The urban–rural gap: project-based learning with Web 2.0 among West Virginian teachers

To overcome the digital divide in West Virginia, schools are urged to integrate emerging information and communication technologies (ICTs) such as Web 2.0 and alternative pedagogies to develop students’ twenty-first-century skills. Yet, the potential effects of the digital divide on technology integ...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Goh, Debbie, Kale, Ugur
Other Authors: Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: 2015
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10356/80881
http://hdl.handle.net/10220/38874
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Institution: Nanyang Technological University
Language: English
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Summary:To overcome the digital divide in West Virginia, schools are urged to integrate emerging information and communication technologies (ICTs) such as Web 2.0 and alternative pedagogies to develop students’ twenty-first-century skills. Yet, the potential effects of the digital divide on technology integration have not necessarily been part of planning for professional development programmes. As a first step to identify the potential digital divide between rural and urban school settings, this study examined West Virginian teachers’ Web 2.0 access levels – namely, motivation, physical, skills and usage accesses. Analysis of the survey responses from 161 teachers suggested that the divide persisted at physical and usage access levels, signifying teachers’ unique needs and conditions for the use of emerging technologies. While teachers’ usage access was observed to be a significant factor for their Web 2.0-associated project-based learning, attending professional development programmes seemed to minimally benefit such practices.