IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jscscx/v10y2021i1p12-d476282.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Can Digital Technology Bridge the Classroom Engagement Gap? Findings from a Qualitative Study of K-8 Classrooms in 10 Ontario School Boards

Author

Listed:
  • Jessica Rizk

    (Department of Sociology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada)

  • Scott Davies

    (Educational Leadership and Policy and Sociology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 1V6, Canada)

Abstract

This study examined impacts of digital technology on a key component of the socioeconomic gap in education—gaps in student classroom engagement. Whereas print literacy has long been a source of such gaps, newer “digital divide” theories claim classrooms that use digital technology are perpetuating them further. However, these claims are not grounded in close empirical observation and may now already be dated. We aimed to advance understandings of the impact of digital technology on student engagement by examining robotics, tablets, and smart board usage across a range of classrooms, using a conceptual framework that blends theories of interaction ritual chains (IRC) and cultural capital (CC). Data came from observations and interviews with teachers and students in K-8 classrooms across 10 Ontario school boards. We report three major findings. First, almost all students across socioeconomic strata engaged easily and enthusiastically with digital technology. Second, technology spawned new classroom rituals and cultural valuations. Third, digital technology provided connections between school dictates and students’ peer-based and home lives. We argue that digital technology has the potential to narrow classroom engagement gaps that are generated by conventional print media. We end by discussing avenues for future research.

Suggested Citation

  • Jessica Rizk & Scott Davies, 2021. "Can Digital Technology Bridge the Classroom Engagement Gap? Findings from a Qualitative Study of K-8 Classrooms in 10 Ontario School Boards," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-17, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:10:y:2021:i:1:p:12-:d:476282
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/10/1/12/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/10/1/12/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Tramonte, Lucia & Willms, J. Douglas, 2010. "Cultural capital and its effects on education outcomes," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 200-213, April.
    2. Elizabeth Hardman, 2015. "How Pedagogy 2.0 Can Foster Teacher Preparation and Community Building in Special Education," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 3(6), pages 42-55.
    3. Jordi Castellví & María-Consuelo Díez-Bedmar & Antoni Santisteban, 2020. "Pre-Service Teachers’ Critical Digital Literacy Skills and Attitudes to Address Social Problems," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 9(8), pages 1-11, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Shihui Feng & Cheng Yong Tan, 2024. "Toward conceptual clarity for digital cultural and social capital in student learning: Insights from a systematic literature review," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-15, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Donatella Furia & Alessandro Crociata & Massimiliano Agovino, 2018. "Voluntary work and cultural capital: an exploratory analysis for Italian regional data," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 35(3), pages 789-808, December.
    2. Dong, Xianjing & Zhang, Xiaojuan & Zhang, Congcong & Bi, Chunyu, 2023. "Building sustainability education for green recovery in the energy resource sector: A cross country analysis," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    3. Silles, Mary A., 2011. "The intergenerational effects of parental schooling on the cognitive and non-cognitive development of children," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 258-268, April.
    4. AlSayyari, Alaa & AlBuhairan, Fadia, 2020. "Prevalence and correlations of school-absenteeism among intermediate and secondary students in Saudi Arabia," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    5. Hille, Adrian & Schupp, Jürgen, 2015. "How Learning a Musical Instrument Affects the Development of Skills," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 44, pages 56-82.
    6. José Manuel Cordero Ferrera & Manuel Muñiz Pérez & Rosa Simancas Rodríguez, 2015. "The influence of socioeconomic factors on cognitive and non-cognitive educational outcomes," Investigaciones de Economía de la Educación volume 10, in: Marta Rahona López & Jennifer Graves (ed.), Investigaciones de Economía de la Educación 10, edition 1, volume 10, chapter 21, pages 413-438, Asociación de Economía de la Educación.
    7. Don Passey, 2015. "Inclusive Technologies and Learning: Research, Practice and Policy," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 3(6), pages 1-6.
    8. Lee Pugalis & Anna Round & Tony Blackwood & Lucy Hatt, 2015. "The entrepreneurial middle ground: Higher education entry decisions of aspiring entrepreneurs," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 30(5), pages 503-519, August.
    9. Fabian Stephany, 2019. "It Deepens Like a Coastal Shelf: Educational Mobility and Social Capital in Germany," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 142(2), pages 855-885, April.
    10. Reza Pishghadam & Mohsen Noghani & Reza Zabihi, 2011. "An Application of a Questionnaire of Social and Cultural Capital to English Language Learning," English Language Teaching, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 4(3), pages 151-151, September.
    11. Destin, Mesmin, 2013. "Integrating resource-based and person-based approaches to understanding wealth effects on school achievement," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 171-178.
    12. Henriques, C.O. & Chavez, J.M. & Gouveia, M.C. & Marcenaro-Gutierrez, O.D., 2022. "Efficiency of secondary schools in Ecuador: A value based DEA approach," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 82(PA).
    13. Kerris Cooper & Kitty Stewart, 2021. "Does Household Income Affect children’s Outcomes? A Systematic Review of the Evidence," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 14(3), pages 981-1005, June.
    14. Troels Krarup & Martin D Munk, 2016. "Field theory in cultural capital studies of educational attainment," Post-Print hal-01295802, HAL.
    15. Ausra Maslauskaite, 2021. "Cultural Capital, Gender and Intergenerational Educational Mobility in Post-Communist Space," Societies, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-15, January.
    16. Marie-Louise Damen & Chris Klaveren, 2013. "Did Cultural and Artistic Education in the Netherlands increase Student Participation in High Cultural Events?," De Economist, Springer, vol. 161(4), pages 447-462, December.
    17. Cooper, Kerris & Stewart, Kitty, 2020. "Does household income affect children’s outcomes? A systematic review of the evidence," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 107029, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    18. Cornelia Woll, 2014. "Bank Rescue Schemes in Continental Europe: The Power of Collective Inaction," Sciences Po publications info:hdl:2441/6h0jh7hlm79, Sciences Po.
    19. Višeslav Kirinić & Darijo Čerepinko & Iva Rosanda Žigo, 2023. "Factor Analysis of Croatian Secondary School Teachers’ Readiness for Digital Transformation," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-11, November.
    20. Antonello E. Scorcu & Laura Vici, 2013. "Economic and cultural factors and illegal copying in the university textbook market," ACEI Working Paper Series AWP-01-2013, Association for Cultural Economics International, revised Feb 2013.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:10:y:2021:i:1:p:12-:d:476282. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.