Exploring How Parents in Economically Depressed Communities Access Learning Resources

Abstract

This qualitative study of parents in financially depressed communities in westside Atlanta examines parents' access to information technology and out-of-school learning resources through five dimensions of digital divide: technical apparatus, autonomy, social support, skill, and purpose. The context of this study is a broader research agenda to explore how technology impacts parents' knowledge and use of out-of-school learning resources for their children in low socioeconomic status neighborhoods. The findings contribute to a growing body of research on marginalized groups and provide a rich description of parents' digital access and technology practices in the context of education. Finally, we identify design implications that are specific to this community and can be extended to similar populations to support parents in finding more learning opportunities.

Social Justice-Oriented Interaction Design

“…Equitable distribution refers not only to physical goods, but to informational resources, access, and opportunities. Beyond this example, design has examined more equitable redistributions of resources, such as clean water [16], educational opportunities [106], economic opportunities [27], and issues pertaining to information access and use [95,17,93]. Even further, equitable distribution can also entail how to use information and the ability to recognize what kinds of information are need to address a problem or need [90,13].…”

The "Comadre" Project

“…Roshan et al, in their work with low-income African American families and access to informal learning opportunities, identified much the same guiding principles for design that we did: they recommend an approach to design that honors existing everyday practices (in our case, SMS), as well as takes advantage of robust social networks [41]. We further contextualize this in terms the "Heliotropic Principle," as explained above in our discussion of appreciative inquiry, or the tendency of an organization or community to work toward the best image of itself [25].…”

“…In the design research and pilot study outlined here, we take to heart Roshan et al's recommendations that a design process to help low-income parents access informal learning opportunities must be grounded in everyday practices as well as tap into the potential of strong parent networks [41]. In keeping with social capital theory, and in conversation with the method and development literature outlined above, we see these practices and networks as assets.…”

“…In the US, wealthy families are drastically outspending lowincome families on "enrichment expenditures," a gap that grows wider each year [37]. Parents play a fundamental role in arranging these informal learning opportunities for their children [11,41]. Parents may have multiple functions in this process, including teaching their children directly; being "learning brokers" (connecting their children to opportunities); and "resource providers," supplying equipment such as books or online accounts [11].…”

Parental Facilitation of Young Children's Technology-based Learning Experiences from Nondominant Groups During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Instead, low-SES children often act as their parents' technology helper and teacher, including providing technical assistance (e.g., turning on devices and connecting to the Internet) and helping broker and translate information for parents (e.g., online shopping, visiting doctors, and learning about local resources) [10, 23-26, 30, 39, 43, 44]. Note that despite these differences in parental involvement across socioeconomic statuses, many similarities exist, such as valuing family time around technology, deploying digital tools as electronic babysitters or to reward desired behaviors, controlling media access, and monitoring children's media engagement [1,10,12,36,44,60].…”