Redefining Geek: Bias and the Five Hidden Habits of Tech-Savvy Teens

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A surprising and deeply researched look at how everyone can develop tech fluency by focusing on five easily developed learning habits. Picture a typical computer geek. Likely white, male, and someone you’d say has a “natural instinct” for technology. Yet, after six years teaching technology classes to first-generation, low-income middle school students in Oakland, California, Cassidy Puckett has seen firsthand that being good with technology is not something people are born with—it’s something they learn. In Redefining Geek, she overturns the stereotypes around the digitally savvy and identifies the habits that can help everyone cultivate their inner geek. Drawing on observations and interviews with a diverse group of students around the country, Puckett zeroes in on five technology learning habits that enable tech-savvy teens to learn new technologies: a willingness to try and fail, management of frustration and boredom, use of models, and the abilities to use design logic and identify efficiencies. In Redefining Geek, she shows how to measure and build these habits, and she demonstrates how many teens historically marginalized in STEM are already using these habits and would benefit from recognition for their talent, access to further learning opportunities, and support in career pathways. She argues that if we can develop, recognize, and reward these technological learning habits in all kids—especially girls and historically marginalized racial and ethnic groups—we can address many educational inequities and disparities in STEM. Revealing how being good with technology is not about natural ability but habit and persistence, Redefining Geek speaks to the ongoing conversation on equity in technology education and argues for a more inclusive technology learning experience for all students.

Author(s): Cassidy Puckett
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Year: 2022

Language: English
Pages: 320
City: Chicago

Contents
Introduction. Why Are Some People So Good with Technology?
[1] Why Does Digital Inequality Persist?
[2] What Helps People Learn: Three General Technology Learning Habits
[3] Techie Tricks: The Two Technology-Specific Habits
[4] Recognizing the Five Habits: The Digital Adaptability Scale
[5] The Five Habits, Teens’ Futures, and Digital Inequality
[6] Tackling Digital Inequality: Gatekeepers
Conclusion. Envisioning an Equitable Future
Acknowledgments
Appendix: A Reflection on Mixed-Methods Research
Notes
Index