Gender Equity in Technology Education

My enhanced podcast on Gender Equity in technology education.

In the past week and a 1/2 we have been looking at equity and equality in technology education.  Many things that I hadn't really put much thought into before.  I teach in a small district that has gone 1:1.  In essence the thought was when we gave each student a computer that the discussion of inequity or inequality had disappeared.  It is clear after this weeks readings and my further studying for the podcast we can not write it off that easily.  Giving students the computer was really the easy part.

My focus on gender equity made me think a lot about my classroom and my own children at home.  Have I encouraged boys more than girls to use technology?  I really don't feel like I have, but as Jo Sanders points out in her research- most teachers have no idea they are doing it!  I've been thinking through the gender differences in my classroom.  Do boys use the technology more than girls?  Or are they just using it differently?  I think it's probably the latter of the two.  In my research I found several studies that found boys and girls generally spend a similar amount of time on the computer, but boys are spending more than 400% more time playing video games.  Jo Sanders cited this, but also said that there isn't really a definite answer as to whether or not that is giving boys a large advantage.  This was a study that I could totally relate to and it didn't really surprise me at all.  In my classes I can recall maybe 2-3 girls total over the years who have talked about playing video games or computer games.  I will say however in recent years I have heard more girls talking about games such as minecraft or minesweeper which are problem solving games.

The discussion of software for "girls" brings up the point of talking about if there is no gender inequity then why is it necessary to market for "girls"?  This leads one to believe that the other marketing of software must be aimed at boys.  The question I had at the end of my research and creating of the podcast is how can we begin to move girls in the direction of technology?  Do girls simply need more experience or support in technology?  Gatta and Trigg conducted a study on women in technology related jobs and educational programs and talked about the need to provide these young women with both role models and mentors in the program.  This becomes difficult when the program may have only 10% or less of it's faculty that are women.  We in education need to make sure that we are giving our young students people in the field to look up to and admire and also to turn to when they have questions.  IT and computer science can often feel like a "boys club" and this may inhibit girls from attempting to join in, but I think given the right circumstances and support we could help girls be successful in the field.

Ethics and Morals and TPACK

This week's topic was an interesting one to think about for me.  As was discussed in the lecture it is hard to think that there is the possibility that technology has effects and consequences that are not positive.  I think about technology in the classroom and ways I want to or have already incorporated it and I'm not sure if I see any ways in which it's immoral or unethical.... BUT I'm also not sure that I've really looked very deeply into it.

Do I need to do more thinking about what I'm doing?  Are there some unintended consequences that I'm not seeing.  I really think this is something I need to delve into further.

The part of our week that I really enjoyed reading about and discussing the most was the TPACK article.  I am currently on our districts tech team and we are working hard to figure out how to support teachers in the implementation of technology into their classrooms.  I found the article very insightful into the ways that technology really fits into the areas of teaching we already identify with.  Teachers can pretty easily see the importance of having a deep content knowledge in their specific area, or as in elementary teachers their grade or perhaps grade span.  I appreciated the way this article paired that content knowledge with technology.  Discussing why they are both important as separate entities and also as a pair.  You need to have a good grasp on your content before you can really use technology at a deep level.  If you are not sure of the content in your class or subject area, I'm not really sure you will pick technology that matches your needs in the best possible way.  If you do have a deep content knowledge I think it becomes easier and more feasible to search for technology to support the work you are already doing in the content.

I have share this article with others on the team and administration and it is something we are going to take a deeper look at.  Helping teachers to see that technology is an important piece of this puzzle, but it is just one piece.  A good handle on pedagogy and also content knowledge should and really must be present before one can move to that step.  I'd like to take a closer look at this and help teachers see how they all go together.  This may help alleviate some fears of teachers who feel like they are going to be asked to add technology for technology's sake.  Really focusing on that strong content knowledge and pedagogy will help teachers to see where technology should and could be added and where it would be unnecessary.