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Brian Veenstra
Dietel-McLaughlin
Multimedia Writing and Rhetoric
10 December 2014
Educational Technology: Taking Arms Against Poverty
Nelson Mandela once said, Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use
to change the world. Poverty plagues not only the developing world, but also still persists in
many neighborhoods in the United States, further widening the gap between the haves and the
have-nots. This gap is not purely economic, it is also one of literacy, of technology, and of
opportunity. Societys most powerful tool against cyclical poverty, unemployment, and these
persistent gaps is education. Schools in low socioeconomic areas often fall behind more wellfunded private ones, especially when it comes to technology and multimedia literacy skills, but it
is in low socioeconomic areas worldwide where these skills can make all the difference to a
child, to a family, and to a community. Dr. Barbara Means, director of the Center for Technology
in Learning at SRI International, explains, The need to prepare students for a competitive, fastchanging world provides strong motivation for incorporating technology into education (18).
This incorporation is happening across the world, but not evenly, and the schools unable to
afford such programs are also the ones who could benefit from it the most. Dianne Thomas, in
her article Teaching Technology in Low Socioeconomic Areas declares, Technology
education will help break the cycle of poverty for low socioeconomic students (4). This is not a
petition to give every starving child around the world an iPad; its a call for attention and support
to programs implemented in the schools that already exist in these struggling areas in the U.S.
and abroad, and the funding necessary to not only buy the technology, but also the training to

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ensure it is properly utilized. Giving technology and multimedia literacy education to children
not only aids in fields such as reading comprehension and performance, but also allows them to
pursue higher technically-skilled careers, helping to narrow not only the growing literacy gap,
but the economic gap as well.
The first step to properly assessing technology as a solution to the global literacy gap and
wealth gap is to examine the current state of the problem. Figure 1 and Figure 2 display adult
literacy rate by country and GDP per capita (PPP) by country,
respectively:
Figure 1: Adult Literacy
Rate by country.
Source: UNESCO
Institute of Statistics

Figure 2: GDP (PPP) per

capita by country.
Source: user Quandapanda.
Data: IMF and World Bank

Fig. 1 uses adult literacy data from the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural
Organization, with the darker blues representing lower literacy rates. Fig. 2 uses data from the

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International Monetary Fund and the World Bank for purchasing-power parity GDP per capita
by country, with the lightest blues representing lowest GDPs per capita. Globally speaking, the
United States and European Union members excel at both, and despite being not included in the
UNESCO adult literacy graphic, all fall within the 90-100% range according to their data. On the
opposite end of the gap rests sun-Saharan Africa and Southwest Asia, who struggle with both
poverty and low adult literacy rates. According to the UNESCO eAtlas of Literacy, literate
societies are wealthier than societies with widespread illiteracy (UNESCO). A few exceptions
of this trend are Middle Eastern oil producers, who may have a high GDP per capita, but it is not
evenly distributed, and poverty is still very present just like the similarly low literacy-scoring
countries. Globally speaking, poverty-stricken and increasingly illiterate countries tend to be on
both lists, not just one, illustrating the link that exists between these two cripplingly perseverant
societal issues.
These problems are not purely global, however, as many neighborhoods in the United
States itself struggle with closing a similarly persistent, albeit narrower, wealth and literacy gap.
One measure of socioeconomic status, participation in the National School Lunch Program
(NSLP), a federal school lunch subsidy, can be used to tie a childs family income directly to his
or her literacy achievement. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2011
Reading Assessment reported that 43% of assessed students qualified for federal free lunch, 5%
qualified for reduced price, and 46% were not eligible for the program (USED 18). NSLP
eligibility is by no means an indicator of abject poverty, rather USDA eligibility guidelines
qualify students for free lunch if their families income is at or below 130% of the poverty level.
(USDA 2). For the 2012 fiscal year this was $30,615 for a family of four, and the USDA
reported over 31.6 million children received a daily NSLP lunch. This is more than a few

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neighborhoods; its nearly half of the children assessed by the U.S. Department of Education,
showing the literacy gap also lingers in U.S. schools. The same 2011 NAEP Reading Assessment
also reveals, In 2011, fourth-graders who were eligible for free lunch scored 29 points lower on
average than those not eligible (USED 18). Poorer students had lower reading scores than
wealthier ones, which is a problem easily traced back to the schools. This literacy gap isnt going
away, either, according to Dr. Julia Parkinson, researcher for the American Institutes for
Research, who points to similarly split data from 2004. Parkinson reports that in 2004, only 14%
of students who received federal lunch subsidies were proficient readers by fourth grade,
compared to 42% of fourth graders who did not receive lunch subsidies (73). Both the wealth
gap and the literacy gap have continued to plague the United States, despite being at the top of
both global country comparisons in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2. Poverty exists here at home, as well as
globally, and lower literacy is statistically linked to it in both cases.
This link between these two negative societal trends works both ways, however, and
positive change in one creates positive change in the other. The previously-mentioned UNESCO
Institute of Statistics eAtlas of Literacy also reports, a trend can be observed with increased
literacy rates and a decrease in the share of the population living in poverty, i.e. on less than $2
per day (UNESCO). Increasing the literacy rate of a country also decreases the share of the
population living in poverty, presenting a startlingly clear solution to a persistent problem in our
world. By finding a solution to the literacy problem in low socioeconomic areas, we can in turn
find something to help decrease poverty domestically and internationally. That is not to say that
these approaches are the same, American schools are in a different scenario than schools in
poorer neighborhoods in developing countries, but there is a common denominator that

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education experts have been rallying behind to help narrow both of these gaps and improve the
countries as a whole: technology.
A major counterargument for technology integration in school is skepticism about the
return on any educational technology investments. Not only is the equipment itself necessary, but
also an infrastructure of instruction, training, and utilities like internet access. This high initial
cost may be seen as outweighing the future benefits, especially when combined with certain
studies that found no or negative results. However, Dr. Barbara Means of SRI International
tackles this skepticism head on with evidence. First, she begins, talking about whether or not
technology is effective is akin to talking about whether or not textbooks or pens are effective
(17). Means points to a wealth of studies showing positive returns on technology investments,
such as the SimCalc research study, reading computer applications in an elementary school in
California, and the Project K-Nect system in North Carolina. The SimCalc study was an
educational mathematics software that presented students with animations and interactive graphs,
diagrams, and expressions, which was supported by an integrated instructional approach of
lesson activities, workbooks, and teacher training that was ultimately introduced in over 100
Texas schools. When compared to the control schools learning the same topics without the
program, Means reports, Each of the experiments showed that students in classes using the
SimCalc approach had better results (17). When a computer application that gave students
daily practice readings and allowed them to playback recordings and hear themselves read was
introduced to an elementary school in Escondido, California, similarly positive results were
found, especially for internal motivation. According to Means, these young English learners
became much more motivated in improving their skills and made unusual progress compared to
other classes (15). A third case study in several school districts in North Carolina, called Project

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K-Nect, provided at-risk high school students with smart phones and encouraged them to use
social functions to answer questions related to their math homework. The outcome was quick
and superb, as Means shares, Dumbfounding even the projects advocates, students posted 75
different videos on how to solve a linear equation during the projects first week (15). These are
only some of the scores of studies showing particular technology-supported instructional
approaches having positive effects for students, but it does not mean that all studies are positive.
Some have found the introduction of technology giving no impact on learning, others even
negative impacts, but these are negative reflections on the specific programs and approaches, not
the potential of technology itself. Just as textbooks and pens can prove ineffective with improper
use or instruction, so can technology, but all three are all positive if implemented correctly, and
the benefits are no longer myths or assertions, but backed with numerous studies.
The benefits of technology implementation in education are not limited to the United
States, however, nor are they limited to the wealthiest districts and schools. An example is the
Kibera Girls Soccer Academy, found in the Kibera slum of Nairobi, Kenya, Africas second
largest slum with over a million people in an area roughly the size of Central Park in New York
City. What started as a soccer team to increase womens roles in society turned into a school
helping them transform their communities through the education they crave, and the contributors
like the KGSA Foundation have not spared any expense when it comes to the inclusion of
technology implementation in the school. In addition to a well-balanced curriculum, the girls are
also given a multimedia literacy education focusing on photography. The girls run and design
their own magazine, Film Shredders, and the girls that are not able to go onto college after
graduation have a valuable and marketable training in multimedia journalism that allows them to
seek higher skilled jobs (Clearfield 3). The education of girls in Africa is important, as many

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experts see it as a promising solution to the continents persistent poverty. At a Science,
Technology, and Mathematics Education Clinic, the Head of Science at a university in Ghana
attributed the country's high poverty rate, poor sanitation, disease, rapid population growth and
poor nutrition to the lack of in-depth science and technology education (Lack of Science,
Technology Education). Simply put, a more educated country will be able to grow into a
healthier, cleaner country, and technology education is a part of a comprehensive education that
can be particularly important to positive nationwide transformations. The short term goals for
programs like the KGSA Foundations actions are not widespread, but the seeds are being sowed
in communities that technology not only improves the education of the students, but can also
help the entire country rise out of a recurring cycle of poverty.
Another global example of technology education implementation can be found in
Colombia, where technology is being properly invested in and developed by the government. In
2006, the unemployment rate was approximately 16%, and nearly 60% of the population lived in
poverty (World Bank). Octavio Alvarez of the University of Antioquia in Medelln, Colombia
explains that 80% of workers earned a minimum monthly salary equivalent to $116.7 USD, but
despite this widespread poverty, Colombia cannot afford to ignore the possibilities new
technologies offer (30). He states that, With the support of the national, regional, and local
governments, many programs have been developed in cities and municipalities with are aimed at
incorporating new technologies into educational processes, thus expanding opportunities for
developing new literacies (30). Internet and communication technology (ICT) skills are vital for
a developing countrys overall growth and development, and the Colombian government has
realized this and taken steps towards remedying the technology gap from more developed
countries. One such program is the Colombian Ministry of ICTs Vive Digital II Plan, which

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Colombian ambassador to the U.S. Luis Carlos Villegas describes as a $10 billion nationwide
effort that has set two main objectives for Colombia to become a world leader in the
development of applications for lower income citizens in order to lift them out of poverty and
improve their quality of life, and to become the most transparent and efficient government with
the use of ICT (Villegas 1). Goals of this plan include tripling internet connections from 8.8
million to 27 million, boosting internet penetration in households and small businesses,
doubling the number of companies in the IT sector, tripling IT sector revenues and the number
of IT employees, and subsidizing low-income families purchase of PCs or tablets (1). According
to Villegas, technology giants like Google and Microsoft are turning their eyes to Colombia to
create innovation centers focused on developing applications for lower income populations (2).
As for the technology implementation in schools, progress has already been shown in the form
of digital media literacy. In a study of sixth graders in Medelln, Colombia, the 20 highest and
20 lowest scorers on reading comprehension tests were evenly split between a print text and a
virtual text, both with the same graphical and textual information for key terms made available
in print or by clicking a hyperlink. The results indicated that the readers of the digital version
statistically outperformed those reading the printed version on both measures of main idea
comprehension (Alvarez 36). Not only is reading technology proving effective for students, but
mass ICT skill education programs and technological expansion programs are making Colombia
an emerging and growing technology leader in the world economy.

In both of these cases, technology implementation came with the educational benefit of
increased multimedia literacy. The photography program at the Kibera Girls Soccer Academy
teaches the girls about the rhetoric of visual images, and rounds out their education with a new
rhetorical and technological skill to use in a journalism or photography career should they not
move onto college. In Colombia, a virtual text statistically outperformed a printed text in
comprehension of main ideas, and the visual features of links and virtual information adding to

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the reading helped the students outperform the paper version. This result favoring virtual texts
over paper texts is part of a trend Professor Adriana Bus of Leiden University began to study.
Technology allows the inclusion of new, interactive multimedia features to the stories, such as
animations, sounds, or clickable links like the ones available to children in Colombia. Bus found
that these features, when combined with the text of a story, not only increase a childs
attentiveness, but also can serve as electronic scaffolds to support childrens text
understanding and memorization of words and phrases (264). These scaffolds are most necessary
to children struggling with language and vocabulary, and according to Bus, Because children
from impoverished backgrounds often receive less language stimulation at home than children
from nonimpoverished backgrounds, they are at heightened risk for poor academic readiness and
achievement (263). The ability to operate these virtual texts is an early lesson in technology
skills, and the ability to interpret and draw connections from sounds and images to a story is
building the childs multimedia literacy skills. The SimCalc study and the language program
incorporated at the Escondido elementary school both utilized interactive multimedia features,
like graphics and sounds, and both had positive academic results in addition to increasing
technology exposure and teaching media literacy. These multimedia literacy skills are of
growing importance in this increasingly technological world, just like computer and general
technology skills, and educational technology serves to provide students with both.
As technology continues to rapidly develop, so does the need for a more educated,
technologically-skilled workforce to meet labor demands and further economic growth.
Education scholar and former teacher Dianne Thomas warns, This integration of technology
into our global society has changed the nature of work in virtually every occupational field. To
be able to compete for these positions, workers must have viable technology skills, and the

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educational system must prepare students for this work (4). She points to the technology-driven
shifts across many previously offline fields such as agriculture, trucking, and automobile
manufacturing that require a greater ICT focus in every school to properly prepare children for
the modern working world (6). The poorest students already face a more difficult time in
narrowing the literacy gap and economic gap, and educational technology not only can help them
learning the stories and curriculum, but also help them develop ICT skills through exposure they
wouldnt get at home. Thomas explains, Those students who come from lower socioeconomic
backgrounds have further to go in attaining that education because they often do not have the
capabilities at home to practice technology nor do they have the prerequisite background
knowledge (7). By properly introducing educational technology in lower socioeconomic schools,
the students will benefit both inside the classroom and beyond the classroom, when they are able
to seek better, more-skilled jobs in an increasingly-technological economy.
These positive impacts outside the classroom are not limited to advanced economies,
however, and can provide the groundwork for widespread economic development in the worlds
least developed countries. For poverty-ridden countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and southwest
Asia, education provides a foundation for eradicating poverty and fostering economic
development. Dr. Omoniyi of Adekunle Ajasin University in Nigeria has studied the role of
education in poverty alleviation in his own country and several others, and affirms the power that
education can have on a nations economy. With regards to educations impact on a nations
economic well-being, Dr. Omonivi writes, Education increases the overall productivity and
intellectual flexibility of the labour force and ensures that a country is competitive in a world
market now characterized by changing technologies and production methods (178). Although
the level of technology utilized in more developing economies is lower, education still affects the

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nations economic composition and growth as it can increase a systems capacity to borrow
foreign technology effectively (179). Changing the composition of a developing countrys trade
can promote greater industrial innovation and technological advancement, which affects the
nations overall productivity. This innovation and growth ultimately lifts entire economies, and
Dr. Omonivi concludes, The impact of education on the nature and growth of exports, which, in
turn, affect the aggregate growth rate, is another way in which human development influences a
countrys performance (179). Education has great potential to raise families, communities, and
nations out of poverty through economic development, and technology implementation may be
out of reach in the poorest of schools, but proper introduction in schools like the Kibera Girls
Soccer Academy in Kenya provides promise for educational technologys benefits in countries
found on the lower end of the literacy and technology gaps.
Education is truly a weapon against poverty, as Nelson Mandala said. Educational
technology, when properly implemented, increases the literacy achievement of poor children,
who on average receive less language stimulation at home. In addition, the multimedia features
that this educational technology often incorporates not only keeps young children more focused,
but can serve as electronic scaffolds that help children with understanding and word
memorization. These multimedia features and the multimedia literacy education that schools
incorporating them like the Kibera Girls Soccer Academy provide are part of a comprehensive
literacy education, and combined with technology skills, help prepare students for the modern
world. Beyond the classroom, educational technology provides children with internet and
communications technology skills that are becoming increasingly valuable as jobs require an
increasing amount of technological skills. By improving a countrys education, along with the
technology skills of the students, the economy is better able to borrow foreign technology

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effectively, and also promotes innovation and growth in the economy which can help pull
families, communities, and countries out of poverty as a whole. Countries like Colombia have
already begun taking steps towards nationwide technology reform, especially in schools, and if
other countries follow suit, we could see a great increase in globalization and a great reduction in
global poverty as development ensues. With education as our weapon, and technology as the
battleground, its take to take arms against poverty.

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Works Cited
Alvarez, Octavio. Developing Digital Literacies: Educational Initiatives and Research in
Colombia. International Handbook of Literacy and Technology. Vol. 2. Ed. Michael C.
McKenna. London: Routledge, 2013. 29-40. Print.
Bus, Adriana. Design Features in Living Books and Their Effects on Young Childrens
Vocabulary. Educating the Other America: Top Experts Tackle Poverty, Literacy, and
Achievement in our Schools. Ed. Susan Neuman. Baltimore: Paul H. Brooks, 2008. 263276. Print.
Clearfield, J, Kassim, A, Sarafolean, R, Teka, R. Opening the Mind: The Kibera Girls Soccer
Academy and a New Paradigm for Overcoming Inequalities. In Engendering
Empowerment: Education and Equality e-Conference. 12 April 14 May. United
Nations Girls Education Initiative: New York. 2010. Print.
"Lack of Science, Technology Education Breeds Poverty, Says Educationist." Africa News
Service. 29 August 2006. Print.
Omoniyi, M.B.I.. The role of education in poverty alleviation and economic development: a
theoretical perspective and counselling implications. British Journal of Arts and Social
Sciences 15.11 (2013): 176-185. Print.
Parkinson, Julia. Poverty, Early Literacy Achievement, and Education Reform. Educating the
Other America: Top Experts Tackle Poverty, Literacy, and Achievement in our Schools.
Ed. Susan Neuman. Baltimore: Paul H. Brooks, 2008. 73-90. Print.

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Quandapanda. Gdpercapita. 2014. Wikimedia Commons. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 14
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U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences. National Assessment of
Educational Progress (NAEP) 2011 Reading Assessment. National Center for Education
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Villegas, Luis Carlos. Technology is driving change in Colombia. Boston Globe. 19 September
2014. Web. 13 Nov. 2014.
World Bank. Colombia: World Development Indicators. Databank. Web. 13 Nov. 2014.