Student Engagement Gaps and Technology: What Digital Tools Can Teach Us About Socioeconomic Status Disparities  

• In Event: 25.083 - MTCC Roundtable Session Eight
  In Roundtable Session: 25.083-6 - The Role of Technology in Achievement and Performance

Abstract

This paper discusses the relationship between school engagement and new forms of technologies (i.e. iPads, robotics kits, Smart Boards) in 21st century classrooms. In doing so, it utilizes Collins (2004) interaction ritual theory, and Bourdieu’s (1986) concept of cultural capital, to establish the possibility that the continual use of digital tools in classroom can create new sets of rituals with valued cultural capital. Through a qualitative inquiry consisting of K-8 classroom observations and interviews with teachers and students in ten school boards across Ontario, Canada, I propose that one of the unintended consequences of using technology as an educational tool, compared to more traditional forms of print media, has been the reduction of home-based inequalities, and increased student engagement.

Author

• Jessica Rizk, University of Waterloo