Slides accompanying talk at the Berkman Center: Webcast details here: http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/events/luncheon/2012/01/reich

1. Will Free Benefit the Rich?
Justin Reich
@bjfr
EdTechResearcher.org
Fellow, #Berkman
Co-Founder and Director,
EdTechTeacher

3. Closing Gaps Rising Tide
Affluent students
Affluent students
Learning
Learning
Low-income Low-income
students students
EdTech Innovation EdTech Innovation
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?

4. What do you think might be
happening?
Where can research help us move past speculation?

5. WILL TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION
AMELIORATE OR EXACERBATE
EDUCATIONAL EQUALITY?

6. Case Study of Classroom Wikis
Access: Usage:
Do students in schools Do wikis created in
serving different schools serving different
populations have populations provide
equitable access to equitable opportunities
wikis? for learning?
Exemplar: Flat Classroom Project
http://fcp11-3.flatclassroomproject.org/WFS+Wiki+A

7. Assessing wiki access
Do you use a blog or wiki? Do you have students
contribute to a blog or wiki?
School Rarely Sometimes Rarely Sometimes
%FRPL
<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

8. Learning
Learning
EdTech Innovation EdTech Innovation

9. Assessing Wiki Usage
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
Data: 179,851 Publicly- Instrument: Wiki
Viewable, Education- Quality Instrument,
Related Wikis from measures opportunities
Pbworks.com for students to develop
Sample: 255 wikis from deeper learning
U.S. K-12 Public competencies
Schools • Expert Thinking
• Complex Communication
• New Media Literacy

10. 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?

11. Wiki Type Low Income Mid to High
Schools Income Schools
(n=117) (n=133)
Failed or Trial Wiki 50% 30%
Teacher-Content Wiki 34% 35%
Individual Student-Owned 15% 35%
Wiki
Collaborative Student – 2% 1%
Owned Wiki

12. Wikis created in mid to high
income schools
Wikis created in low income
schools

13. Closing Gaps Rising Tide
Affluent students
Affluent students
Learning
Learning
Low-income Low-income
students students
EdTech Innovation EdTech Innovation

14. Key Findings from 25 years of Education
Technology Research
• When provided with a • In affluent homes and
new technology, teachers schools, technology is
typically use the more likely to be used for
technology to extend higher-order skill
existing practices rather development with more
than to innovate (Larry adult supervision than in
Cuban, Judith Sandholtz) lower income homes and
school (Harold
Wenglinsky, Paul
Attewell, Mark
Warschauer)

16. IF TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION
EXACERBATES
INEQUALITY, SHOULD WE CARE?

17. Rising Tide vs. Larry Cuban
Learning
Learning
EdTech Innovation EdTech Innovation

18. Opportunity Gap vs. Preparation Gap
Learning
Learning
EdTech Innovation EdTech Innovation

19. Rising Tide vs. Trickle Down
Learning
Learning
EdTech Innovation EdTech Innovation

20. What effects will inequalities have on data-driven design?

21. Learning
Learning
EdTech Innovation EdTech Innovation

22. Learning
Learning
EdTech Innovation EdTech Innovation

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

24. Leadership Public Schools

25. TechGoesHome

26. Glitch Game Testers

27. Back Deck

28. Differences in networked technology Low Poverty Medium Poverty High Poverty
resources among public school districts Districts Districts Districts (>20%)
(<10%) (11-20%)
Provide teachers with their own server space for
posting their own Web pages or class materials
(Elementary 90% 81% 74%
Secondary) 92% 84% 74%
Provide students with electronic storage space 76% 60% 50%
on a server 92% 85% 72%
Provide students with online access to the 82% 69% 66%
library catalogue 92% 82% 72%
Provide students online access to databases (for 71% 58% 53%
library resources) 79% 67% 57%
Employ an individual responsible for education
technology leadership
(Full Time 60% 48% 47%
Part Time 26% 35% 33%
None) 13% 17% 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.

29. Composite Information Student New Media Complex
n Expert Thinking
WQI Score Consumption Participation Literacy Communication
(24 items) (2 items) (4 items) (5 items) (6 items) (7 items)
0 102 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
1 49 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
2 37 1.9 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0
3 6 0.8 1.0 0.0 0.8 0.3
4 4 0.0 2.5 0.5 1.0 0.0
5 4 0.3 2.5 1.3 1.0 0.0
6 5 0.0 3.0 1.2 1.8 0.0
7 7 0.7 2.6 1.6 1.7 0.4
8 5 0.4 2.6 2.4 2.6 0.0
9 9 0.3 3.1 2.6 3.0 0.0
10 7 0.4 3.0 2.9 3.4 0.3
11 11 0.3 3.1 2.7 4.5 0.5
12 3 1.3 3.3 3.7 3.0 0.7
13 3 2.0 3.7 2.3 4.7 0.3
14 0
15 0
16 0
17 2 1.0 3.5 3.5 3.5 5.5
18 0
19 1 2.0 3.0 3.0 4.0 7.0
20 0
21 0
22 0
23 0

30. 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

31. March 3
Microsoft New England Research July-August, 2012
and Development Center Harvard University
Cambridge, MA Cambridge, MA