Based on the concept of a mathematical manifold, the model developed for this study was designed to measure and provide insights into the interaction of gender and access to computers among Canadian adolescents, as well as the multiple situational and personal variables which can constrain or facilitate computer access for the adolescent. The…

This study examines the relationship between high computer access and "student empowerment" at the Nashville, Tennessee, site of the Apple Classroom of Tomorrow (ACOT) project. The study rests on the premise that school learning is a function of the work carried out by students in school, and that schoolwork is experienced by students as…

This paper reports on a research and development program which developed a more effective interface between personal computer (PC) users with disabilities and computer systems. The program emulates a PC keyboard, enabling disabled PC users to access standard software via a binary (switch) control element. (Author/DB)

Three studies give evidence to support informal reports of sex differences in computer access, interest, and use in the school-aged population. In the first study, a survey of 87 middle and upper income students in grades 5 to 8 revealed that more boys than girls owned home microcomputers and that use of the home computer also differed by gender.…

The interactions between computer use and access by adolescents and their computer-related opinions and values are presented in the framework of a "manifold model" of computer interactions. This model emphasizes the complexity and multidimensional nature of the system of variables in which such interaction is embedded. For this study,…

This paper describes the Manifold Access Model, which has been developed for the simultaneous representation and analysis of the interrelationships between five variable clusters: (1) computer access; (2) personal and social attitudes and values with respect to computer use; (3) self-assessed competence and confidence with respect to computer use;…