Access is not enough: the impact of emotional costs and self-efficacy on the changes in African-American students’ ICT use patterns

ABSTRACT

Previous research has examined the impact of computing interventions to reduce digital inequity. However, few studies focus on factors such as inequalities to material access, Internet use patterns, and affective or emotional anxiety. This paper investigates the potential role of emotional costs and computer self-efficacy in the connection between computer use at home and students’ computer use patterns. Data for this research come from pretest and posttest surveys administered to fourth- and fifth-grade African-American students. The results reveal that students’ home computer use is a significant predictor of the change in their information and entertainment usage over the course of the intervention. Students’ emotional costs partially mediate the relationship between home computer use and information-oriented usage over the intervention period. The findings suggest that providing students access to digital devices is not enough to close the digital divide.

KEYWORDS:

• Digital divide
• ICTs
• race

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Kuo-Ting Huang is a doctoral student in the Department of Media and Information at Michigan State University. The focus of Kuo-Ting’s research is the social psychological effects of information and communication technology on education and health. [email: [email protected]].

Shelia R. Cotten is a Professor in the Department of Media and Information at Michigan State University. She studies technology use across the life course, and the health, educational, and social impacts of this use. [email: [email protected]].

R.V. Rikard is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Media and Information at Michigan State University. The focus of R.V.’s research includes the social impact of technology on health and the intersection of health literacy and social media. [email: [email protected]].

Additional information

Funding

This work was funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation (DRL-1404467; Shelia R. Cotten, PI). The views expressed in this manuscript reflect those of the authors and not the National Science Foundation.