Digital Divides Archives - Connected Learning Research Network

Rethinking the ‘Race Between Education and Technology’ Thesis

December 4, 2013

This year my research team has been pouring over qualitative data that we collected over a year-and-half period from Freeway High School (previously referred to as Texas City High School in earlier posts), the site of our fieldwork in the study of ‘connected learning.’ Several themes related to young people’s adoption of digital media, the role of technology in schools, social inequality, and the future of learning have emerged from our fieldwork. For instance, we have thought a lot about the social d Read More...

S. Craig Watkins

Poorly Educated and Poorly Connected: The Hidden Realities of Innovation Hubs

May 30, 2013

When President Barack Obama decided to kick off his “Middle Class Jobs and Opportunity Tours” in Austin it highlighted once again the city’s reputation as a growth sector in the nation’s creative and high tech economy. Over the last few years the arrival of Apple, Google, Facebook and others has diversified Austin’s creative economy which has long provided a home for Dell, IBM, and Applied Materials Inc.

Why Critical Design Literacy is Needed Now More Than Ever

May 1, 2012

One thing is clear in our work at Texas City High School (TCHS) this year: students like to create their own media. Students at TCHS create their own YouTube channels, compose original music, comics, games, Tumblr pages, art work, and fashion designs. As young people’s use of social and digital media applications continues to evolve they are developing what I call a “design disposition.” This is a reference to a distinct generational view that they expect to not o

What Schools are Really Blocking When They Block Social Media

February 2, 2012

The debates about schools and social media are a subject of great public and policy interests. In reality, the debate has been shaped by one key fact: the almost universal decision by school administrators to block social media. Because social media is such a big part of many students social lives, cultural identities, and informal learning networks schools actually find themselves grappling with social media everyday but often from a defensive posture—reacting to student disputes that play out over social media or policing rather than engaging student’s social media behaviors.

Digital Divides

Rethinking the ‘Race Between Education and Technology’ Thesis

Poorly Educated and Poorly Connected: The Hidden Realities of Innovation Hubs

Why Critical Design Literacy is Needed Now More Than Ever

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