Special Online Issue
 |
Edited by Diane McGrath |
formerly Journal of Research on Computing in Education
Volume 28 Number 5 Summer 1996
Personal Empowerment in the Study of Home Internet Use by Low-Income
Families,
Data
Melinda Bier, Michael Gallo, Eddy Nucklos, Stephen Sherblom, and
Michael Pennick
Florida Institute of Technology
Data Sources
Conceptual Links
Empowerment
As a pervasive value in American culture empowerment denotes both
individual
determination over over one's own life and democratic participation in
the life
of one's community, often through mediating structures such as
schools, neighborhoods,
churches, and other voluntary organizations. It conveys both a
psychological
sense of personal control or influence and a concern with actual
social influence,
political power, and legal rights. It is a multilevel construct
applicable to
individual citizens, as well as organizations; it suggests the study
of people
in context. It is not only an individual psychological construct, it
is organizational,
political, sociological, economic, and spiritual. The idea of
empowerment captures
our interest in racial and economic justice, in legal rights as well
as human
needs, in health care and educational justice, in individual
competence as well
as a sense of community (
Rappaport, 1987
).
Traditionally
Underserved
Families included in this study are members of traditionally underserved
populations
(limited English proficiency, minority status) low-income (accessed by
eligibility
for free or reduced school lunch) with an absence of a computer in the
home and
lack of computer knowledge or skills.
Reputational Case
Selection
Reputational case selection instances chosen on the recommendation of an
"expert"
or key informant. These strategies increase confidence in analytic
findings on
the grounds of representativeness (Miles
& Huberman, 1990).
Prior Ethnography
Prior Ethnography refers to the process of becoming a participant
observer in
the situation [under study] for a lengthy period before the study is
actually
undertaken. Prior ethnography not only helps to diminish the
obtrusiveness of
the investigator but also provides a baseline of cultural accommodations
and informational
orientations that will be invaluable in increasing both the
effectiveness and
the efficiency of the formal work. It prepares the inquirers mind for
what will
come later and so serves to sensitize and hone the human instrument (Corsaro,
1980).
Chapter 1
Chapter 1 programs are designed to increase both parental involvement
and student
reading and mathematics achievement through computer-assisted study
and practice
at home (Fraser, 1991). This component of the Chapter 1 Program allows
children
at this school to borrow computers on a six week rotation. In this
area there
are 5000 eligible students and approximately 150 computers available.
At the
time these families took part in the Chapter 1 program computer use
was limited
to software programs targeted at student achievement of specific
academic objectives.
The computers were not used by the parents.
Internet Utilities
Logistics
This project was formally initiated with the signing of a letter of
agreement
between the research team (Bier and Gallo) and the principal of the
target school.
The letter of agreement included a brief summary of the purpose of the
study,
listed the research questions to be pursued, identified the
participant selection
criteria, and enumerated the various actions for which the school was
responsible.
For our part, the research team agreed to establish and maintain a
point of
Internet access in the school library. This involved the installation
of a telephone
line to the school library, the loan of a Macintosh computer with
Internet utilities
and modem, and dial-up Internet access to Florida Tech. The research
team also
agreed to provide each of the participating families a home computer
and high
speed modem, printer, Internet access, software, training,
self-directed learning
resources, and technical support for the duration of the project.
Basic computer
training was conducted twice each week from October, 1994, to
December, 1994,
in the participating elementary school's library. Internet training
was conducted
twice each week in January, 1995, in Florida Tech's Science Education
Department's
computer laboratory. Follow-up training was conducted on an ongoing
basis in
participants' homes throughout the data collection period. All formal
training
was conducted by the participating school's technology specialist; I
conducted
the follow-up training. The self-directed learning resources available
to participants
during this project included video and computer based tutorials as
well as a
variety of printed manuals and documentation. All products and
services were
provided at no monetary cost to the school or participants by Florida
Tech's
Educational Partnerships Program and Florida Tech's Academic and
Research Computing
Services Department; technical support was provided primarily by Bier
and Gallo.
The school administration informed selected families of the
opportunity to gain
the long term loan of a personal computer and invited them to an
orientation
meeting. These families attended the orientation meeting in October,
1994, for
which I arranged childcare. The orientation included: 1) an
introduction to
project personnel; 2) an overview of the research purpose, data
collection methods,
and research timeline; 3) an explanation of participants' rights and
responsibilities;
4) the distribution of draft copies of a parent-participant consent
form, an
equipment loan agreement, and a computer experience questionnaire; and
5) a
preliminary discussion of scheduling and childcare considerations for
basic
computer training classes. The concept of informed consent was
introduced at
the orientation meeting and revisited throughout the period of prior
ethnography.
Participants were not required to sign the equipment agreement or
parent-participant
consent form until they took the computer equipment home in December.
The equipment
agreement form delineated participant responsibilities for the care of
the equipment.
The parent-participant consent form included a summary of the project
goals,
data ownership rights, early withdrawal procedures, an assurance of
confidentiality,
and an enumeration of participant responsibilities.
Naturalistic Knowledge
Table 1. Family Profiles
Scroll down to see participant photos
|
Family Pseudonym
|
Race
|
Parenting Status
|
Elementary Children
|
Employment Status
|
|
Monday
|
White
|
Single Mother
|
1
|
SSI (Disability- diabetes)
|
|
Tuesday
|
Hispanic Limited English
|
Single Mother
|
2
|
Full-time day
|
|
Wednesday
|
Black
|
Single Mother
|
3
|
Full-time day
|
|
Thursday
|
Black
|
Two Parent
|
3
|
F:variable M:unemployed (diabetes)
|
|
Friday
|
White Limited English
|
Two Parent
|
2
|
F:variable M:unemployed
|
|
Saturday
|
White
|
Two Parent
|
2
|
F:part-time day M:full-time night
|
Participant Photos
Table 2. Examples of Internet Interactions
Computer/Internet used as a productivity tool
Kids' school reports
Life histories
Cookbooks
Internet used for information gathering (WWW)
Medical
Kidney Foundation
Virtual hospital
Diabetic recipes
Alternative medicines
Economic/gov
Small business association-process for
minority bidding on gov't contracts
SSI eligibility and procedures
800 number directory
Current events
OJ trial
local community calendar
local newspaper (Florida Today)
magazines (Time/Warner)
Hobbies and Recreation
collecting sports scores
chocolate recipes
recipes
Internet used for communication/logistics
E-mail with school-student logistics, transportation
Listservs on gifted kids & ADD discussions
E-mailing daily glucose info to personal physician
Internet used to take virtual field trips
International Zoos & Museums
Trips abroad
Building Relationships/community
Diabetes Sufferers Support Group
Single Parents Support Group
Table 3. Types and Amount of of Internet Use by Families
Use
|
Family
|
Hours
|
Time
|
% Browse
|
% Target
|
|
Monday
|
9-10+/day
|
constant/n
|
50%
|
50%
|
|
Saturday M
|
2/day
|
afternoons
|
30%
|
70%
|
|
Saturday F
|
4-5/day
|
mornings
|
66%
|
33%
|
|
Wednesday
|
7/day
|
afternoons
|
30%
|
70%
|
|
Thursday
|
1-5/day
|
afternoon/n
|
25%
|
75%
|
|
Friday
|
3/day
|
evenings
|
20%
|
80%
|
Family Internet Access Preferences
| Family |
Desire |
Pricing |
$
|
Provider |
| Monday |
Yes |
Flat rate |
$20
|
Telephone co. |
| Tuesday M |
Yes |
Flat rate |
$20
|
Telephone co. |
| Tuesday F |
Yes |
Flat rate |
$35
|
Telephone co. |
| Wednesday |
Yes |
Metered |
$1/hr
|
Cable co. |
| Thursday |
Yes |
Flat rate |
$30
|
Telephone co. |
| Friday |
Yes |
Flat rate |
$25
|
Telephone co. |
Table 4. Perceived Obstacles, Benefits, Needs and Impact
Obstacles
Fear of and negative past experience with technology
Lack of awareness of usefulness
Self concept as unsuccessful learners
Lack of understanding/skills-computer and Internet time
Busy signals
Participant Perceived Benefits
Loss of fear
Transfer of learning to other situations
Rise in self-esteem
Knowledge and skill acquisition
Personal prestige
Increased student acheivement
Shared special interest and language with children
Support Service Needs
Addressing a variety of learning styles
Phases of support needed
Early hand-holding and validation from professionals
Peer sharing and peer tutoring
Childcare and transportation
Reported Impact on Family Dynamics
Increased togetherness initially
Child-to-parent tutoring
Decreased TV time
Decreased time outdoors
Academic competion among chidren
Interview
Click
here to view video
Video size: 6 MB
(Run time: 1 minute 5 seconds)
Video transcript
I still do. I still pull up all the medical colleges, I still pull up
the kidney
foundations.
We're now using it to get medical information about Alan's Epilepsy,
because he
had to have brain surgery two weeks ago. They had to put a new shunt in
so we
pulled up that. We've joined several...I've joined several groups, with
the Kidney
Foundation, Diabetes Association. Stephanie's joined the Epileptic
Foundation.
And it's a support group.
(So, you can actually join on line? Through being on line?) Yeah. So,
it's
a support group, you know. We get letters back and forth from people.
I've got
the talented.. the TAG: Talented, gifted, the serve that I joined.
(And, so information about Charlie...?) Information about Charlie and his giftness.
Information about Charlie and ADHD. I'm looking into, another ____ said that
I could find CHAD through there somewhere. So I'm trying to find out about where
that is.
Video 2
Click
here to view video
Video transcript
(How about any help with the ______ stuff? I mean do you use it as an
emotional,
I mean to, like an outlet... ) As far as me, using it...? Yeah, as far
as helping
me medically. It helped me really, yeah. Being on a chat helps me
release because
of my friend Raven. I'll go on at night, cause at night when I get home
my legs
are in so much pain and I hurt so bad that I cry and instead of sitting
alone
in a chair in a corner somewhere crying now I can get on chat and he'll
say to
me what's the matter , you know, do you hurt, I'll say yes and he'll ask
me if
I'm crying and he'll cry along with me. So it's a support. Plus there's
a psychology
part that I had found that I also go into.
Copyright © 1996, ISTE (International Society for Technology
in Education).
All rights reserved.
|
