As violent electronic games and dull programming classes turn off more and more girls, the way information technology is used, applied, and taught in the nation's classrooms must change, according to a new report, Tech-Savvy: Educating Girls in the New Computer Age, published by the American Association of University Women Educational Foundation.
Tech-Savvy is the culmination of two years of work by the AAUW Educational Foundation Commission on Technology, Gender, and Teacher Education. The report combines the insights of its 14 commissioners (researchers, educators, journalists, and entrepreneurs) at the forefront of cyberculture and education, findings from the Foundation's online survey of 900 teachers, qualitative focus group research with more than 70 girls, and reviews of existing research.
The report's major conclusions and recommendations fall under six categories: computer technology, electronic games, computer fluency, teacher education, and the high-tech workplace.
Executive Summary (PDF)
Full Report (PDF)
Purchase a print copy at ShopAAUW. (Cost: $12.95)
Obtain a free copy of the report with a video and viewers' guide, produced by the AAUW Reston-Herndon (VA) Branch, Fairfax County Public Schools, and Fairfax County Commission for Women.
Questions? Comments? Please contact AAUW Research at foundation@aauw.org with any feedback or questions.
For press information, or to schedule an interview, visit the Newsroom or contact Catherine Hill at hillc@aauw.org or 202/728-7609.
Commission on Technology, Gender, and Teacher Education
Co-Chairs:
Sherry Turkle, Abby Mauze Rockefeller Professor of the Sociology of Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge
Patricia Diaz Dennis, Former FCC Commissioner, Senior Vice President?Regulatory and Public Affairs for SBC Communications Inc., San Antonio, Texas
Members:
Kathleen Bennett, Director, Girls' Middle School, Palo Alto, California
Cornelia Brunner, Associate Director and Media Designer, Center for Children and Technology, Education Development Center, New York, New York
Tarah Cherry, Elementary School Teacher, East Rock Global Magnet School, New Haven, Connecticut
James Cooper, Commonwealth Professor of Education in the Curry School of Education, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
Mae Jemison, Founder of the Jemison Group and Professor of Environmental Studies, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire
Yasmin Kafai, Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, University of California, Los Angeles
Marcia C. Linn, Professor, School of Education and Director, Instructional Technology Program, University of California, Berkeley
Jane Metcalfe, President and Co-Founder, Wired magazine andWired Ventures Inc., San Francisco, California
Eli Noam, Professor of Finance and Economics, Columbia University, and Director, Columbia Institute for Tele-Information (CITI), New York
Cynthia Samuels, Senior National Editor, National Public Radio
Aliza Sherman, President, Cybergrrl Inc., and author of Cybergrrl: A Woman's Guide to the World Wide Web
Jane Walters, Tennessee Commissioner of Education and Chief State School Officer, Nashville
