Classism and Lost Opportunity

Abstract

Our enthusiasm for developing computer assisted educational methods and techniques must be tempered by the realization that large numbers of students lack even the most basic computing skills and abilities at college entry. Minority students and women of low socioeconomic status are particularly susceptible to academic failure when they are ill-equipped to deal with faculty demands for technically assisted coursework. Underlying cultural and economic reasons for these "deficiencies" are explored here, along with descriptions of courses developed to assist technically underprepared students who may be "technophobic" or otherwise resistant to the use of computers in the classroom.