Proceedings of the Fourth Annual Teachers College Educational ...

notion that similarity with the user also plays into fostering trustworthiness in technology (similarity in
opinions, language, and background). He notes that “computing technology that is viewed as
incorporating expertise (knowledge, experience, and competence) will have increased powers of
persuasion” (Fogg, 2003). This expertise is manifest as cultural and historical knowledge in CSDTs,
presented as vignettes before the start of each software experience. These vignettes inform the user and
allow them to identify with the cultural and visual elements described by the software by presenting
pictures, sounds, and history lessons relevant to a specific cultural identity. The vignettes are examples
of Warnick’s field dependent factors that may further influence the software’s credibility by relating directly
to the culture and values of the user (Warnick, 2007).
Discussion
Combating stereotype threat and negative influences from peer-proofing is a daunting task that is
essential to the advancement of American education. Eglash’s CSDTs attempt to do this by giving
African American students the ability to remain within their Black social identity while embracing academic
achievement in a unique, interactive setting. The CSDTs achieve credibility through the structure of the
main web site, through their unique “counter-institutional” nature as educational tools, through their
referencing and source authority, and through their ability to allow users to personalize their experiences.
However, they also achieve considerable credibility from their ability to help students retain their
multicultural identities, fictive or otherwise. As Fordham notes, when students attempt to reinforce their
own cultural identities (in her case, Black identity) in predominantly culturally White schools, “they
unwittingly ensure their own academic ‘failure,’ primarily because most aspects of the culture of Black
Americans are stigmatized and assigned a negative valence in both the school context and the larger
American society,” (Fordham, 1991).
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