In this seminar we will jointly explore the topic of equity and technological fluency development. We will draw on socio-cultural theories of development as a conceptual framework for understanding the ways in which young adolescents learn about new technologies and how what they learn is influenced by the specific types of activities they participate in. We will explore how young teens actively contribute to their own learning through choosing learning opportunities, and by creating novel activity contexts for themselves. We will jointly work on a taxonomy of the different social and material resources that students use when they have a desire to learn. We will also explore how access to more formal learning opportunities is an important factor in understanding constraints on equity. We will consider how, if we want to understand differential patterns of participation and engagement, there is need to go beyond simple questions of access to examine the nature of the learning environment, the curriculum, and the extent to which courses become socially typed as appropriate for a narrow group of students.
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