How children and adults learn to use computers: A developmental approach

Abstract

What is the relation between information technology and human development? This is one of the big questions for contemporary developmental scientists. An enormous research literature has documented how information technologies shape human development cognitively (Papert, 1980(Papert, , 1993, socially (Turkle, 1984(Turkle, , 1995, and physically (Harwin and Haynes, 1992). However, how human beings, particularly ordinary children and adults, master information technology cognitively (understanding the Internet, for example), socially (such as building social network), and physically (for example, learning to use a mouse) has not yet been studied adequately and systematically. As a result, dynamic reciprocal interactions between information technology and human development have been often oversimplified as a static one-way process in which information technology controls human beings. While computer scientists are designing human-centered computers that adapt to people rather than the other way around (Dertouzos, 2001), developmental research will soon fall far behind the technological advances if the research continues to focus on how technology affects people rather than on how people interact with technology.We thank Joshua Smith and Heping Hao for their feedback on the early version of this chapter

Computer anxiety and attitudes towards the computer and the internet with Romanian high-school and university students

“…We also found the idea that the adults' difficulty of learning using the computer is rather a myth supported by daily life anecdotes and not by empirical evidence (Yan & Fischer, 2004).…”

“…We suppose that the participants, when they learned by themselves or occasionally helped by friends how to use a computer, before studying it at school, used strategies based on trial and error, in contrast to learning in the group-class which are characterized by scaffolding (Yan & Fischer, 2004) and sharing team tacit knowledge (Zhang, de Pablos, & Zhu, 2012). The two acquisition ways may have different consequences over the emotions, beliefs and attitudes towards the computer and the internet.…”

Principles for the wise use of computers by children

“…In addition to the age and gender differences, there are also cultural differences in attitudes towards and methods of interacting with computers, including browsing websites, using search engines and menus and communicating online (see review by Yan and Fischer 2004).…”

“…Proportional head mass is also a developmental difference between adults and children and it has been suggested that this may affect the physical ramifications for children viewing different display heights (Straker et al 2008a). Yan and Fischer (2004) reviewed the literature concerning cognitive and social differences in learning to use computers and concluded that very little was known about developmental differences between children and adults in this context. It is reasonable to assume, however, that social and cognitive immaturity may offer less protection for children compared to adults when interacting with the computer.…”

One Law with Two Outcomes: Comparing the Implementation of CIPA in Public Libraries and Schools

“…56 CIPA fails to recognize that children as individual users are active processors of information and that children of different ages are going to be affected in divergent ways by filtering programs. 57 Younger children benefit from more restrictive filters while older children benefit from less restrictive filters.…”