General rightsIt is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), other than for strictly personal, individual use, unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons). Disclaimer/Complaints regulationsIf you believe that digital publication of certain material infringes any of your rights or (privacy) interests, please let the Library know, stating your reasons. In case of a legitimate complaint, the Library will make the material inaccessible and/or remove it from the website. Please Ask the Library: http://uba.uva.nl/en/contact, or a letter to: Library of the University of Amsterdam, Secretariat, Singel 425, 1012 WP Amsterdam, The Netherlands. You will be contacted as soon as possible. AbstractThis paper presents the results of a literature review on gender, ethnic and socioeconomic status differences related to ICT in primary and secondary education. The review was conducted in order to develop an index for analysing the inclusiveness of educational ICT applications. The research question was: 'How and to what extent do the characteristics of educational ICT tools enhance or inhibit learning for different groups of students?' A discussion of both research-and practice-oriented literature results in a proposal for such an index. The paper concludes with a discussion of various dilemmas associated with the idea of the index, and of the ways in which it may be used in research and educational practice. Keywords:gender, ICT use, primary and secondary education, race/ethnicity, social class IntroductionIn recent years, ICT has acquired a place in education, as it has in most other sectors of society. Since the 1980s many computer applications have been developed for educational use -programs for drill and practice, instructional programs, and simulations are now available for many school subjects. Besides these, a number of general programs have found their way into the classroom, where they are being used as learning or work tools (e.g. word processing programs, databases and spreadsheets). More recently, email and Internet access have become available to schools. Not only are these ICT applications seen as substituting for existing learning tools, but they are also being used to promote a new kind of learning in which teachers support and coach students' learning processes instead of merely transmitting knowledge to them (e.g. de Corte et al. 1996; Bransford et al. 1999). Simulations and multimedia programs, for example, offer opportunities to engage students in solving 'real' problems encountered in daily life. The Internet makes it possible to provide problems and assignments that are realistic and up to date, and facilitates communication with the world outside the school. ICT also facilitates differentiation and individualization in education: it makes it possible to tailor both the content and the presentation of the subject matter to the individual backgrounds, experiences and needs of studen...