Will Free Benefit the Rich?

Justin Reich

@bjfr

EdTechResearcher.org

Fellow, #Berkman

Co-Founder and Director, EdTechTeacher

1) Will technology innovation ameliorate or exacerbate educational equality?2) If technology innovation exacerbates inequality, should we care?

3) How could we design and deliver technology innovations so that they do improve equality?

Series1

Low-income students

Affluent students

Series1

Low-income students

Affluent students

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EdTech Innovation EdTech Innovation

Closing Gaps Rising Tide

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What do you think might be happening?

Where can research help us move past speculation?

WILL TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION AMELIORATE OR EXACERBATE EDUCATIONAL EQUALITY?

Case Study of Classroom Wikis

Access:

Do students in schools serving different populations have

equitable access to wikis?

Usage:

Do wikis created in schools serving different

populations provide equitable opportunities

for learning?

Exemplar: Flat Classroom Projecthttp://fcp11-3.flatclassroomproject.org/WFS+Wiki+A

Assessing wiki accessDo you use a blog or wiki? Do you have students

contribute to a blog or wiki?

School %FRPL

Rarely Sometimes Rarely Sometimes

<35% 22 17 12 11

35-49% 23 16 11 8

50-74% 20 14 13 7

75-100% 22 17 13 9

Gray, N., Thomas, N., Lewis, L; Teachers Use of Educational Technology in U.S. Public Schools: 2009, NCES 2010040

Fast Response System Survey: http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2010040

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Assessing Wiki Usage

Data: 179,851 Publicly-Viewable, Education-Related Wikis from Pbworks.com

Sample: 255 wikis from U.S. K-12 Public Schools

Instrument: Wiki Quality Instrument, measures opportunities for students to develop deeper learning competencies• Expert Thinking• Complex Communication• New Media Literacy

Reich, J; Murnane, R; Willet, J. (Forthcoming) The state of wiki usage in U.S., K-12 schools: Leveraging Web 2.0 data warehouses to assess quality and

equity in online learning environments. Educational Researcher

Wiki Quality Instrument• Information Consumption

– Do students use wikis to get information? links?

• Participation– Do students contribute to the wiki? Do they own any or all pages?

• Expert thinking:– Do students use academic content knowledge in wiki activities?– Do students reflect on the process/product?

• Complex Communication/Collaboration:– Do students concatenate text on pages?– Do they substantively edit each others work and co-create pages?

• New Media Literacy:– Do students use formatting?– Do they hyperlink?– Do they embed multimedia?

Wiki Type Low Income Schools(n=117)

Mid to High Income Schools

(n=133)

Failed or Trial Wiki 50% 30%

Teacher-Content Wiki 34% 35%

Individual Student-Owned Wiki

15% 35%

Collaborative Student –Owned Wiki

2% 1%

Wikis created in low income schools

Wikis created in mid to high income schools

Series1

Low-income students

Affluent students

Series1

Low-income students

Affluent students

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EdTech Innovation EdTech Innovation

Closing Gaps Rising Tide

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Key Findings from 25 years of Education Technology Research

• When provided with a new technology, teachers typically use the technology to extend existing practices rather than to innovate (Larry Cuban, Judith Sandholtz)

• In affluent homes and schools, technology is more likely to be used for higher-order skill development with more adult supervision than in lower income homes and school (Harold Wenglinsky, Paul Attewell, Mark Warschauer)

IF TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION EXACERBATES INEQUALITY, SHOULD WE CARE?

Rising Tide vs. Larry Cuban

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Opportunity Gap vs. Preparation Gap

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Rising Tide vs. Trickle Down

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What effects will inequalities have on data-driven design?

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EdTech Innovation EdTech Innovation

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HOW COULD WE DESIGN AND DELIVER TECHNOLOGY INNOVATIONS SO THAT THEY DO IMPROVE EQUALITY?

Leadership Public Schools

TechGoesHome

Glitch Game Testers

Back Deck

Differences in networked technology resources among public school districts

Low Poverty Districts (<10%)

Medium Poverty Districts (11-20%)

High Poverty Districts (>20%)

Provide teachers with their own server space for posting their own Web pages or class materials

(Elementary Secondary) 90%

92%81%84%

74%74%

Provide students with electronic storage space on a server

76%92%

60%85%

50%72%

Provide students with online access to the library catalogue

82%92%

69%82%

66%72%

Provide students online access to databases (for library resources)

71%79%

58%67%

53%57%

Employ an individual responsible for education technology leadership

(Full TimePart Time

None)

60%26%13%

48%35%17%

47%33%20%

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Fast Response Survey System (FRSS), “Educational Technology in Public School Districts, Fall 2008,” FRSS 93, 2008.

Composite WQI Score

nInformation

ConsumptionStudent

ParticipationExpert Thinking

New Media Literacy

Complex Communication

(24 items)   (2 items) (4 items) (5 items) (6 items) (7 items)0 102 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.01 49 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.02 37 1.9 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.03 6 0.8 1.0 0.0 0.8 0.34 4 0.0 2.5 0.5 1.0 0.05 4 0.3 2.5 1.3 1.0 0.06 5 0.0 3.0 1.2 1.8 0.07 7 0.7 2.6 1.6 1.7 0.48 5 0.4 2.6 2.4 2.6 0.09 9 0.3 3.1 2.6 3.0 0.0

10 7 0.4 3.0 2.9 3.4 0.311 11 0.3 3.1 2.7 4.5 0.512 3 1.3 3.3 3.7 3.0 0.713 3 2.0 3.7 2.3 4.7 0.314 0          15 0          16 0          17 2 1.0 3.5 3.5 3.5 5.518 0          19 1 2.0 3.0 3.0 4.0 7.020 0          21 0          22 0          23 0          24 0          

Picture Credits

• Historic Strawberry School: http://www.flickr.com/photos/alanenglish/5066943664/in/set-72157623090972731

• Brains: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mKpSkn3PTaI/Snnpamgsz5I/AAAAAAAABLk/wHALn8m1oNc/s400/braiiins.jpg

• High tech high classroom: http://newsletter.hightechhigh.org/10-20-2005/index.php

March 3Microsoft New England Research

and Development CenterCambridge, MA

July-August, 2012Harvard University

Cambridge, MA