Chapter 11: Social Divides, Digital Bridges: Exploring the Potential of Technology in Inclusive Education

Much has been made of the potential for technology to flatten the world, providing access and opportunity to historically excluded groups and individuals (Friedman, 2005). Indeed, the potential for technology to promote social inclusion broadly has been well documented (Warschauer, 2004). However, scholars and practitioners have struggled to understand and define the role of education in the flattening world (Darling-Hammond, 2010). Does educational technology hold the same promise for historically marginalized students and schools that it has demonstrated outside of schools? While advocates for the increased presence of educational technologies cite the possibility that technology holds for transforming traditional modes of instruction, assessment, and interaction in schools (Weston & Brooks, 2008), there is little research into how such a transformation has the potential to influence other areas of school change or the impact these changes could have on traditionally marginalized student groups. Indeed, educational technology has largely been left out of conversations around equity and opportunity in school and vice versa.