Technology Use and Access in High Schools: Promises and Pitfalls

This 34-minute documentary, Technology Access and Use in High Schools: the Pitfalls and Promises, explores the use of computers in high schools. It is based on the findings of the Equity and Technology Alliance Research Project conducted in Canada and South Africa by sociologists Looker and Thiessen. Filmed in selected schools in Nova Scotia, Canada and the Western Cape, South Africa, the documentary shows remarkable similarities between schools: regardless of gender, class, race or cultural background differences, young people universally enjoy working with computers and believe that they will use them in their future careers. Teachers also express many similar concerns about the promises and pitfalls of computer use in the classroom.