Primary pupils' use of information and communication technologies at school and home

Neil Selwyn, John Potter, Sue Cranmar

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer-review

61 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Based on survey data from 612 pupils in five English primary schools, this paper investigates children s engagement with information and communication technologies (ICTs) inside and outside the school context. Analysis of the data shows pupils engagements with ICTs to be often perfunctory and unspectacular, especially within the school setting, where the influence of year group and school attended are prominent. Whilst the majority of children felt that ICT use led to gains in learning, the paper discusses how there was a strong sense of educational uses of ICTs being constrained by the nature of the schools within which educational use was largely framed and often situated. The paper concludes by suggesting possible changes to ICT provision in primary schools, most notably relaxing school restrictions regarding Internet access and developing meaningful dialogues with pupils about future forms of educational ICT use.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)919 - 932
Number of pages14
JournalBritish Journal of Educational Technology
Volume40
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2009
Externally publishedYes

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