Predicting Computer Literacy: How Do the Technological Experiences of Schoolchildren Predict Their Computer-Based Problem-Solving Skills?

ABSTRACT What is the effect of a technologically rich out‐of‐school environment upon the use of information technology in the classroom? This question was approached by observing the relationships between the exposure to home electronic technologies and classroom disposition and performance. Secondary school children (11–12 years old) were interviewed to determine their declarative knowledge of computers and computer use, the richness of their technological environment and their declared interest in working with computers. They then performed a computer‐based language task that required them to enter missing letters from a piece of text This task required linguistic problem‐solving skills as well as keyboard agility and yielded a number of performance scores. Successful performance correlated with declared out‐of‐school computer use. The richness of the technological environment also correlated positively with declared computer use. Out‐of‐school experience did not predict attitudes to classroom informati...

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