Redefining Geek: Bias and the Five Hidden Habits of Tech-Savvy Teens

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session 13
  In Roundtable Session: The Social Context of Education

Abstract

This presentation, based on a forthcoming book, interrogates: 1) what it means to be technologically competent, 2) how to equitably observe and measure technological competence, and 3) how technological competence links to inequality. Therefore, the study answers the first four AERA meeting key questions about skills, equitable teaching, equitable systems, and political forces. Using a mixed-method approach involving over 2,000 adolescents, I find that technological competence includes five key learning habits, that girls’ habits are underdeveloped, and there are no significant race- or class-based differences in students’ habits. I interpret these inequities a problem of gatekeeping—and that schools currently do very little to support these habits. I offer ways educators can address gatekeeping and better support learning.

Author

• Cassidy Puckett, Emory University