Seventh-grade students in a research study agreed that using a word processing program to do composition activities is preferable to traditional pen-and-paper writing (Baer 1988). In another study, 3rd-, 4th-, and 5th-grade disadvantaged students who participated in computer-assisted math instruction reported more positive attitudes toward school life, indicated higher mathematical self-concepts, and obtained higher scores on mathematics achievement tests than did children in classes without computer assistance (Mevarech and Rich 1985).
In science, computers have the potential to make students feel comfortable and competent in their world by emphasizing an inquiry and process approach (Kyle et al. 1985). It's clear that when used effectively, technology fosters students' participation and sense of engagement in learning.
Despite the lack of or inappropriate use of technology in schools, practice, research, and literature suggest that learning activities delivered with a variety of technologies are especially useful and appropriate for minority and disadvantaged students because technology is effective in producing positive attitudes toward learning and promoting success for low achievers (Ashbrook 1984, Baer 1988, Beebe 1989, D'Ignazio 1988, Dowdney 1987, G. Smith 1989). Furthermore, the use of computers and newer technologies allows educators to match schoolwork with the learning preferences of academically at-risk children, who require concrete learning activities (Carbo et al. 1989).
Mann (1989) cites psychologists' “participation hypothesis” for effective learning—the more involved we are in the process, the more likely we will learn what we are doing. Interactive technologies like computer-assisted instruction and interactive video are effective means for increasing student participation. The excitement of video and the power of the microcomputer are integrated to create vivid, immediate results when students make choices among options. IBM and Hazelden Health Promotion Services, for example, have produced an interactive simulation called “TARGET,” which helps teens see the consequences of substance abuse.
Similarly, Interactive, Inc., has developed an interactive videodisc for high school children to highlight the consequences of dropping out of school. The consequences of children's choices vary depending on their gender and ethnicity. For example, an Hispanic male will experience outcomes that are quite different from those experienced by a Caucasian female. This “customized experiential learning activity” makes the material relevant, realistic, and applicable to an individual's daily activities. Unlike passive technologies like television, interactive technologies require the user to make choices, view the consequences immediately, and receive timely feedback on performance (Mann 1989.)
Dialog, Inc., has created an online data-retrieval system for children, “Classmate,” which gives youngsters access to the most current knowledge available in a large number of business, consumer, reference, science, and technology data bases. Students use a computer and a CD-ROM player to search for up-to-date information while they learn how technology is an effective tool to support their studies.
A number of states have approved adoption of Optical Data Corporation's “Windows on Science” videodisc series as a teaching tool in grades 1–6. An alternative to conventional textbooks, the series is intended for teacher use with a videodisc player to illustrate and demonstrate aspects of scientific phenomena that would be difficult or impossible to relate using traditional formats.
The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) has integrated a large column of news footage with videodisc technology and the Macintosh Hypercard data-organization system to create a series of interactive packages available for school use. By interconnecting a Macintosh computer with a videodisc player, students can learn about topics as diverse as substance abuse, Martin Luther King, Jr., or the powers of the U.S. government while they read text on the computer screen, view clips from news coverage, and hear segments of speeches.
Unfortunately, several comprehensive reports document a severe gap in availability and use of technology (Becker 1991, Currence 1986). Schools with predominantly white, middle-class students use technology (specifically computers) for more advanced applications like simulations, programming, and productivity (word processing, data base, spreadsheet). Schools with predominantly black or ethnic working-class students often use technology for drill-and-practice. Serious computer-using students continue to be white males from high socioeconomic status homes who consistently have access to technology at home and in school and are encouraged to use it by parents and teachers.
Reports also show that for many students, use of technology is limited throughout the school day. Access to computers, for example, is often restricted to times when a teacher has scheduled a computer-related assignment for an entire class or has borrowed a computer for use in the classroom. Students are not often free to use a school's computer before or after school, and most disadvantaged students do not have access to computers at home. Moreover, few teachers require (or even recommend) that computers be used as tools to accomplish lesson-related tasks, nor do they make time to facilitate computer use (L. Smith 1989).
For disadvantaged students, technological illiteracy implies constrained vocational opportunities; limited performance of basic living skills such as bill paying, grocery shopping, and banking; as well as inequalities in education opportunities (Apple 1992). More than any other group, at-risk youngsters need the benefits and high support that carefully planned technology programs can provide them. When educators apply technology thoughtfully in their curricular programs, they affirm students' strengths. Technology offers students learning resources that complement and enhance their ability to learn. It helps students overcome economic disadvantages by accelerating performance outcomes as was never possible in the past.
With the emergence of new technologies, there are not enough “hard” data to support specific recommendations for using instructional technologies with at-risk students; however, the educational community always needs adventurous practitioners who will experiment with innovation and lead their colleagues toward more effective classroom strategies. These are the educators from whom disadvantaged children benefit most. These are the teachers who take risks to benefit those at risk.
