Examining How Technology Shapes Roles for Disenfranchised Students in the Classroom: A Cultural Historical Perspective

• In Event: Roundtable Session 37
  In Roundtable Session: The Culture and Context of Learning and Development

Abstract

This study reports on a high school biology classroom that attempted to bridge curriculum with students’ use of technology through a one-to-one laptop initiative. The one-to-one program sought to enhance disenfranchised students’ autonomy through the implementation of digital production activities, such as podcasts, multimedia presentations, and digital posters, yet, despite these efforts, observed that many students disengaged from project-based activities and struggled to use their autonomy productively during class time. Using the frameworks of cultural historical activity theory (CHAT) and identities in practice (Holland, 2001) this study examines the effect of classroom social structures on students’ negotiations over legitimate participation in technology-based activities, and the roles that technology helped to shape and constrain for students to occupy in the classroom.

Author

• Nicholas C. Wilson, Stanford University