Exploring young children's web searching and technoliteracy

Abstract

Purpose -This paper aims to report findings from an exploratory study investigating the web interactions and technoliteracy of children in the early childhood years. Previous research has studied aspects of older children's technoliteracy and web searching; however, few studies have analyzed web search data from children younger than six years of age. Design/methodology/approach -The study explored the Google web searching and technoliteracy of young children who are enrolled in a "preparatory classroom" or kindergarten (the year before young children begin compulsory schooling in Queensland, Australia). Young children were video-and audio-taped while conducting Google web searches in the classroom. The data were qualitatively analysed to understand the young children's web search behaviour. Findings -The findings show that young children engage in complex web searches, including keyword searching and browsing, query formulation and reformulation, relevance judgments, successive searches, information multitasking and collaborative behaviours. The study results provide significant initial insights into young children's web searching and technoliteracy. Practical implications -The use of web search engines by young children is an important research area with implications for educators and web technologies developers. Originality/value -This is the first study of young children's interaction with a web search engine.

Watching young children “play” with information technology: Everyday life information seeking in the home

“…Spink and Heinström (2011) note that three-year-olds are not believed to engage in information behavior beyond the immediate moment in time they are experiencing. Although four and five year old children are shown to search the web, type words, browse results, complete web queries, and make relevancy judgments (Spink et al, 2010), this area of research is quite nascent in the field. Technology companies may recognize the growing importance of this age group, and work with young children to create new tools (Barack, 2013); however, more research in information science is needed to explore the roles of digital technologies in young children's daily experiences.…”

“…Many studies in information science examine children and young people's information behaviors, including technology use (Bilal, 2005;Cooper, 2002;Danby, Mallan, & Butler, 2010;Dresang, 2005;Foss et al, 2012;Spink, Large, Nesset, & Beheshti, 2008). Similarly, many large-scale studies document the reach of technology in young people's lives, particularly for older children.…”

Teachers' Demonstrations of Epistemic Access in Teacher-Student Interactions in a Digital Setting

“…Furthermore, it is investigated how interacting in relation to digital devices contributes to (collaborative) learning. There is research on for example collaborative writing in a digital environment (Cekaite, 2009;Musk, 2016) or on joint searches on the web (Davidson, 2009;Houen, Danby, Farrell & Thorpe, 2017;Spink, Danby, Mallan & Butler, 2010). Less research is done on collaborative group work that is explicitly framed in terms of co-construction of knowledge, except for a couple of very contributive studies on second language learning in either a game environment (Piirainen & Tainio, 2009;Piirainen-Marsh & Tainio, 2014) or an online leisure-time conversation club (Balaman & Sert, 2017a, 2017b.…”

Parents as Coresearchers at Home

“…Many studies rely on parent or teacher surveys of children's use, rather than naturalistic observations of children's activities, in either classroom or home environments. Although some studies have used qualitative approaches with young children, directly (e.g., Davidson, 2012;McKechnie, 2004;O'Hara, 2008;Plowman et al, 2011;Spink et al, 2010), these types of studies are few in number. Burnett (2010) presents a systematic review of much of this body of literature, where she notes that the focus on formal childcare environments for studies with children under age 8 is based, in part, on ''the perceived difficulty of researching the experience of very young children' ' (p. 254).…”

“…Overall, the research landscape related to young children's use of information technology-that is, where and how they use tablets, laptops, smartphones, and so on-is nascent, with only a few studies documenting children's activities (e.g., Davidson et al, 2014;Danby et al, 2013;Gutnick et al, 2010;Rideout et al, 2010;Rideout & Hamel, 2006;Spink, Danby, Mallan, & Butler, 2010). Often, studies of preschoolers' experiences with technology are focused on implications for classroom pedagogy and/or curriculum, such as early literacy and numeracy skills (e.g., Burnett & Merchant 2014;Plowman, Stevenson, McPake, Stephen, & Adey, 2011;Zevenbergen & Logan, 2008).…”