ERIC Number: ED411340
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1994-Aug
Pages: 4
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Technology: The Equity Issue. Research Brief #14.
Pisapia, John
Issues related to educational technology are examined from the equity viewpoint, and suggestions are made to address equity issues. Equity in school computer use must involve not only equal access but also equal consideration of the learning needs of poor, minority, and female students. Unfortunately, equity has become a quantitative idea, measured by counting computers and computing averages and ratios. This leads to ignoring the inequities found between rich and poor, urban and rural, and minority and nonminority students. Equity issues related to educational technology have been defined as: (1) access to computer literacy and computer-assisted learning; (2) tracking through differential users of computer technology; and (3) exposure to gender bias and stereotyping in educational software. The evidence seems to be clear on the relationship of socioeconomic status and equitable distribution and use of computers in schools. Other factors may be related to equity, such as the design or content of software and amounts of keyboard time. Standards could be developed to address potential inequities in computer use, and school policies should incorporate ideas into their technology policies that include all faculty in training and expose all students to computers in at least one learning situation. Equitable software, parent training sessions, and the infusion of computers into the curriculum are among the approaches educators should take to ensure equity in educational technology use. (SLD)
Publication Type: Information Analyses
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: Metropolitan Educational Research Consortium, Richmond, VA.
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A