We are currently experiencing gender issues, please stand by

I have to say that I found many of the issues brought up in the provided sources on gender did not always relate to my own experiences as a teacher. I am not arguing that technology is not typically  a male dominated area in our culture. I think, however, technology and attitudes have evolved, thus the gender issues, while still present, have evolved as well.

From my own experiences and observations, I have found that female students actually tend to embrace certain aspects of present day technology more than male students. The female students I teach are typically more active in social media, and they quickly find practical uses for Web 2.0 applications.  In contrast, I have dealt with a surprisingly large number of high school male students who would prefer not to use technology in the classroom, and the moment they run into a problem they give up. In fact, recently I had a male student who was experiencing difficultly and expressing frustration with a computer. Before I could make my way over to him, a female student had solved his problem.

In terms of mobile devices, I do find that both male and female students enjoy their technology. But when it comes to anything related to more challenging operating systems or online navigation, many female students tend to stick with it until they find a solution, or they will confer with another student or ask for help. Whereas a good number of my male students will mentally shut down and waste time until I discover they are having a problem. In some cases, these are also male students who are heavily involved in gaming, so I am surprised at their lack of using a critical thinking approach when trying to solve a technical problem. I suspect (or know) that sometimes it has more to do with lack of motivation and/or engagement.

Most of the courses I teach do not involve a lot of computer programming. However, we do get into some basic HTML for tweaking blogs or web pages. I do find, generally, male students are more interested in this aspect of technology. Although it is a very small portion of male students in my class who express an interest in HTML or have any knowledge on how it works. In fact, some semesters I receive no interest from students in taking on the task.

Circumstances in computer-mediation have changed dramatically over the past ten years. I was not surprised by the New York Times's article from 2000 which stated that results from a study indicated that gender switching is far less popular than what has been suggested. Even ten years ago computer users were much more anonymous on the Internet, and I think that anonymity probably encouraged    gender switching. Yet today anonymity is not as common, particularly among social networks. In fact, from my own observations, I would argue that many Internet users, including students, are too open in what they share on social media. At the same time, however, I think people struggling with gender issues or sexual identity can find legitimate support online to discuss and explore issues with like-minded people. Such support systems may negate the need for gender switching.

An opportunity for more than one perspective

One area where I have found technology to be useful in regard to gender bias has been in dealing with outdated resources.  As indicated in "Gender Bias in Education" by Amanda Chapman, "far too many of our classroom examples, storybooks, and texts describe a world in which boys and men are bright, curious, brave, inventive, and powerful, but girls and women are silent, passive and invisible." Online access to resources can complement or even replace limited classroom examples. For instance, when I taught ancient history there was always a lot of discussion around the fact that many of the leaders of ancient civilizations were male. Yet a lot of new discoveries in archeology, etc. has painted a different picture in how some of these men ruled, and the fact that while many older textbooks make little if any mention of female rulers, they did exist. With online access, students have the opportunity to be exposed to different historical perspectives and new findings.

In terms of online behaviour, my own observations are limited as many of the courses I teach centre around classroom discussions versus online interaction. However, when students are required to make comments or peer conference online, I find female students are generally more focused and organized. Seldom do I have to remind a female student to complete an online task or add their comments to a discussion.

Does an online discussion allow female students an opportunity to express their opinions which they might not have shared in real time? According to the article "Cross-Gender Communication in Cyberspace" (1994) by Gladys We it apparently does. The article states that "both men and women felt that women had more of a 'presence' online and that it is easier for women to make their voices heard online than in face-to-face conversations..." I think, however, much has changed since this study was done, and I would argue that the opportunity for some to express themselves more freely online might have more to do with personality types than gender. For example, I had one male student who seldom engaged in classroom discussion, but wrote profusely on his blog in a very convincing and commanding manner. I think it had more to do with his personality type than it did his gender.

Feminine Technology?

 I cannot help but include the stubborn "perceived" notions in our society on how females use technology. While I think gains have been made when it comes to gender bias, the male dominance of technology still strongly exists and the old (yet certainly not dead) stereotypes of what it means to be a woman live on in marketing. One example of this comes from Dell which I heard about on CBC's Spark. In 2009 the company marketed a computer system exclusively for women. The "Della"model was available in pink, and Dell provided tips for how women could find information on how to eat better and get recipes online. Oh, and women could track their exercise and food intake too.

Nifty, eh? As Lisa R. Hoffman stated in her article "Gender and the Internet: Sex, Sexism, and Sexuality" (1999), the Internet and gender represent another example of "how the more things change, the more they stay the same."

Lastly, Jessica Ivins discussed designing for women on CBC's Spark, and her slide share on the issue, while massive, is worth checking out. One point she makes is that we should care about what women want because they "make or influence 80% of consumer purchases in the US" and they "spend more time using social media than men do." Of course, as educators, there are a lot of other reasons why we should care what our female students need and want. I think, however, it is clear that what while the area of technology may currently be dominated by men, it has becoming increasingly important to women as well.