Students’ views of the access to and the uses of technology in school: an ethnographic case study

Many assumptions continue to be made about the ways in which uses of computers in schools impact on learning. The views of those affected the most by this technology have, so far, been given little consideration despite the fact that teenagers use computers in and out of school for doing schoolwork (Levin and Arafeh, 2002). This paper/poster presents a small-scale qualitative study that explored what students think about access to and the use of technology at the case study school. The findings are based on the perspectives of 40 students, aged between 14 and 19, whose learning is dependent on the use of technology. The participants kept research diaries, held ‘concentric conversations’, and were interviewed in groups. They suggest that increasing students’ access to computers and their involvement with technology in classes would have positive effects on learning. I was simultaneously an ‘insider’ and an ‘outsider’ and my understanding of the micro-politics of the school enabled me to negotiate levels of access that would have been impossible for someone not associated with the institution. One of my claims resulting from this study is that engaging students in education research can produce deeper insights into how best to use technology for teaching and learning. As consultants, students played the role of ‘expert advisers’, providing a perspective available to only them in their unique position as consumers of education. When engaged as researchers, students are positioned to plan and lead school-based reform. There is a developmental aspect to this within a case study setting, and so the present study goes beyond using students as data providers, involving them as consultants, with a view to moving students into researcher roles in a future study.