A Tale of Two High Schools: An Investigation of Reform Contexts and Technology Use Among Students, Teachers, and Administrators in Two Urban High Schools

Education Development Center, Waltham MA

Investigators

Abstract

The PI seeks to build in novel and innovative ways upon the research agenda currently supported by NSF under award number REC-9815026, "Project Hiller: The Impact of Ubiquitous Portable Technology in an Urban School." The PI has a time-sensitive opportunity to expand her investigation of the use of home-school networking technology to her district's second high school. The PI proposes to compare the role of technology in two very different high school contexts, one that has made substantial strides in the reform arena (Emerson High School) and another that has a long way to go before a more student-centered pedagogy can take hold (Union High School). The project will enable the PI to conduct research which will allow her to systematically investigate the relationship between technology and systemic educational reform at the high school level. The PI will also be able to look across these contexts at the affordances of home-school access to technology in an urban environment.