scholarly journals Sorting Machines: Digital Technology and Categorical Inequality in Education

2022 ◽  
pp. 0013189X2110708
Author(s):  
Matthew H. Rafalow ◽  
Cassidy Puckett
Keyword(s):  
Education Research ◽  
Social Stratification ◽  
Social Reproduction ◽  
Digital Technology ◽  
Technology Use ◽  
Science And Technology Studies ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Educational Resources ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Inequality In Education

Existing scholarship suggests that schools do the work of social stratification by functioning as “sorting machines,” or institutions that determine which populations of students are provided educational resources needed to help them get ahead. We build on this theory of social reproduction by extending it to better understand how digital technology use is implicated in this process of unequal resource allocation in schools. We contend that educational resources, like digital technologies, are also sorted by schools. Drawing on scholarship from both education research and science and technology studies, we show how educational institutions have long played a role in constructing the value of technologies to different ends, by constructing hierarchies of technological activity, like “vocational” and “academic” computer use, even when strikingly similar. We then apply this lens to three areas of inquiry in education research: the use of digital technologies for instruction, school use of student data, and college admissions. Each illustrates how education scholars can view technologies as part of school sorting processes and with implications for inequality within and beyond the classroom.

scholarly journals Sorting Machines: Digital Technology and Categorical Inequality in Education

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew H. Rafalow ◽  
Cassidy Puckett
Keyword(s):  
Social Stratification ◽  
Social Reproduction ◽  
Digital Technology ◽  
Technology Use ◽  
Science And Technology Studies ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Educational Resources ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Technological Activity ◽  
Inequality In Education

Existing scholarship suggests that schools do the work of social stratification by functioning as “sorting machines,” or institutions that determine which populations of students are provided educational resources needed to help them get ahead. We build on this theory of social reproduction by extending it to better understand how digital technology use is implicated in this process of unequal resource allocation in schools. We contend that educational resources, like digital technologies, are also sorted by schools. Drawing on scholarship from both educational research and science and technology studies, we show how educational institutions have long played a role in constructing the value of technologies to different ends, by constructing hierarchies of technological activity, like "vocational" and "academic" computer use, even when strikingly similar. We then apply this lens to three areas of inquiry in education research: the use of digital technologies for instruction, school use of student data, and college admissions. Each illustrates how education scholars can view technologies as part of school sorting processes and with implications for inequality within and beyond the classroom.

Becoming a Digital Citizen in a Technological World

2009 ◽  
pp. 250-262 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mike Ribble
Keyword(s):  
Digital Technology ◽  
Technology Use ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Appropriate Technology ◽  
Digital Culture ◽  
Digital Citizenship ◽  
Global Society ◽  
The World ◽  
Technology Users ◽  
Technological World

In todays changing global society, digital technology users need to be prepared to interact and work with users from around the world. Digital technology is helping to define this new global society. Being part of a society provides opportunities to its citizens but also asks that its members behave in certain way. This new technological society is drawing users together to learn, share and interact with one another in the virtual world. But for all users to be productive there needs to be a defined level of acceptable activity by everyone, in other words a digital citizenship. The concept of digital citizenship provides a structure for this digital society, by conceptualizing and organizing appropriate technology use into a new digital culture. Anyone using these digital technologies needs to understand the parameters of appropriate use so that they can become more constructive digital citizens.

scholarly journals Clustering of services amid a growth in green consumption and digital technology use

2020 ◽  
Vol 161 ◽  
pp. 01028 ◽  
Author(s):  
N V Vasilenko ◽  
A J Linkov ◽  
O V Tokareva
Keyword(s):  
Service Provider ◽  
Digital Technology ◽  
Technology Use ◽  
Service Sector ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Service Organizations ◽  
Green Consumption ◽  
Service Support ◽  
The Third ◽  
Sustainability Problems

Clustering of services in the conditions of digital economy development is considered as a way of their integration with the purpose of increasing customer satisfaction, as well as that of strengthening the competitive position of service organizations based on the promotion of green consumption. Services are clustered with the aim of satisfying one main or several interconnected needs of individuals or businesses taking into account the degree with which the consumer influences the process of service delivery. This paper demonstrates how clustering of services can be used to solve sustainability problems. It is shown that digital technologies allow the service provider to customize a service to fit the needs and requirements of a particular consumer within the first type of clustering in the service sector, and they are also included in the service support of the main service within the second type of clustering. Moreover, these technologies have their own value for the consumer within the third type of clustering and provide tools for the fourth type of clustering. In general, digitalization promotes technologization and cooperation in service clusters. The authors suppose that further research can be done into how the types of clustering mentioned manifest themselves in different industries.

Digital Countercultures and the Struggle for Community

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessa Lingel
Keyword(s):  
Digital Technology ◽  
Technology Use ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Body Modification ◽  
Social Media Platform ◽  
Media Platform ◽  
College Dropouts ◽  
The Web

Whether by accidental keystroke or deliberate tinkering, technology is often used in ways that are unintended and unimagined by its designers and inventors. In this book, Jessa Lingel offers an account of digital technology use that looks beyond Silicon Valley and college dropouts-turned-entrepreneurs. Instead, Lingel tells stories from the margins of countercultural communities that have made the Internet meet their needs, subverting established norms of how digital technologies should be used. Lingel presents three case studies that contrast the imagined uses of the web to its lived and often messy practicalities. She examines a social media platform (developed long before Facebook) for body modification enthusiasts, with early web experiments in blogging, community, wikis, online dating, and podcasts; a network of communication technologies (both analog and digital) developed by a local community of punk rockers to manage information about underground shows; and the use of Facebook and Instagram for both promotional and community purposes by Brooklyn drag queens. Drawing on years of fieldwork, Lingel explores issues of alterity and community, inclusivity and exclusivity, secrecy and surveillance, and anonymity and self-promotion. By examining online life in terms of countercultural communities, Lingel argues that looking at outsider experiences helps us to imagine new uses and possibilities for the tools and platforms we use in everyday life.

scholarly journals Do pre-service teachers feel ready to teach with digital technologies? A study in two teacher training institutions in Costa Rica

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. e11810111436
Author(s):  
Christiane Caneva
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Costa Rica ◽  
Teacher Training ◽  
Mobile Phones ◽  
Digital Technology ◽  
Technology Use ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Training Institutions ◽  
Academic Year

This study aims to identify both the level and frequency of digital technology use and perceived self-efficacy levels of pre-service teachers (n = 341). We collected data in Costa Rica through a survey during the 2016–2017 academic year; the survey includes closed-ended items on the use and frequency of digital technologies along with open-ended questions. Findings suggest that a majority of pre-service teachers frequently use digital technologies for both professional and private use and specifically the mobile phone and social media. Results further suggest they find themselves self-efficacious in the use of “traditional” digital technologies that are also used in teacher training by professors/teacher trainers such as laptop, email and video. They are less confident in using mobile phones and social media for teaching even though they use them extensively for their professional development.

scholarly journals A Review of Evidence on the Role of Digital Technology in Shaping Attention and Cognitive Control in Children

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Vedechkina ◽  
Francesca Borgonovi
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Digital Technology ◽  
Technology Use ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Past Research ◽  
Future Research

The role of digital technology in shaping attention and cognitive development has been at the centre of public discourse for decades. The current review presents findings from three main bodies of literature on the implications of technology use for attention and cognitive control: television, video games, and digital multitasking. The aim is to identify key lessons from prior research that are relevant for the current generation of digital users. In particular, the lack of scientific consensus on whether digital technologies are good or bad for children reflects that effects depend on users’ characteristics, the form digital technologies take, the circumstances in which use occurs and the interaction between the three factors. Some features of digital media may be particularly problematic, but only for certain users and only in certain contexts. Similarly, individual differences mediate how, when and why individuals use technology, as well as how much benefit or harm can be derived from its use. The finding emerging from the review on the large degree of heterogeneity in associations is especially relevant due to the rapid development and diffusion of a large number of different digital technologies and contents, and the increasing variety of user experiences. We discuss the importance of leveraging existing knowledge and integrating past research findings into a broader organizing framework in order to guide emerging technology-based research and practice. We end with a discussion of some of the challenges and unaddressed issues in the literature and propose directions for future research.

scholarly journals The 'obvious' stuff: exploring the mundane realities of students' digital technology use in school

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Neil Selwyn ◽  
Selena Nemorin ◽  
Scott Bulfin ◽  
Nicola F Johnson
Keyword(s):  
High Schools ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
Digital Technology ◽  
Technology Use ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Individual Study ◽  
School Work ◽  
Per Se ◽  
Work Scheduling

This paper explores the ways in which students perceive digital technology as being helpful and/or useful to their schooling. Drawing upon survey data from students (n=1174) across three Australian high schools, the paper highlights seventeen distinct digital ‘benefits’ in domains such as information seeking, writing and composition, accessing prescribed work, scheduling and managing study tasks. While these data confirm the centrality of such technologies to students’ experiences of school, they also suggest that digital technology is not substantially changing or ‘transforming’ the nature of schools and schooling per se. Instead, students were most likely to associate digital technologies with managing the logistics of individual study and engaging with school work in distinctly teacher-led linear and passive ways. As such, it is concluded that educationalists need to temper enthusiasms for what might be achieved through digital technologies, and instead develop better understandings of the realities of students’ instrumentally-driven uses of digital technology.

scholarly journals “Let me know when I’m needed”: Exploring the gendered nature of digital technology use for health information seeking during the transition to parenting

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 205520762110486
Author(s):  
Bradley Hiebert ◽  
Jodi Hall ◽  
Lorie Donelle ◽  
Danica Facca ◽  
Kim Jackson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Digital Technology ◽  
Technology Use ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Transition To Parenthood ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Health Information Seeking ◽  
Information Work ◽  
Transition To Parenting

This paper presents results of a qualitative descriptive study conducted to understand parents’ experiences with digital technologies during their transition to parenting (i.e. the period from pre-conception through postpartum). Individuals in southwest Ontario who had become a new parent within the previous 24 months were recruited to participate in a focus group or individual interview. Participants were asked to describe the type of technologies they/their partner used during their transition to parenthood, and how such technologies were used to support their own and their family's health. Focus group and interview transcripts were then subjected to thematic analysis using inductive coding. Ten focus groups and three individual interviews were conducted with 26 heterosexual female participants. Participants primarily used digital technologies to: (1) seek health information for a variety of reproductive health issues, and (2) establish social and emotional connections. The nature of such health information work was markedly gendered and was categorized by 2 dominant themes. First, “‘Let me know when I’m needed’”, characterizes fathers’ apparent avoidance of health information seeking and resultant creation of mothers as lay information mediaries. Second, “Information Curation”, captures participants’ belief that gender biases built-in to popular parenting apps and resources reified the gendered nature of health and health information work during the transition to parenting. Overall, findings indicate that digital technology tailored to new and expecting parents actively reinforced gender norms regarding health information seeking, which creates undue burden on new mothers to become the sole health information seeker and interpreter for their family.

Integration of Digital Technologies into Education

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 20-33
Author(s):  
Albina Вilyalova
Keyword(s):  
Digital Technology ◽  
Reference Group ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Test Group ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
Living Environment ◽  
Educational Resources ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Digital Learning ◽  
Digital Education

The number of universities using digital technologies is growing year by year. Digital technology in the modern world is not only a tool, but also a living environment that opens up new opportunities: learning at any convenient time, continuing education, etc. This article aims to describe the specificity of digital education, the current state of its implementation, the expected results and concerns in this respect. Having shown the core of the digital education and the state of its implementation in modern society, this type of education must be critically analyzed in terms of advantages and risks with reference to contemporary students and the effectiveness of the teaching – learning process, in which they participate. In the study pros and cons of digital learning are revealed. The current study presents information about advantages of using electronic educational resources in teaching a foreign language based on the experimental work which was done in Naberezhnye Chelny Institute of Kazan Federal University. The success of the experiment presented in this paper is demonstrated by comparing the results of the test group who were taught using electronic educational resources with the reference group who were taught in a common traditional way. The results of the questionnaire suggest that the majority of students believe they have acquired food knowledge using digital technology in education. The statistical analysis shows that the test group students had better achievements compared to the reference group since students from test group have the digital skills.

Early childhood teachers’ perceptions and management of parental concerns about their child’s digital technology use in kindergarten

2021 ◽  
pp. 1476718X2110303
Author(s):  
Vicki Schriever
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Digital Technology ◽  
Technology Use ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Early Childhood Teachers ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Kindergarten Children ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
Digital Devices ◽  
Parental Concerns

Young children use, engage with, and experience digital technologies in their home and early childhood settings, yet their presence and use can be fraught with tensions and uncertainties. This paper reports on an Australian study focusing on how early childhood teachers perceive and manage parental concerns about their child’s digital technology use in kindergarten. Grounded theory was the methodological approach used to give insights into the early childhood teachers lived experiences. The findings revealed that early childhood teachers who taught kindergarten children, aged three-and-a-half to four-and-a-half years of age, experienced parents voicing concerns about their child’s digital technology use and made requests for mediation. Differences were identified between the children’s home environment and kindergarten setting regarding children’s access to digital devices, expectations for use and digital mediation practices. To manage the concerns parents raised, early childhood teachers endeavoured to educate and reassure parents about the nature of digital technology use in kindergarten. This paper invites early childhood professionals to reflect on how they respond to parental concerns about digital technology and to consider the role they play in educating parents about how digital technologies are used in kindergarten.

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