Inclusiveness and ICT in education: a focus on gender, ethnicity and social class

Abstract

Abstract This paper presents the results of a literature review on gender, ethnic and socioeconomic status differences related to ICT in primary and secondary education. The review was conducted in order to develop an index for analysing the inclusiveness of educational ICT applications. The research question was: ‘How and to what extent do the characteristics of educational ICT tools enhance or inhibit learning for different groups of students?’ A discussion of both research‐ and practice‐oriented literature results in a proposal for such an index. The paper concludes with a discussion of various dilemmas associated with the idea of the index, and of the ways in which it may be used in research and educational practice.