Effects of Using Computers
Effects of Computer Use on High School Students’ Sense of Community
MERVYN J. WIGHTING
Regent University, Virginia
ABSTRACT The author used a mixed-method design to determine whether and how use of computers in the classroom affects sense of learning in a community among high school students (N = 181). The results indicate that using computers in the classroom positively affects students’ sense of learning in a community. Analyses revealed that students believed that connectedness with their peers is the most important variable in developing a sense of community. Results suggest the following policy implications for urban education: (a) use of computers in teaching may add to the sense of classroom community and (b) sense of community is important and may be linked to academic success. Key words: computers, sense of community, high school education
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echnological innovation has become a commonplace phenomenon and is frequently taken for granted by contemporary society. In everyday life, technology plays an ever-increasing role; innovations, such as cellular telephones, hand-held computers, automatic teller machines, and digital videodisks, quickly become incorporated into daily use and are added to society’s vocabulary. Information is available in far greater quantities than ever before, and the means to access and share it with others is unprecedented. Because the pace of sophisticated technological change is so rapid, however, little is known about its effect on the society that it pervades. The classroom is a microcosm of society, and technology is having an increasing impact in schools throughout the country. In the same way that little is known about how technology affects communities in general, little is yet known about the effects that increased use of technology is having on school communities, in particular, on the sense of community of classroom learners. Sense of Community The concept of community has received considerable interest in recent
MERVYN J. WIGHTING
Regent University, Virginia
ABSTRACT The author used a mixed-method design to determine whether and how use of computers in the classroom affects sense of learning in a community among high school students (N = 181). The results indicate that using computers in the classroom positively affects students’ sense of learning in a community. Analyses revealed that students believed that connectedness with their peers is the most important variable in developing a sense of community. Results suggest the following policy implications for urban education: (a) use of computers in teaching may add to the sense of classroom community and (b) sense of community is important and may be linked to academic success. Key words: computers, sense of community, high school education
T
echnological innovation has become a commonplace phenomenon and is frequently taken for granted by contemporary society. In everyday life, technology plays an ever-increasing role; innovations, such as cellular telephones, hand-held computers, automatic teller machines, and digital videodisks, quickly become incorporated into daily use and are added to society’s vocabulary. Information is available in far greater quantities than ever before, and the means to access and share it with others is unprecedented. Because the pace of sophisticated technological change is so rapid, however, little is known about its effect on the society that it pervades. The classroom is a microcosm of society, and technology is having an increasing impact in schools throughout the country. In the same way that little is known about how technology affects communities in general, little is yet known about the effects that increased use of technology is having on school communities, in particular, on the sense of community of classroom learners. Sense of Community The concept of community has received considerable interest in recent
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