Reducing Digital Divide Effects Through Student Engagement in Coordinated Game Design, Online Resource Use, and Social Computing Activities in School

Abstract

Participating in online social, cultural, and political activities requires digital skill and knowledge. This study investigates how sustained student engagement in game design and social media use can attenuate the relations between socioeconomic factors and digital inequality among youth. This study of 242 middle and high school students participating in the Globaloria project shows that participation eliminates gender effects, and reduces parent education effects in home computer use. Further, students from schools with lower parent education show greater increases in frequency of school technology engagement. Globaloria participation also weakens the link between prior school achievement and advanced technology activities. Results offer evidence that school-based digital literacy programs can attenuate digital divide effects known to occur cross-sectionally in the general U.S. population.

Keywords: digital divide, game design, inequality, educational technology, instructional design, social media