Opportunity for All? Technology and Learning in Lower-Income Families

Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop. 1900 Broadway, New York, NY 10023. Tel: 212-595-3456; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: http://www.joanganzcooneycenter.org

N

48

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Parent Surveys; Access to Computers; Ownership; Internet; Motivation; Community Resources; Telecommunications; Computers; Handheld Devices; Parent Attitudes; Children; Helping Relationship; Computer Uses in Education; Educational Technology; Family Income; Low Income Groups; Telephone Surveys; National Surveys; Interviews; Hispanic Americans

Arizona; California; Colorado

Because digital devices and the Internet have become so essential, digital inequality can exacerbate educational and economic inequality as well. Therefore, it is critical to understand how low- and moderate-income families in the U.S. are engaging digital technologies and how they perceive the opportunities--and potential risks-- that these innovations present for their children. This report presents the results of the first nationally-representative telephone survey of lower-income parents on issues related to digital connectivity. The survey included 1,191 parents with school-aged children (ages 6 to 13). All parents in the survey have household incomes below the national median for families with children. These families are referred to throughout the report as either "lower-income" or as "low and moderate-income" families. Because lower-income parents are not usually the focus of studies on technology and learning, this report offers a unique perspective into the varying degrees of connectivity that exist among these families. The goal is to shine a spotlight on an important segment of the U.S. population that too often goes unnoticed as the progress and promise afforded by new technologies are celebrated. The hope is these data will help inform public policies, industry practices, and non-profit efforts toward digital inclusion for lower-income children and their families. [For the companion document entitled "Opportunity for All? Technology and Learning in Lower-Income Families. Appendix: Questionnaire and Topline Results," see ED574418.]

ERIC

8

2017

ED574416