Inclusion

The digital divide
It is important to help pupils realise that access to technology can bring benefits and power, but that not everyone has easy access. Lack of access to technology can disadvantage particular groups or individuals within society.

Think carefully about whether any groups of pupils are excluded from, or disadvantaged by, activities you plan. For example, basing lessons on mobile phone apps or computer games may disadvantage those without access to such technology at home; providing resources or activities for pupils to access online from home seems unfair to those without Internet access at home. Introducing lunchtime and after-school clubs is a practical way of making access available to all. If funds allow, consider providing pupils without their own computer with an old school computer that they can use at home.

Gender and inclusion
It is important to counter the stereotypes often associated with information technology and Computing (e.g. that it is a male-only field). Efforts should be made, for example, in the selection of historical or contemporary case studies, to reflect the positive contributions of female practitioners such as Ada Lovelace, Grace Hopper or Dame Wendy Hall. Project topics should also be carefully considered to appeal to both genders.

Assistive technology
As with other areas of the curriculum, Computing can be made more accessible to pupils with special educational needs or disabilities through the use of assistive technology – from adapted mice or keyboards, to screen readers and Braille displays. Within the curriculum, pupils might evaluate whether software and digital content, including those they create themselves, are accessible to users with special needs. At Key Stage 2, pupils might learn about assistive technology as examples of ‘forms of input and output’.

English as an additional language
Technology can also facilitate the inclusion of pupils learning English as an additional language. The user interface of the operating system or application software can be set to languages other than English. Scratch and Snap! programs, for example, can be written in a variety of languages. Machine translation may also be useful for project work in which pupils learn about the opportunities offered by the Internet.²⁶