Abstract
The majority of the existing research on youth and technology has focused on physical access, computer-related skills, or student attitudes. Less is known about the social and cultural aspects of young people's interactions with technology. However, understanding how youth use technology and the different factors that affect these uses can help us capitalize on students' strengths. Using survey and ethnographic data, this study is intended to contribute to a better understanding of youths' interactions with technology. Participants in the study were Latino immigrant students (fifth- and sixth-graders) from an elementary school located in a large metropolis in the United States. Results provide both an overall picture of the youths' technological practices as well as a deeper look at the ways in which engaging with technology was valuable and meaningful for them.
Highlights
The digital divide is no longer only about physical access to technology and about types of uses
Researchers are starting to theorize about factors such as language background, cultural values, and relevance of activities in people’s interactions with technology (Kupperman & Fishman, 2002; Leonardi, 2003; Warschauer, 2003). They argue that looking at how technology is culturally and personally relevant to people’s lives might provide us with a richer framework for understanding the social, cultural, and economic aspects of the digital divide (Angus, Snyder & Sutherland-Smith, 2003)
In the United States, the inequities of the digital divide have been persistently most pronounced for the Latino1 community in comparison to other ethnic minority groups (US Department of Commerce, 2002)
Summary
The digital divide is no longer only about physical access to technology and about types of uses. Researchers are starting to theorize about factors such as language background, cultural values, and relevance of activities in people’s interactions with technology (Kupperman & Fishman, 2002; Leonardi, 2003; Warschauer, 2003). They argue that looking at how technology is culturally and personally relevant to people’s lives might provide us with a richer framework for understanding the social, cultural, and economic aspects of the digital divide (Angus, Snyder & Sutherland-Smith, 2003). Despite the rapid growth of the Latino population in the United States, there is very limited empirical research on how this group interacts with technology in everyday life This is especially true for Latino youth. The scant literature on Latinos/as and technology mostly focuses on adults (e.g., Leonardi, 2003; Tornatzky, Macias, & Jones, 2002) or on youths’ interactions with technology in the formal educational system (e.g., Kupperman & Fishman, 2002), overlooking the culturally and personally relevant technological practices that Latino youth might engage in outside of school
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