ERIC Number: ED339400
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1991-Dec
Pages: 4
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Technology and Equity. ERIC Digest.
Neuman, Delia
This examination of the relationship that exists between technology and students warns that, although technology is routinely touted as a potentially powerful agent of educational reform, technology and equity are not inevitable partners. A review of the literature on computer equity reveals that many students--not only minority, disadvantaged, and inner-city, but also female, handicapped, and rural--have been hampered by inequitable access to microcomputers and by widespread patterns of inequitable distribution and use of microcomputers within and across schools. It is argued that limited hardware and software can in turn lead to scheduling patterns that favor higher-ability students. Other factors that can limit computer access to selected groups are also identified, including location of hardware in areas restricted to advanced students, setting unnecessarily difficult prerequisites for computer courses, lack of adaptive devices or special software for handicapped students, and software that incorporates stereotypes. Examples of research findings on computer equity for various categories of students are given, and it is concluded that active, committed involvement by equity advocates concerned about the needs of underserved groups is necessary to ensure equity with and through technology, especially as CD-ROM and online searching enter the curriculum. (17 references and 6 additional readings) (MAB)
Descriptors: Academic Aptitude, Computers, Economic Factors, Educationally Disadvantaged, Elementary Secondary Education, Equal Education, Information Technology, Microcomputers, Physical Disabilities, Sex Stereotypes, Technological Advancement
ERIC Clearinghouse on Information Resources, Syracuse University, 030 Huntington Hall, Syracuse, NY 13244-2340 (free while supply lasts).
Publication Type: ERIC Publications; ERIC Digests in Full Text
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Office of Educational Research and Improvement (ED), Washington, DC.
Authoring Institution: ERIC Clearinghouse on Information Resources, Syracuse, NY.
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A