES areas use software largely focused on productivity and education. This study also aligned with previous studies that showed that white students perform better on given ICT tasks. One encouraging finding was that middle school students did well in differentiating between ethical and non-ethical uses of technology. However, this same group was weak when performing construction and demonstration tasks. The one aspect of this research article that stood in contrast to previous studies was the comparison between female and male students. This study showed that female students are more proficient ICT users than their male counterparts. Although time usage was not measured in this study. The authors took some tome to make five recommendations for usage of ICT. First, schools may tap into the community to help with ICT learning. They suggest that schools are bridges between community and society. Second, they suggest that schools should provide more after school programs focused on ICT. Third, ICT should be used in the classroom as much as possible. Fourth, better training for teachers should be a priority. Having ICT tools without training is like having woodworking tools without training. Fifth, educational professionals should use classroom studies to adjust curriculum. These kinds of adjustments can be made at various levels. The authors make three recommendations for future research and I think they are worth mentioning here. First, why does a disparity exist between performance levels of gender or ethnic groups when other factors may be constant? More specifically, why do males and females from the same SES group perform differently? Second, when does the digital divide emerge?

Can we devise a method to follow the emergence of ICT usage? Third, how do additional demographics add to the success of students’ usage of ICT? Some of these variables may include parents’ education or geographic region. The authors conclude that their research confirms the existence of a digital divide and is evident when looking at gender, ethnicity and SES. Their particular findings spotlight a need for change at the middle school level. The authors state that schools are often viewed as responsible for and capable of narrowing this gap. They hope their research is a starting point for change.

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