5. Gender e computer: effetti del contesto in una attività in classe supportata dal computer

Abstract

We consider the gender-technology relationship as culturally-grounded. The experience presented here inquires about the role of gender during group discussions supported by a software called CoFFEE. A classroom, composed by 14 students (average age 17), five males and nine females, was involved. The activity was carried out in the computer lab where students were free to self-organize the groups. Six dyads, homogenous in terms of gender, and two students individually, sat in front of the computers. Four groups, one of them composed of boys, two of girls, and one mixed, were formed to work online. The video of the activity, the report automatically recorded by CoFFEE and the field notes collected by a researcher, were analyzed by two researchers inorder to single out the groups' interaction strategies. Results showed that: a) gender is a dimension impacting groups formation; b) groups online tended to be more mixed; c) each group managed the task in a specifi c way; and, d)the teacher offered more support to the male groups.