Children & computers: perspectives on school and home use from one third grade class

Abstract

The purpose of this embedded case study was to describe and explore the use of computers by third grade students at a military-connected United States public school. Interviews, observations, home visits, and document reviews were performed to determine: (1) How third grade students' school and home technology environs were perceived by them, their parents, and their teacher and (2) How the interrelationship between these school and home technology environs impact the conditions for applying technologies in learning. The findings, presented both for the class as a whole and for the twelve individual students, are framed by an a priori ecological model based on the work of Bronfenbrenner (1979, 1999) and by the highest-referenced codes that were discovered among the data. Six conjectures, five of which are stated as actions, were derived: (1) children's computer use fits an ecological model, (2) assume children have access to computers outside of school, (3) apply computer abilities children possess towards higher levels of learning, (4) make connections between school and home computer uses explicit for children & their parents, (5) purpose children's affinity for computer games towards academics, and (6) ensure the protection of children while they are using computers.