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Primary school children's use of ICT
Author(s) -
Selwyn Neil,
Bullon Kate
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
british journal of educational technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.79
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1467-8535
pISSN - 0007-1013
DOI - 10.1111/1467-8535.00165
Subject(s) - information and communications technology , variety (cybernetics) , educational technology , psychology , primary education , school teachers , medical education , mathematics education , pedagogy , computer science , medicine , world wide web , artificial intelligence
This article reports on a study of 267 primary children (Year 2 and 6) in five schools in South and Mid Wales. It examines their use of information and communications technology (ICT) both in school and at home using a combination of interview and questionnaire data. These data reveal that although the vast majority of children are making some use of computers in school, patterns of sustained and varied engagement with ICT are rare; with educational use of computers curtailed by a variety of classroom factors. Moreover, although many children could be considered to be sophisticated and knowledgeable consumers of ICT, their outside‐of‐school access to technology is varied. The findings raise questions about the nature of ICT use in primary classrooms and the need to ensure meaningful and regular access to technology in school for all children.