Technology is central to the daily routine of university life. Yet, without any formal technology prerequisites, students come to college with differing technological skills, stratified by gender, socioeconomic status, and racial backgrounds. Beyond skills, students' varied computing histories can result in a range of technology identities that…

Discusses pre-college access and use of computers by different groups of students, cross-campus computing initiatives, the potential impact of the present inequities experienced by students of color in the context of cross-campus computing, and recommendations to enhance access to computers and the computer competence of students of color. (EV)

This article uses a multiple literacies theory framework to explore the processes of "becoming" technologically literate through a year-long ethnographic study of two Master of Education pre-service second language teachers, a Latina woman and an African American woman, who learned how to use computer technology to teach Spanish at a large…

This article examines an after-school program entitled Silk City Media Workshop. Briefly, the workshop engages youth in digital storytelling as a means of enhancing both their technology and literacy skills. Transcending these goals, this workshop also provides opportunities for youth to reveal multiple aspects of their unfolding identities as…

By focusing on two dimensions of the digital divide--computer use and computer knowledge, this study explores four research questions: (1) What are the undergraduates doing with the computers they use at colleges? (2) How do undergraduates perform in regard to computer knowledge and skills? (3) With what is the digital divide among college…

Discusses the future of social studies education in the electronic age of knowledge and distributed intelligence, focusing on: technology as teacher (the Internet as educator and Internet research); technological realities (computer availability, computer adequacy, Internet access, and software); the teacher (teacher training and support staff);…

This paper will present a Marxist analysis of the current function and role of information and communication technology (ICT) in education, with specific reference to schooling in the UK. Over the past five years the UK government has spent in excess of 2.5bn British Pounds on ICT equipment for schools and in "training" teachers to use…

This article reports on a study into the impact of students' use of the Internet and the computer at home on digital skills they need for school. The study was conducted in the lower grades of Dutch secondary education (students aged 13-15). More than 2500 students, distributed over 116 classes in 68 schools, participated in the study. Internet…

Designed to assist educators in improving computer learning opportunities for students, this packet of materials presents practical strategies that address 12 barriers to equitable instruction: (1) lack of encouragement for females and minority students to use computers; (2) potential value of computer learning more apparent to males than females;…

This is volume 13 of Leadership Abstracts, a newsletter published by the League for Innovation (California). Issue number 1 of February 2000, "Community Colleges Bridging the Digital Divide," addresses the racial and economic issues inherent in the digital divide--the discrepancy between those who are technologically literate and those who…

This report contains several articles that focus on the new digital divide, which is no longer just one wide gap between those with and those without computers, but is instead a series of divides that create inequities for different reasons. The first article explains how certain types of students are not getting the high-tech experiences they…

Based on findings that poorer schools tend to use computers mainly for drill work, while richer ones often use them for other purposes, such as supporting research and creativity, this project aimed to increase the understanding of how to best support teachers in inner-city schools. The project worked intensively with teachers from two inner-city…

This document contains the following papers on diversity/equity from the SITE (Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education) 2002 conference: (1) "Modeling and Developing Technology Integration with Pre-Service Indigenous Teachers" (Shadow W. J. Armfield and Marilyn Durocher); (2) "Integrating Diversity in Children's…

Universities assume that entering students possess computer skills and literacy and then expect students to utilize these assumed skills by offering computer-based instruction, requiring research using the World Wide Web, offering online courses, and integrating computer usage into many courses. Universities seldom stop to determine if required…

Research conducted in the 1980s on differences in race/ethnicity, gender, and social class in the kindergarten through grade 12 and in the educational uses of computers is summarized in terms of access, processes, and outcomes, focusing on equity. Conclusions include the implication that computer use has maintained and even exaggerated existing…