CHILDREN & COMPUTERS: PERSPECTIVES ON SCHOOL AND HOME USE FROM ONE THIRD GRADE CLASS

Transcription

1 CHILDREN & COMPUTERS: PERSPECTIVES ON SCHOOL AND HOME USE FROM ONE THIRD GRADE CLASS A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE DIVISION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI I AT MĀNOA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN EDUCATION AUGUST 2014 By Michael John Herrick Dissertation Committee: Ellen Hoffman, Chairperson Curtis Ho Meng-Fen Grace Lin Michael Menchaca Elizabeth Davidson Keywords: Educational Technology, Computers, Children, Third Grade, Ecological Model, Bronfenbrenner

2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My sincerest appreciation goes to Ms. Barr for actively participating in this project. It was wonderful working with her and learning more about elementary education from her. I was glad that she, as a true professional, learned from this project, too. I appreciate the third grade students and their parents who worked with me. I appreciate my committee for their help and guidance. Most especially, I appreciate my chair, Ellen, who always supported me and believed in me, even when I went through rough times. She is an inspiration. I appreciate the University of Hawaii Manoa Educational Technology Department. The professors and students were a wonderful ohana with which to work. Most especially, Julie was my guardian angel through the entire process. I appreciate those who assisted me in completing this paper: Alex, Beth, Damián, Sonny, and Tammy. And, as always, I appreciate my family. Thanks Mom & Dad for being with me at one of the highlights of my life. I love you. i

3 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 highestreferenced 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. ii

4 TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS... i ABSTRACT... ii LIST OF TABLES... ix LIST OF FIGURES... xii CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION...1 Statement of the Problem...1 Purpose...2 Research Questions...3 Significance of the Study...3 Conceptual Framework...4 Summary of Methodology...5 Role of the Researcher...6 Definition of Key Terms...7 Summary...9 CHAPTER 2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE An Ecological Model Bronfenbrenner s Original Model Macrosystem: A Technological Society Technology in Schools Technology Outside of School Digital Divide One-to-One Models Ecological Model: The Macrosystem Exosystems: The School System and the Military Community The School System The Base and Military Community Ecological Model: The Exosystems Microsystems: The Classroom and Beyond iii

5 The Third Grade Classroom Beyond the Classroom Ecological Model: The Microsystems Mesosystems: The Connections Computer Connections Teachers Affect the Home Parents Affect the School Ecological Model: The Mesosystem Summary CHAPTER 3. METHODOLOGY Research Design The Embedded Case Study Method Theoretical Framework Participants and Context Participants Study Setting Role of the Researcher Instrumentation and Procedures Data Collection Interviews Observations and Home Visits Documents Review Data Analysis Data Reduction Patterns and Categories Inferences & Conjectures Validity Product Timeline Summary CHAPTER 4. THE CLASS iv

6 The School Microsystem Classroom Physical and Material Characteristics Technology The School Microsystem Roles and Interpersonal Relations The Teacher Her Students The School Microsystem Activities Software Applications in Teacher Plans Software Applications in Student Perceptions Projects Research Games Communication Videos and Multimedia The School Microsystem Transitions The Home Microsystems Technology The Home Microsystems Roles and Interpersonal Relations The Parents Their Children The Home Microsystem Activities Software Applications Research Games Communication Video and Multimedia The Home Microsystems Transitions The Mesosystem The Mesosystem Roles & Interpersonal Relationships Provider Protector Ecological Model: The Micro- and Mesosystems with Role Elements v

7 The Mesosystem Activities Software Applications Projects Research Games Communication Video and Multimedia Ecological Model: The Micro- and Mesosystems with Application & Hardware and Activity Elements Mesosystems Transitions Ecological Model: The Micro- and Mesosystems with Transition Elements Summary CHAPTER 5. THE STUDENTS Alberto (S01) Alberto s Computer Use in School Alberto s Computer Use at Home Alberto s Connections Beryl (S02) Beryl s Computer Use in School Beryl s Computer Use at Home Beryl s Connections Chris (S03) Chris s Computer Use in School Chris s Computer Use at Home Chris s Connections Dorian (S04) Dorian s Computer Use in School Dorian s Computer Use at Home Dorian s Connections Ernesto (S05) Ernesto s Computer Use in School vi

8 Ernesto s Computer Use at Home Ernesto s Connections Fernand (S06) Fernand s Computer Use in School Fernand s Computer Use at Home Fernand s Connections Gordon (S07) Gordon s Computer Use in School Gordon s Computer Use at Home Gordon s Connections Humberto (S08) Humberto s Computer Use at School Humberto s Computer Use at Home Humberto s Connections Ingrid (S09) Ingrid s Computer Use in School Ingrid s Computer Use at Home Ingrid s Connections Joyce (S10) Joyce s Computer Use in School Joyce s Computer Use at Home Joyce s Connections Karen (S11) Karen s Computer Use in School Karen s Computer Use at Home Karen s Connections Leslie (S13) Leslie s Computer Use in School Leslie s Computer Use at Home Leslie s Connections Summary vii

9 CHAPTER 6. CHILDREN & COMPUTERS Children s Computer Use Fits an Ecological Model Assume Children Have Access to Computers Outside of School Apply Computer Abilities Children Possess Towards Higher Levels of Learning Make Connections between School and Home Computer Uses Explicit for Children & Their Parents Purpose Children s Affinity for Computer Games towards Academics Ensure the Protection of Children While They Are Using Computers Limitations Recommendations for Children & Computers Conclusion of Children & Computers APPENDIX A. Definitions, Propositions, and Hypothesizes from The Ecology of Human Development: Experiments by Nature and Design APPENDIX B. IRB Approval and Consent Forms APPENDIX C. Instruments APPENDIX D. Additional Tables REFERENCES viii

10 LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Evidence collection by method and source...6 Table 2. Evidence collection outline Table 3. Evidence preparation Table 4. Study timeline Table 5. Diffusion of highest-referenced codes throughout all sources Table 6. Mean and median ability and attitude scale self-reports for both interviews. All items on a scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree); 3 is neutral. Bolded items were rated exactly the same in both interviews. Interview 1 averages are from all 12 students; Interview 2 averages from all except S08 who left the school early Table 7. References to specific software applications that were used in school in response to open-ended items in each student interview (Interview 1, Item #2 and Interview 2, Item #2) and throughout all interview and home visit records; highlighted applications were those referenced in the teacher s plan book Table 8. Mean and median accessibility scale self-reports for both interviews. All items on a scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree); 3 is neutral. Bolded items were rated exactly the same in both interviews. Interview 1 averages are from all 12 students; Interview 2 averages from all except S08 who PCS ed Table 9. References to specific applications that were used at home in response to open-ended items in each student interview (Interview 1, Item #3 and Interview 2, Item #3) and throughout all interview and home visits; highlighted applications were those referenced in the teacher s plan book Table 10. Summary of collected data by student Table 11. Average ability, accessibility, and attitude scale self-reports for Alberto. All items on a scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree); 3 is neutral. Bolded items were rated exactly the same in both interviews. Italicized items marked with a * differed by more than 1 in the two interviews Table 12. Average ability, accessibility, and attitude scale self-reports for Beryl. All items on a scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree); 3 is neutral. Bolded items were rated ix

11 exactly the same in both interviews. Italicized items marked with a * differed by more than 1 in the two interviews Table 13. Average ability, accessibility, and attitude scale self-reports for Chris. All items on a scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree); 3 is neutral. Bolded items were rated exactly the same in both interviews. Italicized items marked with a * differed by more than 1 in the two interviews. X indicates a data irregularity Table 14. Average ability, accessibility, and attitude scale self-reports for Dorian. All items on a scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree); 3 is neutral. Bolded items were rated exactly the same in both interviews. Italicized items marked with a * differed by more than 1 in the two interviews Table 15. Average ability, accessibility, and attitude scale self-reports for Ernesto. All items on a scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree); 3 is neutral. Bolded items were rated exactly the same in both interviews. Italicized items marked with a * differed by more than 1 in the two interviews Table 16. Average ability, accessibility, and attitude scale self-reports for Fernand. All items on a scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree); 3 is neutral. Bolded items were rated exactly the same in both interviews. Italicized items marked with a * differed by more than 1 in the two interviews Table 17. Average ability, accessibility, and attitude scale self-reports for Gordon. All items on a scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree); 3 is neutral. Bolded items were rated exactly the same in both interviews. Italicized items marked with a * differed by more than 1 in the two interviews Table 18. Ability, accessibility, and attitude scale self-reports for Humberto. All items on a scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree); 3 is neutral. Humberto only rated himself on one occasion Table 19. Average ability, accessibility, and attitude scale self-reports for Ingrid. All items on a scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree); 3 is neutral. Bolded items were rated exactly the same in both interviews. Italicized items marked with a * differed by more than 1 in the two interviews Table 20. Average ability, accessibility, and attitude scale self-reports for Joyce. All items on a scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree); 3 is neutral. Bolded items were rated x

12 exactly the same in both interviews. Italicized items marked with a * differed by more than 1 in the two interviews Table 21. Average ability, accessibility, and attitude scale self-reports for Karen. All items on a scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree); 3 is neutral. Bolded items were rated exactly the same in both interviews. Italicized items marked with a * differed by more than 1 in the two interviews Table 22. Average ability, accessibility, and attitude scale self-reports for Leslie. All items on a scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree); 3 is neutral. Bolded items were rated exactly the same in both interviews. Italicized items marked with a * differed by more than 1 in the two interviews Table 23. Computers & Children Evidence Chain xi

13 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Graphical interpretation of Bronfenbrenner s ecological model showing the settings relevant to the current case study...5 Figure 2. Ecological perspective of human development (Takeuchi, 2011a, p. 16) Figure 3. Overview of Household Adoption Rates by Technology Percent of U.S. Households (Economics and Statistics Administration & National Telecommunications Information Administration, 2011, p. 1) Figure 4. Time Spent with Each Media by Age (Rideout et al., 2010, p. 12) Figure 5. The macrosystem for this Children & Computers study Figure 6. The macro- and exosystems for this Children & Computers study Figure 7. Common social-emotional characteristics of third graders and their school implications (Anderson, 2011, p. 4) Used with permission Figure 8. Common language characteristics of third graders and their school implications (Anderson, 2011, p. 6) Used with permission Figure 9. Common physical and cognitive characteristics of third graders and their school implications (Anderson, 2011, p. 5) Used with permission Figure 10. The macro- exo- and microsystems for this Children & Computers study Figure 11. Hoover-Dempsey & Sandler Model of the Parental Involvement Process (Parent Institute, 2012) Figure 12. The macro-, exo-, micro-, and mesosystems for this Children & Computers study Figure 13. The macro-, exo-, micro-, and mesosystems for this Children & Computers study Figure 14. View of the classroom from the rear (Note: The picture was taken School Year ) Figure 15. View of the classroom from the front by the door (Note: The picture was taken School Year ) Figure 16. View of the teacher s desk (Note: The picture was taken School Year ) Figure 17. Student desks, one of which has a laptop from the COW Figure 18. Teacher s desk with her computer Figure 19. Student desktop workstations xii

14 Figure 20. SMART Board, laptop for use with SMART Board, and covered Elmo document projector; also shown is TV with VCR Figure 21. Overhead projector on cart; also pictured is the B & W printer Figure 22. Student Interview 1 Prompt, Section 3A, #1. Responses from all 12 participants are shown Figure 23. Student Interview 1 Prompt, Section 3A, #8. Responses from all 12 participants are shown; multiple responses allowed Figure 24. Parent Interview 1 Prompt, Section 6B, #3. Averages from all 8 participants are shown; multiple responses allowed Figure 25. Parent Interview 1 Prompt, Section 3A, #21. Responses from all 8 participants are shown. Respondent answered for self, spouse, and student Figure 26. Student Interview 1 Prompt, Section 3A, #2. Responses from 11 participants are shown; S04 did not respond Figure 27. Student Interview 1 Prompt, Section 3A, #7. Responses from all 12 participants are shown; multiple responses allowed Figure 28. Student Interview 1 Prompt, Section 3A, #5. Responses from 11 participants are shown; the 12 th replied I don t know Figure 29. Parent Interview 1 Prompt, Section 4, #33 and #34. Responses from all 8 participants are shown Figure 30. The ecological model for this Children & Computers study with role elements included Figure 31. Student Interview 1 Prompt, Section 3A, #5. Responses from all 12 participants are shown Figure 32. Student Interview 1 Prompt, Section 3A, #4. Responses from all 12 participants are shown; multiple responses allowed Figure 33. Student Interview 1 Prompt, Section 3A, #7 & #8. Responses from all 12 participants are shown; multiple responses allowed Figure 34. References to specific software applications there were used in school and at home in response to open-ended items in the first student interview (Interview 1, Item #2 & #3) Figure 35. References to specific software applications by the teacher, students, and parents xiii

15 Figure 36. The ecological model for this Children & Computers study with application & hardware elements included Figure 37. The ecological model for this Children & Computers study with activity elements included Figure 38. The ecological model for this Children & Computers study with transition elements included Figure 39. Beryl s family s new imac on a desk in the spare bedroom Figure 40. Ernesto s family s home computer in a part of the living room he calls the computer room Figure 41. Ernesto s laptop on the desk in his room Figure 42. Fernand s family s computer, set in the corner of the computer room Figure 43. Gordon s family s computer in the corner of their living room Figure 44. Joyce s family s desktop computer in the changing room Figure 45. Leslie s computer next to her bed in her room Figure 46. Leslie s family s home computer in the office Figure 47. Ecological model from Children & Computers study; includes micro- and mesosystem elements Figure 48. Comparison of Children & Computers respondent teacher data vs. U.S. National elementary teacher educational technology use data (Gray, Thomas, & Lewis, 2010b) Figure 49. Comparison Children & Computers respondent parent data vs. U.S. National data (Day, Janus, & Davis, 2005; DeBell & Chapman, 2006; File, 2013) xiv

16 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION Technology is anything invented after you were born, everything else is just stuff. Alan Kay American children today have a lot of stuff available to them! They have inherited the technologies of previous generations and have experienced, within their short lifetimes, the rapid life cycle changes of technologies as they morph into newer generations of faster, sleeker, and more innovative devices. These children have more technologies available to them as costs drop and market penetration rises. And they have more uses for their technologies as software improves and the engine of global interconnection, the Internet, grows in content and available speed. Children leave their homes full of computers and come to our schools full of computers. There it is an educator s job to harness technology to teach students skills they will need for their futures. It is also equally important that students are instilled with a desire to remain lifelong learners. With this desire and a knowledge of how to learn they will succeed. They use our technology in school. They use their technology at home. But how does that look? How are the two interrelated? This study is about children and computers, what Kay calls their stuff. Statement of the Problem The amount of technology available to children is rising. In 2003, the year before third grade students participating in this study were born, the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) collected data on computer and Internet use by students in the United States (DeBell & Chapman, 2006). They reported 92% of third graders were using computers and half (50%) of them were using the Internet. Sixty-four percent (64%) of students in grades 1-5 used computers at home, 85% in school. Five years later, 2008, the year before this study s class of third graders entered kindergarten, the NCES (Gray, Thomas, & Lewis, 2010a) found that all (100%) elementary schools had instructional computers with Internet access! Ninety-eight percent (98%) of these schools had computers in classrooms, with an average ratio of 3.2 instructional computers per classroom. For the following year, 2009, Child Trends (2010) 1

17 reported that 77% of children ages 3-17 used the Internet at home and 93% had access to a home computer. Furthermore, 36% of 8-18 year olds had a computer in their bedroom, 33% of those had Internet access! That is a mass of technology and it is growing at a phenomenal rate; numbers from a few years ago do not accurately portray the picture today. Why all the computers? The Information Age demands that new skill sets Life and Career Skills, Learning and Innovation Skills, and Information, Media, and Technology Skills are taught in schools alongside of the Core Subjects so that America can maintain a competitive edge (Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2008). Business leaders are looking for job entrants to come out of schools with the basic and applied skills needed to enter the 21 st Century workforce; they are finding these skills lacking (Casner-Lotto & Barrington, 2006). Jobs are still a decade in the future of a third grader. So while educators and policy makers worry about their future, third graders just want an education relevant to them today. These digital natives have always known a world filled with technology and think differently because of it (Prensky, 2001). Their teachers and parents, who as digital immigrants consider much of the technology that surrounds them new, face the daunting task of helping children prepare for a future no one of them can fully comprehend. Using computers to increase cognitive development in children is a major concern of the field of educational technology. A great deal of effort and research has been concentrated on the availability and use of technology in schools as tools for teaching. The desire to expand in-school availability and use of computers beyond the school walls has led many jurisdictions to implement 1-to-1 laptop programs. But budgetary restrictions and other concerns have made the proportion of these programs relatively low. Still, students have technology available to them in their homes and other settings outside of school. Purpose 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. The study can be characterized by the terms attributed to a qualitative case study by Merriam (1998): particularistic because it focused on the use of technology by one class of students, descriptive 2

18 because it uses rich language to detail that use of technology, and heuristic because it will illuminate the reader's understanding of technology use by elementary school students. Research Questions This study was guided by two questions: 1. How are third grade students' school and home technology environs perceived by them, their parents, and their teacher? 2. How does the interrelationship between these school and home technology environs impact the conditions for applying technologies in learning? The study provides a snapshot of children and computers. It produces a thick description, a detailed contextualized description and interpretation (Ponterotto, 2006), of the teacher, student, and parent perspectives to address the first research question. Then it goes beyond the thick description to explore the interrelationship between settings, building theory as an extension of description (Woodside & Wilson, 2003), to address the second question. Significance of the Study In order for students to best benefit from information technology, every student should have an Internet-connected device available to them so they can learn from anywhere, anytime (Lei, 2010a). There is a great deal of movement in this direction. Students have access to a wide number of devices computers, smartphones, tablets, handhelds, and etcetera in school and at home. Yet access varies for a number of reasons, a majority of which point to cost. A growing number of schools have implemented 1:1 programs that provide devices for student use both in school and at home (Apple, 2007). On the flip side, more schools are allowing students to bring their own computers to school in a design commonly called B.Y.O.D, bring your own device. Most of the 1:1 and B.Y.O.D. programs start in high and middle schools. The number of such programs in elementary schools is a small percentage of those underway in the U.S. Still, students in primary grades have access to computers in school and at home. This study looked at the access in one U.S. public school 3 rd grade classroom. It provides a snapshot of technology use at school and home, and it explored the interrelation between these uses. The significance of this snapshot can be considered from two different vantage points. First, there are the educators in a school who desire to know if what they are doing with 3

19 technology in the classroom relates to what is being done at home. This study allows them to see how that relationship may look. Second, there are policymakers. This group usually examines quantitative data while setting policy. The current study gives them a qualitative lens through which to look at children and computers. It offers a view of interrelated school and home environments beyond numbers. Conceptual Framework For this study, the framework is the ecological model defined by Bronfenbrenner (1979) in his seminal work The Ecology of Human Development: Experiments by Nature and Design. His model manifests as a nested set of environments, the interrelationships between which and within each leads to human development. The author, a psychologist, defined development as a lasting change in the way in which a person perceives and deals with his environment (1979, p. 3). He saw as a necessity the observation of children in their natural environment as the context in which to study the conditions of their development. The work created a new theoretical perspective in the research of human development and is the basis for the conceptual framework of this study. The use of an ecological perspective by Lei, Conway, and Zhao (2008) in their book examining issues surrounding one-to-one computing in schools was the impetus for its usage in the current study. Zhao and Frank (2003) outlined the use of an ecological perspective to understand computer usage in schools in an earlier work. There, the authors established four metaphors schools as ecosystems, computers as living species, teachers as keystone species, and external educational innovations as invading exotic species and used them to explain the survival-of-the-fittest nature of technologies introduced into classrooms. Takeuchi s case studies of media use outside of school by 7- and 8-year-old girls used an ecological framework (Takeuchi, 2011a, 2011b), providing both inspiration and a model for this current study. Bronfenbrenner (1979), in his original ecological model for human development defines four systems: micro-, meso-, exo-, and macro-. A microsystem is a pattern of activities, roles, and interpersonal relations experienced by the developing person in a given setting with particular physical and material characteristics (Bronfenbrenner, 1979, p. 22). This study examines the two most common for young children, school and home. A mesosystem comprises of the interrelations among microsystems, an exosystem indirectly affects or is affected by the 4

20 developing person, and the macrosystem refers to the whole culture in which the person develops. A military community and a school system designed to support it are exosystems relevant to this study. The macrosystem is our 21 st Century technological society. Figure 1 is a graphical representation of Bronfenbrenner s ecological model populated with the settings specific to this case study. Figure 1. Graphical interpretation of Bronfenbrenner s ecological model showing the settings relevant to the current case study Summary of Methodology This study used an embedded case study design as outlined by Yin (2009). A third grade class in a military-connected school was the main unit of analysis; the students were the embedded sub-units. Choosing a single case provided for an in-depth snapshot of the technology environments indicated in the research questions; namely the school, home, and the interrelation between the two. The design was appropriate to describe the contemporary phenomenon of computer usage because it retain[ed] the holistic and meaningful characteristics (Yin, 2009, p. 4). The study used the three main data collection methods of qualitative research: interviews, observations, and document reviews (Merriam, 1998). Evidence was collected from three sources: students, their parents, and their teacher. Table 1 outlines the use of these methods in the study. 5

21 Data Source Student Teacher Parent Interview Initial Initial Initial Final Final (Follow-Up) ( Follow-Up) Observation School School Home Visit Home Visit Documents Work Products Work Products Program Usage Info Lesson Plans Work Space Photos Work Space Photos Table 1. Evidence collection by method and source Research Question #1, How are third grade students' school and home technology environs perceived by them, their parents, and their teacher? was addressed using data collected from all indicated sources. Data collected from the teacher provided her unique perspective as well as corroborated the students perceptions of the school technology setting; data collected from the parents provided their unique perspectives as well as corroborated the students perceptions of the home technology settings. Using an analysis and synthesis of all evidence shown in Table 1, a picture of the students microsystems has been drawn. Research Question #2, How does the interrelationship between these school and home environs impact the conditions for applying technology in learning? was explored in two ways. First, comparisons of the settings, as previously drawn, showed their similarities and differences. Second, a direct line of inquiry in student, teacher, and parent interviews addressed perceptions of these interrelationships. From these the mesosystem has been drawn. Role of the Researcher It is a commonly held by those conducting qualitative researcher that the researcher is the primary instrument for gathering and analyzing data (see, for example, Creswell, 2007; Merriam, 1998). It is therefore important to clearly define the role of the researcher and make transparent his biases. Merriam (1998) says that stating the investigators position is one of three ways to show that data is dependable; the other two being triangulation and an audit trail. 6

22 I have been an Educational Technologist (ET) with this military-connected school system for eleven years. Before that I was a classroom teacher (mathematics and computer applications) for twelve years and an instructional specialist (mathematics) for four years. Six of my classroom years were with a private school in Upstate New York; the rest of my time in teaching has been with military-connected schools. But it is the role of ET that has brought about my interest in using computers in education and my vision of a seamless integration of technology in all aspects of teaching and learning that has brought me to this study. There are four performance elements for an Educational Technologist in the system (Department of Defense Education Activity, 2006): instructional collaboration, staff development, customer support, and program management. A synopsis of the job description is that the ET supports the integration of technology in the school. I had been doing this job at the research study site for ten years at the time the study was conducted. I was a participant-observer with a professional stake in the answers to these research questions. Some problems that have been noted with participant-observers include bias, less time to observe because of participation, and group advocacy because of participation through time in service (Yin, 2009). To counteract these and ensure greater validity in the study, multiple sources of data were collected and analyzed. Comparing these data points lead to a triangulation of the results (Leech & Onwuegbuzie, 2007; Yin, 2009). Furthermore, member checks (Leech & Onwuegbuzie, 2007; Prosser, 2007) with the participants in the study also added to its reliability. Definition of Key Terms Key terms from this study come mainly from the Bronfenbrenner (1979) ecological model that is being used as the theoretical framework for this study. In addition to those terms listed here, all definitions, propositions, and hypothesizes from The Ecology of Human Development: Experiments by Nature and Design (Bronfenbrenner, 1979) are listed in Appendix A because of their relevance to this study and for completeness. Activity. A molar activity is an ongoing behavior possessing a momentum of its own and perceived as having meaning or intent by the participants in the setting (Bronfenbrenner, 1979, p. 45). Computer. A computer is defined, for the purpose of this study, as any device desktop, laptop, netbook, tablet, or handheld, etc. that is capable of accepting input, making 7

23 calculations, storing data, and producing viewable output. Most uses of the word computer within this paper imply computer with an Internet connection. The word computer and technology are often used interchangeably herein but computer is more often used to designate a device listed above, whereas technology is broader in scope. Exosystem. An exosystem refers to one or more settings that do not involve the developing person as an active participant, but in which events occur that affect, or are affected by, what happens in the setting containing the developing person (Bronfenbrenner, 1979, p. 25). Macrosystem. The macrosystem refers to consistencies, in the form and content of lower-order systems (micro-, meso-, and exo-) that exist, or could exist, at the level of the subculture or the culture as a whole, along with any belief systems or ideology underlying such consistencies (Bronfenbrenner, 1979, p. 26). Mesosystem. A mesosystem comprises the interrelations among two or more settings in which the developing person actively participates (such as, for a child, the relations among home, school, and neighborhood peer group; for an adult, among family, work, and social life) (Bronfenbrenner, 1979, p. 25). Microsystem. A microsystem is a pattern of activities, roles, and interpersonal relations experienced by the developing person in a given setting with particular physical and material characteristics (Bronfenbrenner, 1979, p. 22). One-to-one (1:1). A 1:1 program is any of a number of possible iterations which provides for a ratio of one computer (see above) per student in a school. A large number of these programs provide for students to take the school issued device between school and home but this is not a necessity of a 1:1 program. Proximal Processes. Proximal processes are increasingly complex reciprocal interactions between the developing individual and those persons, objects and symbols in her immediate environment. To be effective these interactions must occur fairly regularly over time (Bronfenbrenner, 1999). Relation. A relation obtains whenever one person in a setting pays attention to or participates in the activities of another (Bronfenbrenner, 1979, p. 56). A relation can also exist between a person and his computer. Role. A role is a set of activities and relations expected of a person occupying a particular position in society, and of others in relation to that person (Bronfenbrenner, 1979, p. 85). 8

24 Technology. A technology is an innovation in the field of computing. Technology includes not only computers (see above) but also their input/output and storage devices. Furthermore, devices which have not functioned in the past as computing devices, i.e. TVs and game consoles, but which have been updated to include some of the functionality of a computer, i.e. interconnectivity through the Internet, are also considered in this study to be technologies. Transition. An ecological transition occurs whenever a person s position in the ecological environment is altered as the result of a change in role, setting, or both (Bronfenbrenner, 1979, p. 26). Summary Children today have a lot of technology stuff in their lives. And technology innovations are proceeding at a fast pace, ensuring that tomorrow s children will have even more stuff in their lives. Our job in education is to harness the technology that is part of our students environment and use it to help them learn. And this learning must be an asset to their future, the 21 st Century Skills that will help them succeed, not a tribute to traditional education. This embedded case study held a mirror up to one elementary classroom microsystem, reflecting teacher, student, and parent perceptions of how technology resources there were used. It took the mirror to the homes of these students, reflecting the perceptions of technology use there. Finally, this study explored the intersection of those two reflections to show how school and home technology were interrelated in the task of educating the child. Chapter 2 presents a literature review. It starts by detailing Bronfenbrenner s ecological model, moves on to outline technology use in our culture (macrosystem), characteristics of the military community and school system (exosystems), a general view of technology use in schools and outside of schools (microsystems), and ends with connections between home and school (mesosystems). Chapter 3 provides a foundation of the embedded case study methodology used in this study and details the specifics used in this case. Chapter 4 presents the findings from the study for the class as a whole, organized according to the framework. Chapter 5 presents data from the individual students, pointing out their differences from the group. Chapter 6 discusses the results within the context of conjectures which arose from the findings. This final chapter provides answers to the research questions and concludes this study while offering direction for future studies. 9

25 Four appendices follow the main text. Appendix A contains all definitions, propositions, and hypothesizes from The Ecology of Human Development: Experiments by Nature and Design (Bronfenbrenner, 1979) so that the reader may have them easily at hand. Appendix B contains all consent/assent forms and Institutional Review Board (IRB) essential documentation. Appendix C contains prompts used in the semi-structured interviews and observation record sheets. Appendix D holds additional tables which match study data with U.S. National data. 10

26 CHAPTER 2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE The ecology of human development involves the scientific study of the progressive, mutual accommodation between an active, growing human being and the changing properties of the immediate settings in which the developing person lives, as this process is affected by relations between these settings, and by the larger contexts in which the settings are embedded. Bronfenbrenner (1979, p. 21) The purpose of this case study was to describe and explore the use of technology by participating students in one specific third grade class in one specific military-connected U.S. public school. In particular the use of technology in two settings, school and home, were examined and the interrelation between the two analyzed. To fully understand the use of technology in those settings, an examination of the larger contexts in which the settings were embedded is presented herein. The ecological model created by Bronfenbrenner, and used to frame this study, took a central role in the descriptive process of the study. Therefore this chapter begins with an in-depth review of the model. With the model in place, the chapter goes on to give a description of the contexts which shape the lives of the participating students, starting from those which are most remote from them the U.S. culture relating to technology and working in towards settings closer to the students. An Ecological Model Bronfenbrenner, a psychologist, laid out his ecological model in The Ecology of Human Development: Experiments by Nature and Design. Published in 1979, the work made a break with the laboratory research designs of the time by insisting that in-context study was the only way to fully understand the developing child. It defined the nested settings that made up the ecological environment along with the transitions, activities, relations, and roles that take place within those settings. Subsequently, Bronfenbrenner (1999) updated his model to include a critical distinction between the environment and proximal processes. All of the bolded concepts from the ecological model used by Bronfenbrenner to draw insights into the developing human being were used in this study to frame the use of technology by that developing human being. 11

27 Since learning in an educational setting is a function of the forces acting on the student, the ecological model is valuable within this milieu (Bronfenbrenner, 1976). Furthermore, the author has prescribed its use for the in-context analysis of the relationship between the learner and his surroundings. With a nod to the pervasive influence of technology in our world Bavelier, Green, and Dye (2010) called the affect of technology on children s cognitive development an experiment of nature [that] is unfolding before our eyes (p. 692). The ecological model has been used by other educational technology researchers in this way. Recently, Takeuchi (2011a) took an ecological perspective to study children s use of digital media, focusing on learning outside of school to create a portrait of digital kids from her multiple case study. G. M. Johnson (2010) called on the ecological model to explain patterns and create profiles of young children s home and school Internet use. A few years earlier, Lei et al. (2008) took a different ecological perspective to examine implementation of one-to-one computing initiatives in schools, treating technology innovations with Darwinian metaphors. Bronfenbrenner s Original Model The ecological environment is conceived as a set of nested structures, each inside the next, like a set of Russian dolls (Bronfenbrenner, 1979, p. 3). The outer most structure is the macrosystem, the overall cultural setting in which the developing person finds himself. An exosystem is a setting closer to the developing person, one she affects or that affects her but in which she does not personally operate. A microsystem is the setting in which the developing person operates. People participate in several microsystems, the classroom and home being the two most germane to this study. The interrelations among these microsystems are called a mesosystem. The relationship among the settings in the ecological model is often viewed as concentric circles at the center of which is the developing person. Figure 2 shows such a model specifically tailored to include digital and other media. 12

28 Figure 2. Ecological perspective of human development (Takeuchi, 2011a, p. 16) Further delineating his systems approach, Bronfenbrenner (1979) defined elements at work within the environments: transitions, activities, relations, and roles. An ecological transition is the alteration of setting, role, or both by the developing individual. Not all activities are of equal value. A molar activity is defined as an ongoing behavior possessing a momentum of its own and perceived as having meaning or intent by the participants in the setting (Bronfenbrenner, 1979, p. 45) and is set above other activities in its potential to lead to development. In school this fits well within the intention of any lesson presented to the class. At home, a molar activity could be a chore assigned by a parent or a game created by siblings. An important aspect of a molar activity is the perception of the participant. The psychologist went on to state that a relation occurs whenever one person in a setting pays attention to or participates in the activities of another (Bronfenbrenner, 1979, p. 56). Dyads, or two person relationships, are seen as the most important of these. Finally, a role is defined as a set of activities and relations expected of a person occupying a particular position in society, and of others in relation 13

29 to that person (Bronfenbrenner, 1979, p. 85). Teacher is an important role in a classroom setting; parent an important role in a home setting. Bronfenbrenner (1999) proposed that development takes place through proximal processes, a set of increasingly complex interactions between the developing person and the persons and objects in his environment. He held that it was important for the developing person to be actively engaged in the interactions, for these interactions to occur regularly over time to be effective, for the interactions to become increasingly complex, and for the interactions to be bidirectional. It is extremely relevant to this current research that Bronfenbrenner specifically stated proximal processes are interactions not only between people but also between people and objects. A computer, therefore, would form part of a dyad with its user and, all of the aforementioned conditions being met, would lead to the development of that user through proximal processes. Macrosystem: A Technological Society The macrosystem refers to consistencies, in the form and content of lowerorder systems (micro-, meso-, and exo-) that exist, or could exist, at the level of the subculture or the culture as a whole, along with any belief systems or ideology underlying such consistencies. Bronfenbrenner (1979, p. 26) The world is in an Information Age characterized by rapid change, an explosion of scientific and engineering knowledge, a greater reliance on information and technology, an expansion of the service sector at the expense of the agricultural and industrial sectors, a tech sector that contributes a higher percentage to Gross Domestic Product (GDP), increased productivity, and a workforce that relies on the mind (Cortaba, 2000). Having begun in the 1980 s (Alberts, Papp, & Tuyahov, 1997), the most recent Information Revolution has brought changes in business, commerce, the service sector, news media, medicine, education, government, warfare, and international relations (Alberts & Papp, 1997). The impetus for the revolution and source of its nomenclature: advanced computing technologies and their interconnectedness (Alberts & Papp, 1997). The Global Information Technology Report 2012 (Dutta & Bilbao-Osorio, 2012) highlights the need for governments, businesses, and individuals throughout the world to acquire, maintain, and leverage information and communication technology (ICT) to enhance living 14

30 conditions and economic opportunities in a hyperconnected world marked by the explosion of mobile devices, big data, and social networking. The United Nations has made it a matter of principle to build a people-centered, inclusive and development-oriented Information Society, where everyone can create, access, utilize and share information and knowledge, enabling individuals, communities and peoples to achieve their full potential in promoting their sustainable development and improving their quality of life, premised on the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and respecting fully and upholding the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (World Summit on Information Technology, 2003, Paragraph 1). Friedman (2007) famously declared the world is flat because technological tools allow more entities third world countries such as India and China as well as small businesses in the United States to compete in the global world. Everyone in Friedman s world is a potential competitor. Bonk (2009) pointed out that the world is open because using technology allows anyone to learn anything from anywhere. Everyone in Bonk s world is a potential learner. Shirky (2008) showed how people could collaborate on issues that concerned them because using technology allows for better communication. Everyone in Shirky s world is a potential organizer. Preparing students to work in a world of global competition, open educational resources, and instant communication requires more emphasis on applied skill such as collaboration and critical thinking (Casner-Lotto & Barrington, 2006). The United States education system is being pushed by business leaders and policy makers to better prepare students for their world (Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2008). To this end, the Partnership for 21st Century Skills (2008) has designed a Framework for 21 st Century Learning that includes three areas in addition to the Core Subjects (i.e. language arts, math, science, history, etc.): the Learning and Innovation Skills of creativity, critical thinking, collaboration and communication; Life and Career Skills such as flexibility, adaptability, social skills, and accountability; and the Information, Media, and Technical Skills of information literacy, media literacy, and ICT ( information and communication technology) literacy. Technology in Schools There have been three distinct periods of educational computing according to Aslan and Reigeluth (2011): Mainframe Period (late 50 s to late 70 s), the Microcomputer Period (late 70 s to end of the 90 s), and the Internet Period (early 2000 s to today). The authors named the periods based on the primary technology of the time. They also extrapolated to a fourth period, 15

31 the Personalized Computing Period, which would be based on the customizability of technologies, attainment-based student progress, open source resources, and a convergence of functionalities. The New Media Consortium (NMC) Horizon Report > 2011 K-12 Edition (L. Johnson, Adams, & Haywood, 2011) is even more specific in identifying key trends, challenges, and technologies to watch. They point to Internet research as changing role of the teacher, the rise of decentralized cloud computing, the continued profound affect of technology on our endeavors, the expectation of people to work, learn, and study anytime anywhere and the increased perceived value of innovation and creativity as 5 current tech trends. These trends present, according to NMC, 5 critical challenges: the rise of digital media literacy as a key skill, competition to traditional models of school, personalized learning not adequately supported, the fundamental structure of the K12 "system", and learning activities which occur outside the classroom but are not measured. They go on to report on technologies to watch: cloud computing and mobiles within the next year, a timeframe in which the number of mobile devices will outnumber PCs; game-based learning and open content within the next 2 to 3 years; and, learning analytics and personal learning environments (PLEs) within the next 4 to 5 years. Interestingly, 80% of people accessing the Internet will be doing so from a mobile device; mobile devices will outnumber PC's by 2013 (L. Johnson et al., 2011). Access. Children in elementary school today have only known the Internet Period. At the start of this period, in 2000, the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) reported there were 5,296,000 computers in U.S. public elementary schools, 72% of which had Internet access (Snyder & Dillow, 2012). The same NCES report showed that by 2008, the latest year for which statistics were available, the number of computers in U.S. public elementary schools rose to 9,711,000 and 98% of those had Internet access. As these numbers have risen, the ratio of instructional computers with Internet access per elementary student has fallen from 7.8:1 in 2000 to 3.2:1 in Another study by the NCES relied on a survey of teachers to collect data on classroom access and usage of computers (Gray et al., 2010b); the same instrument was used with the teacher participating in the current study to make comparisons to national data. In % of elementary teachers self-reported to the NCES that there was at least one computer in their classroom every day, 92% of those had Internet access, and the ratio of computers to students in 16

32 the elementary classroom was 5.4:1. Fifty-four (54%) of elementary teachers in the same survey reported that computers could be wheeled into their classroom, 96% of those had Internet access, and the ration of these computers to students in the elementary classroom was 2.6:1. Taking into account both sets of computers the ratio drops to 1.7:1. Usage. Returning to the aforementioned NCES study of teachers (Gray et al., 2010b), 44% of elementary teachers reported that either they or their students often used computers in the classroom during instructional time; 31% said sometimes, 17% said rarely, and 9% said never/not available. Regarding computers outside of the classroom, 31% said often, 44% sometimes, 16% rarely, and 9% never/not available. Participants were further presented a list of activities and asked how frequently educational technology was used to perform them. Responses sometimes or often were reported together alongside the rarely response and never and not applicable choices can be assumed for the remainder of the 100% : learning to practice basic skills (76% sometimes and often, 15% rarely); conduct research (64%, 23%),; preparing written text (57%, 27%); creating or using graphics or visual displays (49%, 29%); solve problems, analyze data, or perform calculations (45%, 21%); develop and present multimedia presentations (35%, 26%); correspond with others (26%, 20%); conduct experiments or perform measurements (23%, 24%); create art, music, movies, or webcasts (21%, 25%); develop or run demonstrations, models, or simulations (14%, 21%); design and produce a product (11%, 15%); contribute to blogs or wikis (7%, 10%); or use social networking websites (6%, 7%). Noteworthy is the change in usage of these applications from elementary to secondary school. Effect. Reports on the effectiveness of technology to increase student learning vary widely. Fuchs and Woessmann (2004) report that when school characteristics are statistically controlled for, the availability of computers at school has an insignificant impact on student achievement. However, the authors refer to an inverted U-shape when describing the phenomenon whereby students who never use computers or the internet at school show lower performance than students who sometimes use computers or the internet at school. But students who use them several times a week perform even lower (Fuchs & Woessmann, 2004, p. 2) Technology Outside of School Access. As of October 2010, 77% of U.S. households reported having a computer and 71% had an Internet connection, including the 68% that had broadband (Economics and Statistics 17

33 Administration & National Telecommunications Information Administration, 2011). Figure 3 shows the growth of these technologies over a 13 year period, from 1997 to 2010, in comparison with the adoption of the 100-plus-year old telephone technology. Further analysis of the data by the Economics and Statistics Administration (ESA) shows that 86% of households with at least one child between the ages of 6 and 18 have a computer and 78% of these households have broadband Internet access. Usage. Children spend a considerable amount of time interacting with technology. Rideout authored two recent studies one regarding children from birth to eight-year-olds (Rideout, 2011) and the other eight- to eighteen-year-olds (Rideout, Foehr, & Roberts, 2010) examining recreational media usage. The younger group averaged 3 hours and 14 minutes (3:14) a day with media. The older group averaged 6 hours and 21 minutes (6:21) a day with media but, with their penchant for multitasking, absorbed 8 hours and 33 minutes (8:33) worth of media content. These studies overlap at the typical age of a third-grader, eight, so each deserves greater detail here. Figure 3. Overview of Household Adoption Rates by Technology Percent of U.S. Households (Economics and Statistics Administration & National Telecommunications Information Administration, 2011, p. 1) From her study on young children, Rideout (2011) reported 90% of five- to eight-yearolds have used a computer; 22% use a computer daily and 46% weekly. Even younger children are using computers regularly with the average age of first use of 3 ½. Rideout pointed out that 18

34 mobile devices (smartphones, ipods, and tablets) and video game consoles were also used for media consumption but that TV still dominates, with children from 0- to 8-years-old spending 74% of screen time with a TV. Actual computer time for a typical day for a user in this age group only averaged 14 minutes due, in large part, to the small percentage of children who used the computers (e.g. 17% for computer games, 10% for educational software). In their study of 8- to 18-year-olds, which they referred to as Generation M 2, Rideout, Foehr, and Roberts (2010) found media equipment in the home to be plentiful: an average of 3.8 TV s, 2.3 game consoles, and 2.0 computers were among the available selections. Twenty-nine percent of this group had their own laptop, 76% an ipod/mp3 player, 66% a cell phone, and 59% a handheld device. TV content remained the top media consumed by Generation M 2 at 4 hours 29 minutes (4:29) in a typical day but TV was watched not only on the traditional set but also through the computer and handhelds. Also in a typical day music/audio counted for 2:31, computer usage 1:29, video games 1:13, and movies 0:25, as reported by Rideout et al. Print, the only media form to realize a decline, accounted for 38 minutes of a typical day. Children age 8- to 18- years-old were found to be multitasking, absorbing two or more media inputs, 29% of the time. Of course time spent with media differed by age; these differences are shown in Figure 4. Using a survey of the parents of kids from 3 to 10 years old, Takeuchi (2011a) revealed an image of digital media usage by that group and their parents perception of it. She reported results in four areas. First, that digital media was readily accessible on a wide variety of devices which varied in usage levels: television (used by 98% of children in their home), computer (85%), TV-based video game console (68%), handheld video game device (55%), video games (55%), portable music devices (40%), cell phones (35%), Internet enabled mobile devices (14%), with only 3% not having access to any of these. Second, parents view digital media as fun more than learning, often play with their kids but usually using the older media that they enjoyed as a child, and sometimes learn from their child. Third, while most parents do not believe their kids spend too much time with technology (18%), 52% say it takes up time they could be spending on other activities (i.e. exercise) and they have concerns over usage (i.e. lack of physical activity, privacy, safety, violence). Yet, parents see the potential benefits of technology (73% said it was important for their child s success in school), on some devices more than others (e.g. 47% said computer activities besides games or the Internet is most educational vs. 9% for watching TV) and even with game playing (69% said it helps develop skills). Finally, parents set rules and 19

35 Figure 4. Time Spent with Each Media by Age (Rideout et al., 2010, p. 12) restrictions limiting usage by device, time, and activity; a majority (64%) does this on a case-bycase basis rather than having a firm set of rules. Complimenting her aforementioned qualitative data, and providing direct guidance for this current study, Takeuchi (2011a, 2011b) performed case studies on four 7- and 8-year-old girls to further her understanding of this age level, which she says is often overlooked in research. Using observations she verified the plethora of digital devices, both old and new, fixed and portable, that were used by the girls. Parents acted as the main gatekeeper, providing technology and monitoring its use, but other family members contributed in these regards; parents also serve as occasional playmates and ever present digital role models. Takeuchi observed the girls preference for tangible objects, girl stuff, and social interactions. She watched as the girls used media to learn and explore their interests. She concluded with two generalizations: children are increasingly surrounded by, engaging with, and embracing media in old and new forms (Takeuchi, 2011b, p. 55) and any child s particular relationship with these technologies is 20

36 shaped by the people around them parents, siblings, teachers, friends, neighbors, and so on (Takeuchi, 2011b, p. 55), creating an ecological setting unique to each child. Effect. As a vehicle for analyzing the effects of home computer use, Fiorini (2010) summarizes three psychological theories from the effect of TV viewing on child development. The first theory puts emphasis on content (i.e. educational TV vs. cartoons) in determining benefits. The second emphasizes time allocation; time spent watching TV is time taken from other activities. The third puts emphasis on the passive nature of TV, providing visual/auditory stimulus to a passive viewer. When porting the theories to computer use, Fiorini (2010) readily admits that computer use is more intellectually challenging then assumed in the third theory, the common use of multitasking (Rideout et al., 2010) alters the second, and the exceptionally large variety of content available on computers (Fiorini, 2010) redefines the first. Still, the theories provide a starting point for examining the benefits of computer usage. Digital Divide None of the aforementioned studies make the claim that the average access or usage data they present are equally distributed across demographic groups. Just the opposite, attempts are made to show the differences. For example, Snyder and Dillow (2012) disaggregate in school computer access data by enrollment size (lower student-to-computer ration ratios exist at smaller schools), community type (towns and rural areas have lower ratios than cities and suburban areas), and socio-economic status (mixed results across free and reduced lunch percentages bands). Concerning recreational media use, Rideout (2011) found little differences between 0 8 boys and girls but significant differences by race (time spent rose from Whites to Hispanics to Blacks), income (time spent dropped as income rose), and parental education (time spent dropped as parental educational level rose); Rideout et al. (2010) found race usage differences even more pronounced for older children (time spent for Hispanics and Blacks was about equal but larger than that of Whites). The term digital divide has also been used to refer to differences in both usage of digital equipment and digital literacy. Digital literacy refers to going beyond access and the basics usage of a technology to a broader understanding, one situated in a social, economic, and cultural context (Buckingham, 2006). Vigdor and Ladd (2010) point out that digital divides based on race, socioeconomic status, local, or a number of other factors abound. DeBell and Chapman (2006) report a digital divide 21

37 exists between students along demographic and socioeconomic lines: computer and Internet use is higher among Whites than Blacks and Hispanics; higher in households where the parents have more education; and higher where the household income is higher. Four kinds of computer access are discussed in van Dijk and Hacker (2003): mental, material, skills, and usage. The authors posit that while differences in the first two desire to use computers and the ability to possess them will decrease while differences in the second two ability to use computers and apply that use will increase. Hohlfeld, Ritzhaupt, Barron, and Kemker (2008) display the digital divide within schools in three levels. First, the school must have the infrastructure to provide access to students. Second, teachers must have the skills, support, and desire to use the technology within their classrooms. Third, students must be empowered for higher uses (i.e. production over presentation over skill-building). The authors found differences in each level between schools which differ by Socio-Economic status and used it to declare a digital divide in Florida. In a study of third graders in the Mississippi Delta, one of the poorest areas in the United States, Thomas (2007) reported the digital divide between Title I (lower socioeconomic status) and non-title I schools in the area to be closed, but the divide between Title I students and non-title I students to remain in home computer access, home computer use, and skill level. Her declaration of a skill level divide was based on the survey responses where non-title I students could complete more of the 11 indicated activities alone or with help then Title I, those activities they indicated were more academic in nature, and free-responses given by non-title I students were more. One-to-One Models A laptop for every student has been called the ultimate student computer resource (Walling, 2012, p. 43) and programs that effect a student to computer ratio of one-to-one have existed for over a decade. Bebell and O'Dwyer (2010) define 1:1 computing purely by that ratio, pointing out the presence of machines do not dictate educational practices but positing that some form of 1:1 computing will be the norm for the majority of American classrooms at some point in the future (p. 12). The authors synthesized several recent studies to report common themes increased student and teacher technology use, increased student engagement and interest levels, and modestly increased student achievement while explicitly noting that the programs under study differed in implementation. 22

38 Maine initiated one of the first large-scale one-to-one laptop programs in School Year when it issued computers to 7 th and 8 th graders throughout the state with the objectives of increased economic viability for graduates and for the state, higher academic achievement, and digital equity (Lemke & Martin, 2003). In an early mixed methods study of the implementation, Silvernail and Lane (2004) report a growth in usage by both teachers and students over the first 15 months of the program led to increases in quality of student work, amount of learning, understanding, motivation, engagement, and interaction. In a later empirical study comparing writing scores of eighth graders in 2000 versus those in 2005, five years into the one-to-one program, Silvernail and Gritter (2007) showed significantly higher scores for the latter group and related higher scores to greater use of the laptops in the writing process. In a 2011 summary of program data and reports, Silvernail (2011) drew attention to improvements in math achievement, science achievement, and the computer skills of locating and evaluating information in addition to reiterating the improvement in writing. In this report, the author pointed out the uneven levels of implementation throughout Maine. The most obvious result of the implementation of any 1:1 laptop program is that there will be a large influx of new technology into the learning environment, wrote Bebeil (2005, p. 16). She made this remark after studying the first-year implementation of laptops in several New Hampshire 7 th grade classrooms. Use of student and pre/post teacher surveys found results consist with those reported for Maine in the initial years. The author also pointed out how quickly changes were seen in the classroom and with teachers attitudes towards teaching. Upper elementary school students most often use one-to-one laptops for writing, reported Suhr, Hernandez, Grimes, and Warschauer (2010) In their two-year quasi-experimental study, the authors investigated score differences on the English language arts (ELA) portion of a standardized test between a group of students issued one-to-one laptops in the fourth grade and those who were not. While both groups realized gains in ELA scores in the fourth grade, the laptop group continued gains into the fifth grade while the non-laptop group lost most of their gain from the previous year. Coupled with significant differences in sub-test scores related to writing, Suhr et al. (2010) indicated a long-term effect of using laptops for writing which was realized more with increased usage. Examining a one-to-one program in the long term, Lei (2010a) studied the implementation in a northwestern middle school over four academic years. He concluded that this ubiquitous 23

39 computing project changed from a bold innovation to an integral component of every day teaching and learning. Students' use of the technology gradually matured, focusing more on learning-related activities (p. 48). The conclusion was based on surveys and interviews of both students and teachers which showed changes in teacher perceptions, changes in student usage trends and attitude towards the laptop, changes in resources as laptops wore down, and changes in the environment as a shift from quantity of use to quality of use (Lei, 2010a, p. 46). Important considerations in the implementation of a one-to-one program, often cited as obstacles to the full effective use of the ubiquitous technology, are: professional development needs of teachers (Silvernail & Lane, 2004); teacher characteristics like style, attitude, and level of tech expertise (Garthwait & Weller, 2005; Lei, 2010a); level of technical support required (Lei, 2010a; Silvernail, 2011; Silvernail & Lane, 2004); the time constraints (Silvernail & Lane, 2004); and the expense of maintaining equipment and infrastructure (Silvernail, 2011; Silvernail & Lane, 2004). Finally, one-to-one programs are not only those which use laptop computers but can also include programs which use mobile devices or tablets (e.g. Oliver & Corn, 2008). Bring your own device (BYOD), another attempt to increase student to computer rations by allowing students to use their own technology at school, worries Watters (2012) for its potential to exacerbate the differences between those students who have access to such technology and those who do not. Ecological Model: The Macrosystem Third graders are developing in the Information Age. Within their macrosystem is access, albeit unequal access, to a wide range of technology tools both in school and outside of school. Children of all ages are using these tools. It is important for the educational system to harness technology to provide these young students with the 21 st Century Skills they will need for their future. Figure 5 begins a diagram of the settings which affect the life of a third grader involved in this study. The examination of their ecology has begun from the setting furthest removed from them, the macrosystem, the technological society in which we all live. 24

40 Figure 5. The macrosystem for this Children & Computers study Exosystems: The School System and the Military Community An exosystem refers to one or more settings that do not involve the developing person as an active participant, but in which events occur that affect, or are affected by, what happens in the setting containing the developing person. Bronfenbrenner (1979, p. 25) Most children spend their early years in the protection of their parents home. When they reach 5 years of age they then start formal schooling with their entry into kindergarten. For the child, home and school are the two most important microsystems in which he operates. For the adults who run these environments, there are many forces which affect how they are run. These forces operate in the child s exosystem. For military-connected families, the environments are heavily dominated by the military (Segal, 1986). For the children, being a military brat is a unique experience bringing with it different challenges and benefits than those of the other 95% of American children (Musil, 2005). Chief among the disadvantages, as told to Musil, was the sense of loss associated with frequent moves; the average time between Permanent Change of Station moves in 2001 was about 2 years (General Accounting Office, 2001). In addition to frequent geographic moves, other well documented challenges for military families include forced adaptions to new communities and schools, living in foreign countries, peacetime separations, remote 25

41 unaccompanied assignment of parent and spouse, and wartime deployments (Davis, Blaschke, & Stafford, 2012, p. 84). These challenges have been shown to affect children through increases in mental health issues, child maltreatment, stressors related to deployment, reintegration demands, and issues surrounding war-related trauma of a returning parent, all of which can affect their education (De Pedro et al., 2011). Research on the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, among the longest in U.S. history, continues to show effects on the service member and his family (Hosek, 2011). The School System The United States has maintained schools on its domestic bases since 1821 and on its overseas bases since the end of World War II (Wright, 2000). In 2013, the military-connected school system included 194 schools located in 14 countries, 7 states, and 2 territories (Department of Defense Education Activity, n.d.-a). For School Year , this system was projected to employee about 8,700 educators to teach over 86,000 enrolled students. All told, there was military-connected support for the education of approximately 1.2 million military school-aged children at levels ranging from direct enrollment in its own schools to the aid of local education agencies in areas where military dependents attend local schools. The education of dependent children is a quality-of-life issue for the military because concerns about the availability and quality of elementary and secondary education options impact readiness, job satisfaction, and retention of military personnel (Kitmitto et al., 2011, p. ii). The school system run by the Department of Defense has been held up as a model in addressing the needs of children from military families (Esqueda, Astor, & De Pedro, 2012). A review by the Institute for Defense Analyses concluded that the military-connected school system provides students with an above average to excellent education" (Wright, 2000, p. S10). On the Customer Service Satisfaction Survey (Department of Defense Education Activity, 2010a), parents and students voiced their satisfaction of the system by rating it, and the school they attended, higher than they rated U.S. public schools; 77% of parents and 73% of students graded military-connected schools with an A or B. Results from the 2010 Terra Nova 3, a standardized norm-referenced achievement test used system-wide in grades 3 11, shows military-connected school averages substantially higher than the 50 th percentile in reading, language, math, science, and social studies (Department of Defense Education Activity, 2010b). So too, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), the Nation s Report Card, 26

42 shows military-connected schools scoring at or above the national average in all areas tested reading, math, writing, and science and at both grades tested, 4 th and 8 th (National Center for Education Statistics, n.d.). Strong performance of the school system despite a high mobility rate has been attributed to a strong and stable teaching force, high expectations for all students, individual assistance, sufficient staffing, small school size, and a commitment by the military to education (Smrekar & Owens, 2003). Considering technology, 85% of parents and 78% of students rated their militaryconnected school as effective in using technology as a teaching tool on the Customer Satisfaction Survey (Department of Defense Education Activity, 2010a). But on that same instrument, there was a disparity between how parents perceived their child to be using technology and how the child reported to be using it. The Base and Military Community Military-connected schools are located on military bases and draw their students from the military community. A robust sense of community, shared norms, values, and attitudes, and a diverse integrated community are supportive of the schools endeavors (Smrekar & Owens, 2003). The military often functions as an extended family to service members (Bowen & Orthner, 1989), offering a wide range of benefits like "job security, housing and housing allowances, medical and dental care, and retirement after 20 years of service" (p. xiii) and an impressive range of support services and programs like "family service, and support centers, recreational, child care, and spouse employment centers" (p. xiii). On the other hand, the military requires a great deal of commitment, time, and energy from its members and their families (Bowen & Orthner, 1989). "[L]ong work hours, high-stress assignments, required relocations, frequent family separations and reunion, remote tours of service, long-term separations from extended family and friends, residence in foreign countries, and frequent subservience of family needs to mission responsibilities" (p. xiii) are examples of some of the sacrifices made by military families. While advocating for a transition away from the segregation and dependencies of the system, Martin and Orthner (1989) call military communities company towns because of the military s propensity to provide for all necessary goods and services. They argue that doing so 27

43 does not promote the sense of community the military is hoping to engender; rather it is the individual service member s unit that provides such a sense. Weiss, Coll, Gerbauer, Smiley, and Carillo (2010), building a case for mental health solutions, argue that the military member and his family are a part of unique culture based on norms, beliefs, and traditions. They point out that the family members are similarly committed to the military culture. Military adolescent children, although more similar than different from their civilian counterparts, are tied to the organization nearly as much as their parents (Orthner, Giddings, & Quinn, 1989). Military brats is a term often worn with pride by children who have grown up in a military community (Musil, 2005). Wadsworth and Southwell (2011) point out that every military family is a working family which includes a high school (enlisted) or college (officer) graduate. They go on to point out that the 24/7 nature of the member s job, in addition to the high level of deployments for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars lead to a number of tensions. There are negative conditions that emanate from being connected to the military. Frequent time away from home by a military member can put strains on child-parent relationships not only with the military member called away by duty but also with the spouse who stays home (Lowe, Adams, Browne, & Hinkle, 2012). Deployment by the military member, especially to a combat zone, can be especially stressful for the family (Davis et al., 2012). School-aged children, although somewhat resilient, can suffer from mental disorders caused by parental deployments; the likelihood of this being the case is increased with increased parental distress (Lester et al., 2010). Ecological Model: The Exosystems Children attending third grade in a Department of Defense school on an overseas military base realize influence from two groups not seen by their civilian American counterparts: the federal school system and the military community. While their schooling is typical of most U.S. public schools and efforts are made to ensure the bases reflect American culture, these exosystems are nonetheless unique. So too, the experiences of military-connected families contain unique challenges and benefits. The diagram of settings which affect the life of a third grader involved in this study is continued in Figure 6. The school system and military community are pictured as one group of exosystems because they are both operated by the same government entity but in reality they are 28

44 separate units and could just as easily be pictured as overlapping exosystems. The militaryconnected school system and military communities are influenced by the technological society as a whole. Figure 6. The macro- and exosystems for this Children & Computers study Microsystems: The Classroom and Beyond A microsystem is a pattern of activities, roles, and interpersonal relations experienced by the developing person in a given setting with particular physical and material characteristics. Bronfenbrenner (1979, p. 22) Attention is now turned to the settings closest to the third grader, the ones he personally encounters on a regular basis. School plays an important part in the life of an eight-year-old and it is our starting place. U.S. elementary school students go to school for an average of about 178 days, receiving an estimated nearly 900 hours of instruction per academic year (Benavot, 2007). Yet there are wide variations throughout the United States not only in the amount of instructional time (Walsh, 2007) but also in what is taught (Porter, Polikoff, & Smithson, 2009), the quality of the teacher (Darling-Hammond, 2000), and how learning is assessed (Linn, Baker, & Betebenner, 2002). So too, salient to the current study, technology access and use differs by locale (J. D. Becker, 2006). There is no typical U.S. third grade classroom but there are some characteristics typical of the children who spend the year there. 29

45 The Third Grade Classroom Building a primary classroom involves knowing the children you teach, building a classroom community, establishing a structure for the classroom, guiding children s learning, assessing children s learning, and building a partnership with families according to Bickart, Jablon, and Dodge (1999). Anderson (2011), specifically targeting third grade classrooms, lists knowing third graders, classroom setup, schedules and routines, building a community, activities, and communicating with parents as topics for the teacher to address. The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), in keeping with their position statement on developmentally appropriate practices, enjoin teachers to make educational decisions based on their knowledge of how children learn and develop, their knowledge of the individual children and their families, and their knowledge of the social and cultural context (Bredekamp & Copple, 1997). Clearly, we can say that knowing the children is the first step towards creating the best learning environment for them. Piaget, Vygotsky, and Erikson are oft cited in theories of child development that help educators know their students (see for example Bickart et al., 1999; Bredekamp & Copple, 1997; Howe, 1993). Drawing synopsizes from Powell and Kalina (2009): Piaget believed that learners assimilate or accommodate new information to obtain equilibrium and that seven- to elevenyear-olds are in the Concrete Operational cognitive stage highlighted by the replacement of intuitive though with simple logical reasoning; Vygotsky held that learning was a social endeavor that occurred when the child was helped through scaffolding and communication to extend his zone of proximal development, the area in which learning can take place. Erikson s fourth stage of development, occurring between ages 6 to 12, opposed Industry vs. Inferiority and is marked by a child successfully feeling confident in her endeavors or failing to do so (McLeod, 2008). Developmental theories such as those offered by Piaget, Vygotsky, and Erikson are helpful in placing eight-year-old third graders on a continuum from birth to adulthood in their development but a more specific list of common characteristics can lead to more concrete implications for the classroom. Howe (1993) summarized the important developmental changes of a third grader as the burst of physical energy, the increased reasoning ability, and the increased influence of the peer group. His profile, based on the experiences of third grader teachers, outlines a number of characteristics which typify the group. Drawing on that work, and 30

46 other sources, Anderson (2011) created charts, reproduced here as Figures 7, 8, and 9, which list common social-emotional, language, physical, and cognitive characteristics of third graders along with some of their school implications. Figure 7. Common social-emotional characteristics of third graders and their school implications (Anderson, 2011, p. 4) Used with permission Figure 8. Common language characteristics of third graders and their school implications (Anderson, 2011, p. 6) Used with permission 31

47 Figure 9. Common physical and cognitive characteristics of third graders and their school implications (Anderson, 2011, p. 5) Used with permission Likewise, from their position as child advocates and drawing on a myriad of research, NAEYC lists appropriate practices for 6- through 8-year-olds (Bredekamp & Copple, 1997) to include: creating a caring community of learners by promoting a positive climate for learning and building a democratic community; teaching to enhance development and learning through the environment, schedule, teaching strategies, motivation, and guidance; constructing appropriate curriculum which is integrated, follows a continuum of development and learning, is coherent, effective, and rich in content; assessing children s learning and practices; and establishing reciprocal relationships with parents. Furthermore, NAEYC supports the use of technology and interactive media as long as it is developmentally appropriate, used intentionally, and supports learning goals (National Association for the Education of Young Children & Fred Rogers Center for Early Learning and Children s Media, 2012). 32

48 Pointing to the need to educate students with and about current technologies, subject area professional organizations hold a similar position that technology should be used within the classroom (National Council for the Social Studies, 2009; National Council of Teachers of English, 2008; National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 2011; National Science Teachers Association, 1999). Saying that the technology environment of today's public schools should match the tools and approaches of the work and civic life that students will encounter (paragraph 1, National Education Association, n.d.), the teacher s union endorses technology use in schools. Pointing to the key position of state boards of education to ensure students are ready for life and work in a digital era (NASBE Study Group on the Role of Technology in Schools and Communities, 2012, p. 3), their association addresses not only student use issues but also adequate teacher preparation and infrastructure. The National Education Technology Plan (US Department of Education - Office of Educational Technology, 2010) calls for applying the technologies available in everyone s life to learning, assessment, teaching, and increased productivity. We clearly find a unanimous advocacy for use of technology in the classroom based on its prevalence in society across the educational leadership spectrum. The educational benefits are not so clear. Reading and math typically receive a significant percentage of instructional time in U.S. elementary schools (Benavot, 2007), yet technology has not been shown to have significant impact in these areas. To wit, a rigorous review (Robert E. Slavin, Lake, Chambers, Cheung, & Davis, 2010) of 63 studies of beginning (starting in K or 1) and 79 upper elementary (2-5) nonremedial reading programs performed between 1970 and 2009 concluded that alternative curricula and instructional technology generally produced small effects on reading measures (i.e mean effect size for technology in the upper elementary grades) whereas programs that fundamentally changed teaching methods had a greater effect (+0.21 mean effect size for instructional process programs in the upper elementary grades). A methodologically congruent review (Robert E Slavin & Lake, 2007) of 87 studies of kindergarten through 6 th grade mathematics programs conducted between 1976 and 2006 found that while the moderately positive, but very mixed, results for computer assisted instruction (CAI) in math (+0.19 median effect size) was better than the limited evidence for mathematics curricula (+0.10 median effect size), it was not as good as the highly-effective change brought on by a change in teaching methods (+0.33 median effect size). In both studies, the experimental teaching methods included 33

49 instructional processes such as cooperative learning, classroom management and motivation programs, and small-group or cross-age tutoring programs. In a limited study of elementary school students perception of technology in the classroom, Weinberg (2010) found a majority of students were positive despite some technical issues, enjoyed school work more when using technology, and felt the quality of their work improved Thirty years ago, Clark (1983) warned that the media was a mere delivery tool and that how it was used should be the focus of educational technology research. Technology use by a class occurs on a continuum from isolated teaching, to parallel teaching to integrated teaching (Hamilton, 2007). Subramaniam (2007) posited that how technology is used in instruction is mediated by both the technology itself and the teacher s psychological insights. Inan and Lowther (2010) found that technology integration was influenced by 8 factors (in order): teachers' readiness, overall support, computer proficiency, teachers' beliefs, computer availability, tech support, years of teaching, and age. Computers in the classroom are dependent upon the teacher in her role as instructional leader in that domain. Yet teachers perceive barriers to integrating technology which include lack of training, insufficient tech support, inadequate equipment, and time constraints (Brown-Joseph, 2010). One technology that is missing from the classroom but offers great potential for learning is video gaming, according to Shaffer, Squire, Halverson, and Gee (2005). They point out that games are more than mere entertainment but rather they can be vehicles for participation in new worlds and the inhabitation of new roles. The authors further argued that situated learning can be gained by participation in properly constructed video games; the development of effective social practices, powerful identities, shared values, and ways of thinking of important communities of practice are also possible outcomes. Yet, they say, games will have a difficult inroads into classrooms because they teach in ways which does not fit the current structure of schooling and although the majority of students play video games, the majority of teachers do not (p 110). We can conclude that in a classroom, teaching methods trump the mere use of technology for increasing student achievement. It is the teacher s role in this setting to provide activities that integrate technology into the appropriate student-centered experiences. 34

50 Beyond the Classroom Technology is ubiquitous in U.S. society; we can discuss instances of exposure to technology in nearly every setting an eight-year-old finds herself (Peach, Bell, Winsor, & Spatariu, 2011). In 2010, 84% of six- to nine-year olds had access to a computer at home; 50% used the Internet from their home (Child Trends, 2010). She has also connected to the Internet at the library, the community center, and a friend s house (United States Census Bureau, 2010). Specifically referencing an ecology of education (p. 6), Sefton-Green (2004) categorizes learning on a continuum from informal to formal in regards to its organization and setting. Using this model, school typifies formal organization, a curriculum, in a formal setting; formal learning can extend to the home in the form of homework. But it is not so much the location but the context that provides learning opportunities. In fact, the author is most attentive to those experiences which happen informally in a non-traditional setting. Learning in authentic contexts, the author goes on to find examples of learning with information and communication technologies in museums, libraries, youth centers, and galleries. The nature of the experience, from structured web experiences to games, is also a salient point. In fact, the author is most attentive to those experiences which happen in an informal way and in an informal setting. Moderate use of the Internet by adolescents was shown to be more academically positive than no use or high use and, furthermore, use was tied to ease of access (Willoughby, 2008). But adolescent use patterns change have been shown to change over time not only for the Internet (Willoughby, 2008) but video gaming (Willoughby, 2008; Witt, Massman, & Jackson, 2011), communications technology (Witt et al., 2011) and computers overall (Witt et al., 2011). Furthermore, usage differences have been attributed to ethnicity, gender, parental income, and personality traits (Witt et al., 2011). In the home, parents rely on computers and place a high value on their children s usage of the machines as a vehicle for academic achievement and future success (Ortiz, Green, & HeeJeong, 2011). Computers at home have the potential to impact not only academic achievement but physical well-being (i.e. obesity linked to non-activity), cognitive skills (i.e. visual/spatial intelligence), social development and relationships (i.e. loneliness or depression), and perceptions of reality (i.e. trouble discerning reality and fantasy) (Subrahmanyam, Kraut, Greenfield, & Gross, 2000). 35

51 Student home computer use is associated with family environment and parental influence, the latter affected by parental computer skills, monitoring, control, guidance, and worries (Yu, Yuan, & Park, 2012). When examining placement of home computers, Kerawalla and Crook (2002) made two dichotomous classifications: central/peripheral and public/private. Ecological Model: The Microsystems Third graders actively participate in many different microsystems: those centered at homes, schools, child care centers, churches, recreation areas, etc. Each microsystem is unique to the individual child even if he shares the settings with others because it is his perception of the experiences within that setting that determine his reality of it (Bronfenbrenner, 1979). It is easy to see how different children from two different families would have two different home microsystems but it is also the case that even if the same two children are in the same class at school their microsystems differs for they have different experiences within the class. Figure 10 shows the two microsystems in which all U.S. children participate, home and school, within the context of the other settings that exert influence over them, the exosystems and the microsystem. Each child has other microsystems unique to her and, while these are not the target of the current research project, they are important to the child s development. Figure 10. The macro- exo- and microsystems for this Children & Computers study 36

52 Mesosystems: The Connections A mesosystem comprises the interrelations among two or more settings in which the developing person actively participates (such as, for a child, the relations among home, school, and neighborhood peer group; for an adult, among family, work, and social life). (Bronfenbrenner, 1979, p. 25) The final area of review is not a setting but the interrelationship between two settings: school and home. A child travels between these two domains taking his experiences with him from one to the other; germane to this study, technology knowledge and practices learned in school go home and those learned at home go to school. Furthermore, since the school is the domain of educators and the home is the domain of the parents, any cross-over in roles adds to the interrelationship between these two settings. Computer Connections There have been numerous attempts to connect home computer access and use to academic achievement. Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow was the first program of its kind to study the effects of always available computer resources on education (Apple, 1995; Dwyer, 1994). In 1985 Apple placed identical computer equipment in the schools and homes of project participants. Early attempts to link project participation to academic achievement were confounded and inconclusive (Baker, Herman, & Gearhart, 1989). An ex post facto study of a similar project, The Buddy System Project, where fourth- and fifth-graders were ensured computer use at school and home found that participation in the project was not associated with increased academic achievement (Miller & McInerney, 1994). Neither of these early 1:1 computer programs attempted to disaggregate home from school project outcomes. More recently, using a sample population of third graders, Borzekowski and Robinson (2005) found home computer access and use positively associated with standardized test scores while access to a bedroom TV was negatively associated. Casey, Layte, Lyons, and Silles (2012) found home computer use by Irish 9-year-olds associated with increased reading and math test scores; certain activities (i.e. surfing the Net for fun, doing school projects, and ing) were linked to higher scores. Hofferth (2010) showed achievement advantages for American 6- to 12- year-old white and black girls and black boys associated with greater computer use. 37

53 Contradictorily, Vigdor and Ladd (2010) found that the introduction of computers in 5 th 8 th graders homes in North Carolina negatively affected their math and science scores. Using bivariate analysis on data from 15 year-olds from various countries taking the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), Fuchs and Woessmann (2004) confirmed the positive correlation between student achievement and the mere availability of computers at home. But when multivariate analysis was applied to control for family background characteristics, that correlation became negative. Yet the use of and web browsing and the availability of educational software on the home computer again made the relationship positive. The authors attribute the negative relationship to the computer being a distraction, presuming it to be used for gaming, and state only constructive uses increase school performance. School achievement is not the only measured effect of home computer use. In a limited case study, greater technology access and stronger in-home support for the development of tech literacy was reflected in greater confidence, positive behavior, time-on-task, demonstrated skills and abilities, and ability to meaningfully engage with and synthesize materials in school (Marquis, 2009). Interestingly, that study of middle schools stated social variables, technical constraints and the academic requirements in the school hindered the ability of students with home computers to demonstrate their proficiency with technology at school (p. 244). On the other hand, in a study which showed a long-lasting positive effect of computer use on the cognitive skills of 5 to 7-year-olds, no such effect could be shown for the non-cognitive skills of Restless, Emotional, or Relationship (Fiorini, 2010). When Kerawalla and Crook (2002) examined the use of computers at home looking for a similarity with the formal use at school, they found it to be vastly different and more geared towards entertainment than education. On the other hand, Furlong and Davies (2011) state that while the use of technology outside of school has been labeled as informal, contrasting it with the formal use in school, the increased use of technology at home and the increasing breakdown in boundaries between home, school, and leisure make that dichotomous contextual difference artificial. Teachers Affect the Home Traditional teacher-parent contact notes home, open houses, phone calls, signature requests, etc. although carried out in a variety of different ways is nearly universal in its usage (H. J. Becker & Epstein, 1982). Involving parents in learning activities at home has more of a 38

54 bifurcation in acceptance: teachers tend to either see parental involvement in academics as a valuable resource to be fostered or they reserve academic work for the classroom (H. J. Becker & Epstein, 1982; Epstein, 1986). H. J. Becker and Epstein (1982) grouped teacher assisted home teaching techniques into five categories: techniques involving reading and books, learning through discussion, informal learning activities at home, contracts between teachers and parents, and helping parents to teach. They found the categories to be related to grade levels with techniques involving reading more used in the early years. Surveyed parents report that they do help their children at home and consider it a strength of the teacher when she engages them in learning activates at home (Epstein, 1986). Furthermore, parents feel their ability to help with academics at home wanes as their child moves up through the grade levels but they find teacher guidance also lessening in later years. Likewise, when schools communicate with and engage parents of kindergarteners they can expect higher levels of at-school involvement and higher levels of achievement (Galindo & Sheldon, 2012). But this involvement lessens through the years. Affecting student work at home in a different way, Bradley (2013) established an online Community of Practice to support the completion of homework for third grade students. By ensuring students had computers with Internet connections and creating a private online social media space in which they could meet, she facilitated their completion of schoolwork at home through technology. Bradley showed how the Community of Practice evolved and developed among young children within separate spaces for socializing and collaboratively completing assignments. Her results indicated students had fun with their peers, engaged in meaningful work, and socialized while completing their homework within a Community of Practice. Parents Affect the School It is a widely accepted theory that parental involvement is generally a benefit to a child s educational experience (Green, Walker, Hoover-Dempsey, & Sandler, 2007; Hoover-Dempsey & Sandler, 1995, 1997; Izzo, Weissberg, Kasprow, & Fendrich, 1999; Pomerantz, Moorman, & Litwack, 2007; Walker, Wilkins, Dallaire, Sandler, & Hoover-Dempsey, 2005) even though it is acknowledged that many children succeed in school without direct or active parent involvement (Hoover-Dempsey & Sandler, 1995). It is the process and circumstances surrounding this involvement which currently come under scrutiny. Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler (1995, 1997, 2005) created and, continuously revised based on empirical data, a model for parental 39

55 involvement. The model addresses why parents become involved, how they involve themselves, and how their involvement influences school outcomes. Figure 11 shows a simplified version of a recent iteration of Hover-Dempsey and Sandler s five-level model provided by the Parent Institute (2012). Figure 11. Hoover-Dempsey & Sandler Model of the Parental Involvement Process (Parent Institute, 2012) Closely examining Level 1, parental involvement in a child s education is determined by the parent s beliefs about their role as a parent, their sense of efficacy in affecting the outcomes of their child s education, and their perception of the opportunities to become involved and the invitations to do so (Hoover-Dempsey & Sandler, 1997). Given the motivation and invitation, parents still need the time and inclination to be involved within the context of life s demands. Specifically operationalizing these factors: the responsibility for the child s education parental, school, or a partnership of the two goes to the heart of parental role beliefs; efficacy is the 40

56 knowledge of how to help and the perception of success at doing so; invitation can come from the school in general, the teacher, or the student and is assessed in its relation to affective, cognitive, or general academic domains; and, life context is measured in the time, energy, skills, and knowledge necessary to become involved (Walker et al., 2005). Level 1 continues with the form of parental involvement: school-based or home-based. Examples of school-based involvement are being present at general school meetings, talking with teacher (e.g., attending parent-teacher conferences, imitating contact with teachers), attending school events (e.g., open houses, science fairs), and volunteering at school whereas examples of home-based are assisting children with school-related tasks, such as homework (e.g., creating a quiet place for children to study, helping children in completing homework) and course selection, responding to children s academic endeavors (e.g., choices about the topic of a school project, performance on a test), and talking with children about academic issues (e.g., what happened in school, the value of doing well in school) or engaging children in intellectual activities (e.g., reading books with children, taking them to museums) that may not be directly related to school per se (Pomerantz et al., 2007, p. 375). School-based parental involvement has been consistently shown to benefit children s achievement; the evidence for home-based involvement is not so consistent (Pomerantz et al., 2007). However, both elementary parental school-based and home-based involvement can be predicted by a number of the motivation, invitation, and life context factors (Green et al., 2007). At Level 2, the Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler (2005) model goes on to categorize the actions of the parent, as exemplified above, into four groups: encouragement, modeling, reinforcement, and instructions. It is the student perception of these parental involvement behaviors, Level 3, which influences the attainment of positive academic characteristics including academic self-efficacy, intrinsic motivation to learn, self-regulatory strategy use, and social self-efficacy for relating to teachers - at Level 4 and ultimately leads to student achievement at Level 5. The model s authors measure student achievement through standardized tests but admit it is the Level 4 student attributes which are the targets of parental involvement (Hoover-Dempsey & Sandler, 2005). Pomerantz et al. (2007) state that the mental health benefits of parental involvement are as desirable as the achievement benefits. Examining parental involvement from another perspective, high quality involvement that which is autonomy supportive, process focused, characterized by positive affect, or 41

57 accompanied by positive beliefs is of benefit to the student, especially when he has had negative competence experiences (Pomerantz et al., 2007, p. 388). Conversely, involvement which is controlling, person focused, characterized by negative affect, or accompanied by negative beliefs is more likely to stymie these students. Furthermore, naturally occurring parental involvement has been shown to be more effective then that connected to programs designed to solicit involvement (Pomerantz et al., 2007). Examining parent involvement in the early elementary grades (K - 3) over a three year period, Izzo et al. (1999) found that most teachers were satisfied with the quality and quantity of their interactions with parents, there was no dramatic decline in this involvement over time, and that while parental involvement could not be used to predict improvements in performance it was related to it. Furthermore it was reported that while frequency of parent-teacher contacts, quality of parent-teacher interactions, and parent participation at school showed some small declines, there was no change in participation in educational activities at home. Green et al. (2007) concurred, finding involvement decreases with age, involvement by elementary school parents is significantly higher than that of middle school parents, and the amount of home-based involvement remains higher than that of school-based involvement through the grades, 1-6, of their study. Finally, a study conducted in military-connected middle schools found that teachers there supported parental involvement as important for students overall academic success but they believed the more important parental responsibilities were home-based (Childs, 2007). So to, parents have purchased home computers with the intent that they will be used for education but have not followed through to ensure that usage (Kerawalla & Crook, 2002). Ecological Model: The Mesosystem Third graders travel between school and home about 180 days a year. These two settings are their primary environments and the mesosystem, the interrelationship between the two settings, is the primary target of this study. Which technological habits from school are carried back to the home? Which computer skills learned at home are brought to school? Figure 12 shows the mesosystem as the intersection of the two settings under study, the home microsystem and the school microsystem. These are set within the military-connected school system and military community exosystems and all are encompassed with the technological society macrosystem. Thus situates this study within an ecological framework envisioned by Bronfenbrenner. 42

58 Figure 12. The macro-, exo-, micro-, and mesosystems for this Children & Computers study Summary Technology permeates our world. Its use in the greater society has led to the infusion of technology into U.S. schools to further educational goals and prepare students for their future. Most classrooms throughout the United States have some form of technology available and most children also have technology at their disposal outside of school. A student s use of technology in each of these milieus affects his use in the other. The purpose of this case study is to describe the use of technology by participating third grade students in school and at home then to interrelate these. The framework of this study was Bronfenbrenner s ecological model (Bronfenbrenner, 1979, 1999) therefore this literature review chapter began with relevant details of the model. Then characteristics relevant to the study were described for settings increasingly more local to the participants. First is the macrosystem of a technological society where computers are available to students in school and outside of school but not yet on a 1 computer per child basis nor on an evenly divided distribution. Next unique aspects of two exosystems, the militaryconnected school system and the military community in general, were outlined. Details of third grade classrooms and computer usage outside of schools explained the microsystems. Finally, 43

59 the mesosystem, the interrelationships between home and school was outlined as computer connections, teachers affecting the home, and parents affecting the school. 44

60 CHAPTER 3. METHODOLOGY This study took an ecological approach to understanding the use of computers by one class of third grade students. The defining core of an ecological approach to educations is its focus upon the dynamic relations between learners and their surrounds, with both the person and the environment engaged in reciprocal tensions and activities, and undergoing progressive changes over time (Bronfenbrenner, 1976, p. 8). Students were interviewed and observed in both their school and their homes to discern how they perceived the use of technology in these settings and how use in the two settings interrelated. 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. It was guided by two questions: (1) How are third grade students' school and home technology environs perceived by them, their parents, and their teacher? and (2) How does the interrelationship between these school and home technology environs impact the conditions for applying technologies in learning? This chapter details the methodology. It starts with an outline of the case study design and the conceptual framework used. The participants, setting, and role of the researcher are then detailed. Instruments and their use in data collection follow. Next, data analysis procedures are outlined and issues of validity addressed. The chapter concludes with a description of this product and the timeline of the study. Research Design This study used an embedded case study design as outlined by Yin (2009). A case study design was appropriate for this study of computer usage by third grades because it was descriptive in nature, the researcher was exercising no control over the practices under study, and it addressed a contemporary topic of which the researcher was asking how questions (Yin, 2009). So too, the importance of context is a hallmark of case study research (Yin, 2009) and took a central place in this study, highlighted by the use of an ecological model as the theoretical framework. Furthermore, it was assumed that reality is constructed by individuals interacting with their social worlds (Merriam, 1998, p. 6), a key tenet in any qualitative research. Using a 45

61 case study allowed for an in-depth investigation within a real-life context that retain[ed] the holistic and meaningful characteristics (Yin, 2009, p. 4) of computer usage. Yin (2009) lists three purposes for research exploratory, descriptive, and explanatory and defends the use of case studies for certain instances of each. Citing Yin, (Baxter & Jack, 2008, p. 548) define an exploratory case study as being used to explore those situations in which the intervention being evaluated has no clear, single set of outcomes and a descriptive case study as being used to describe an intervention or phenomenon and the real-life context in which it occurred. This study both explores and describes. First, it provides a rich description of computer use in two settings from the multiple perspectives of a teacher, her students, and their parents. Then it explores the interrelation of these usages as a condition for learning, placing results within an ecological framework. The Embedded Case Study Method An embedded case study is one that involves more than one unit of analysis (Yin, 2009). In this study, the main unit of analysis was a third grade class but analyses of the individuals who make up the class were essential to answering the research questions; they were the embedded subunits. Embedded case studies allow for analysis within the subunits, between the different subunits, and across all subunits (Baxter & Jack, 2008). This study analyzed the perceptions of each participant the teacher, students, and parents the differences among the perceptions, and the commonalities across perceptions. Final analysis concluded with the main unit, the class. Case studies rely on multiple sources of evidence to converge in a triangulating fashion (Yin, 2009, p. 18). Yin (2009) goes on to list six sources of evidence: documentation, archival records, interviews, direct observations, participant-observations, and physical artifacts. This study used all six sources, albeit in unequal proportions (Merriam, 1998). Case studies benefit from the prior development of theoretical propositions to guide data connection and analysis (Yin, 2009, p. 18). In this study, the ecological perspective served as a theoretical framework. The examination of the school and home microsystems and the relational mesosystem between them, set within wider exosystems and the technological world macrosystem, placed structure on the use of collected data. Additionally, the concepts of transitions, activities, relations, and roles (Bronfenbrenner, 1979) that take place within those settings further focused data analysis. 46

62 Creswell (2007) details a procedure that case studies follow; this study adhered to his procedure. First it was determined that a case study was appropriate to answer the research questions. The case was then identified. Data were collected through multiple methods. The data were analyzed to provide a detailed description of the case and the embedded students. Finally, an interpretive report was written. Yet even though there is a procedure, the process of performing qualitative case study research is not linear (Creswell, 2007; Merriam, 1998; Miles & Huberman, 1994; Yin, 2009). For example, data was collected, analyzed, and written about concurrently; each step aiding the others. Purposeful sampling is used to find a case best suited to fulfill the purpose of the study (Creswell, 2007); participants are chosen to further understanding not for generalizability. For this study, a specific third grade class was chosen because of its unique qualities of setting and teacher but also for its typification of a U.S. public school class. Theoretical Framework The theoretical framework of a case study provides concepts, terms, definitions, models, and theories on which to draw; it generates the problem and research questions; it guides data analysis; and it serves as a basis for the interpretation of findings (Merriam, 1998). This study took as its theoretical framework an ecological perspective: a hierarchy of settings in which relationships and activities serve as experiences for a developing child (Bronfenbrenner, 1979, 1999). Figure 13 shows a graphic, which was developed in four stages in Chapter 2, depicting the settings relevant to this study. At all these levels, technology was a part of the student s life; the school and home microsystems and the mesosystem were under study here. Also salient were the concepts of transitions, activities, relations, roles, and proximal processes that take place within those settings. 47

63 Figure 13. The macro-, exo-, micro-, and mesosystems for this Children & Computers study Participants Participants and Context Purposeful sampling, the specific targeting of the case, is an appropriate means of choosing participants in a case study (Creswell, 2007; Merriam, 1998; Yin, 2009). Participants of this study were all members of a third grade classroom community at a U.S. public school run by a military-connected system on an overseas military base. The teacher, Michelle Barr, was a 20- year veteran who had been with the military-connected system for 14 years. The 12 participating students were members of her class, which had an average of about 18 students during the year. The class was chosen because the primary investigator had an excellent working relationship with the teacher and she had an interest in the inquiry. When approached, she agreed to participate because she perceived that knowing more about how students used computers would improve her teaching in an environment where computers were prevalent. Ms. Barr s interest and role in this study took her beyond participation to the role of a coresearcher. Moll, Amanti, Neff, and Gonzalez (1992) studied teacher-researcher collaborations in conducting household research and in using this information to develop classroom practices. They point to that special relationship a teacher has with families being a natural entrée into the home; relevant here, as the teacher was instrumental as a liaison with families and partook in all 48

64 six home visits. Moll et al. (1992) also cite an extended knowledge of the students as a rationale for teacher participation, a reason given by the co-researcher of this study. The twelve students in this study were children of military-connected families, having either a military parent or a civilian parent who supported the military. Typically the student population at military-connected schools was a diverse mix in terms of ethnicity and academic background. Military duty rotations mean that the student body was transient with an average of about one-third turnover rate yearly. The eight parent participants were all spouses of military or civilian sponsors. This study was approved for one year by the University of Hawaii (UH) Human Studies Program under an expedited review procedure on May 3, Subsequently the study was renewed annually on March 15, 2013 and February 24, Appendix B contains the UH Human Studies Program written approval letters. Incumbent upon this Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval was the submission of consent forms and the use of procedures which protected the rights of study participants. Informed consent was obtained from the participating teacher, 13 parents for the participation of their children, and the 8 participating parents. Ascent was obtained from the 12 participating children; one child chose not to participate. Furthermore, digital photography was approved by the classroom teacher or the homeowner. (All consent forms used are in Appendix B.) It is noted that this study was descriptive in nature and no treatment was performed. Risk to participants was minimal. Although some participants could have experienced stress during one or more of the activities (interviews and observations), no sign of stress was readily observed. Still, within all consent/assent forms participants were informed of their right to curtail any activity which caused them undue stress or discomfort. The researcher monitored participants for signs of undue stress and discomfort and enlisted the aid of the teacher to inform him of stresses she observed in student participants; none were noted. Furthermore, to protect the confidentiality of all student participants, none are mentioned by name in reports, pseudonyms are used instead. At the conclusion of the study and acceptance of the dissertation, all raw data (recordings, notes, documents) were destroyed. The UH IRB approval was also used as the basis of study approval by the militaryconnected school system. The school system had their own procedure for research approval and 49

65 this secondary review provided further safety nets for the participants. Appendix B contains written approval from this agency. Study Setting This study was set in and around a U.S. overseas military base. The base was built in the 1950 s. It has undergone several changes over the 60 years it was in operation. At the time of this study, there were offices, support services (i.e. stores, a gym, fire department), and single-soldier dormitories. The base had a large number of family apartment complexes but they were all closed in 2007 and were abandoned. There were also two schools on the base, a K-3 elementary school and a 4-8 middle school. These were public schools run by the military-connected school system. The school portion of this study was set in the elementary school. A presentation (Bertschinger, 2013) for the school s 2013 accreditation visit laid out School Year demographic information. There were about 225 students at the school but the enrollment fluctuated by as much as about 25. Students were evenly distributed in 13 classrooms, three at each grade level K - 3 and one pre-k. Identified special populations were: 17% enrichment, 13% reading support, 10% special education (SPED), 8% math support, 7% English as a Second Language (ESL), and 1% gifted. Race was broken down into 58% White, 16% African American, 13% multi-racial, 7% Hispanic, 1% Asian, 1% Pacific Islander, and 4% unknown; there were 49% males and 51% females. Regarding socio-economic status, the presentation showed about three-quarters of the population (77%) were sponsored by a military member: 17% were officers, 37% higher enlisted ranks (E6 to E9), and 23% lower enlisted ranks (E1 to E5). Also informing socio-economic status, 23% of the population received free lunch and 16% reduced lunch, while 61% paid full price. TerraNova, Third Edition, Multiple Assessments from School Year indicate median scores for 3 rd grade students at the school: reading was 61 st percentile, language arts was 55 th percentile, math was 49 th percentile, science was 75 th percentile, and social studies was 75 th percentile (Department of Defense Education Activity, n.d.-b). The six homes visited were in local towns surrounding the base. By regulation, students who attended the school had to have lived in a specific geographical zone which surrounded the base. A large number of schools in the military-connected school system were attended, at least in part, by children who lived on the base; this one did not since base housing was closed. All 50

66 students were bused or driven to school. The parents sponsoring agency typically paid a housing allowance to the military-connected member which covered the cost of the housing. Role of the Researcher In a qualitative study, the researcher is the primary instrument for gathering and analyzing data (Merriam, 1998). I was an educational technologist (ET) at the school where the research took place. The role of an ET in the military-connected school system was four-fold: instructional collaboration, professional development, customer support, and program management (Department of Defense Education Activity, 2006). Instructional collaboration referred to working with teachers to co-plan and co-teach lessons that integrated technology. Professional development referred to training of teachers on the use of hardware, software, and applications so that they could use it for their job and to teach their students. Instructional collaboration and professional development were the two most critical aspects of the job and those which put me into academic contact with the teachers and students. I had been the educational technologist at this location since For 5 years, , I was the ET at the elementary school and the neighboring middle school. It was during this first stint at the school that I met Ms. Barr, the teacher involved in this study. She and I developed a good working relationship over these five years. I returned to the elementary school in 2010 and continued my working relationship with Ms. Barr. She and I collaborated on lessons regularly. Additionally, she often called on my services to provide just-in-time professional development. The students in the class knew me, some for three years. We had a teacher-student relationship since I often worked with them on technology related lessons. This rapport established through our mutual participation in common activities, albeit with differing roles, made me a participant observer in this study (DeWalt, DeWalt, & Wayland, 1998). This position has the advantage of enhancing the quality of data collected and its interpretation but opens up the possibility of bias in both regards (DeWalt et al., 1998). Creswell (2007) asserts the importance of the researcher making assumptions, paradigms, and frameworks explicitly known in his writing. Using Creswell s outline I do that here. Philosophically I believe that reality is subjective (ontological assumption), that I can best learn about my subjects by spending time with them and working with them (epistemological assumption), that my research will reflect my values (axiological assumption), that my writing 51

67 style in the case of this report is formulaic and that of an improving novice (rhetorical assumption), and that the design of this study evolved as computer usage was studied in context, findings emerged through induction (methodological assumption). I have a pragmatic paradigm (aka, worldview) that manifested itself herein by the use of a variety of techniques, quantitative and qualitative, designed to get the job done. I believe that knowledge is constructed by the learner. Yet, I also believe that certain truths exist, a belief stemming from my training in the sciences. Still, pertinent here will be my belief that each student is developing her own understanding of computers and their usages. Finally, the interpretive lens that was applied, if the term even has meaning in this context, is that of an educator who cares for children and wants to see them succeed. Instrumentation and Procedures A primary source of data for this study was interviews. Multiple interviews were conducted with the teacher, students, and parents. These interviews were semi-structured, the researcher using some pre-determined prompts to elicit similar data from all participants for comparison. Teacher Interview 1 Prompts (see Appendix C) consists of seven sections. Section 1 lists the purpose of the study and interview for the respondent. Sections 2 and 3 contain openended questions on the philosophy of teaching and the philosophy of computer usage for teaching. Section 4 contains survey items taken directly from Teachers Use of Educational Technology in U.S. Public Schools (Gray et al., 2010b). Responses from Section 4 are compared, in Chapter 6, with national data reported on by Gray et al. (2010b). Section 5 allows for the respondent to expand on answers to the items in Section 4. Section 6 prompts for demographic data and Section 7 allows the teacher to add anything else she may feel relevant. Student Interview 1 Prompts (see Appendix C) consists of eight sections. Section 1 lists the purpose of the study and interview for the respondent. Sections 2 and 3 contain open-ended questions on computer usage in school and computer usage at home. Section 3A contains surveytype items modified from an instrument created by Lei (2010b) and used in a longitudinal study of a seventh and eighth grade 1:1 laptop program (Lei, 2010a). Section 3B contains Likert scale items from the same survey (Lei, 2010a). While the responses from this study were not compared with the Lei study, the use of similar items within this instrument allowed for both the 52

68 compilation of similar data and the comparison of participants on similar characteristics. Section 4 allows for the respondent to expand on answers to the items in Sections 3A and 3B. Section 5 is simple demographics (gender and DoB) and Section 6 allows the student to add anything else he may feel relevant. Student Interview 2 Prompts (see Appendix C) consists of eight sections. Section 1 lists the purpose of the study and interview for the respondent. Sections 2 and 3 contain open-ended questions on how computers are used to help student learning. Section 3A and 3B contain inventory questions about programs/applications and software; these arose from earlier study results. Section 4 contains the same Likert scale items from Student Interview 1 Prompts to check for student consistency. Section 4 allows for the respondent to expand on answers to earlier items. Section 5 was omitted and Section 6 allows the student to add anything else he may feel relevant. Parent Interview 1 Prompts (see Appendix C) consists of seven sections. Section 1 lists the purpose of the study and interview for the respondent. Sections 2 and 3 contain open-ended questions on the philosophy of personal computer usage and the philosophy of computer usage by the child. Section 4 contains survey items taken, with minor modifications, from the Current Population Survey, October 2003: School Enrollment and Computer Use Supplement (United States Census Bureau, 2003). In Section 4 the parental respondent is asked to answer for herself, the other adult living in the household, and her child. Responses from Section 4 are compared, in Chapter 6, with national data reported on by the United States Census Bureau (2003) and DeBell and Chapman (2006). Section 5 allows for the respondent to expand on answers to the items in Section 4. Section 6A prompts for demographic data about the respondent and the other adult household member and Section 6B prompts for demographic data about the household, including the persons and computes contained therein. Section 7 allows the parent to add anything else she may feel relevant. Data were collected from classroom observations and home visits. To better facilitate these activities, Classroom Observation Record and Home Visit Record instruments were created (see Appendix C). The former instrument is simple, recording only the time of the observation and participants, and then allowing for a scripting of the observations. An addendum to that instrument, created out of necessity, lists the initials of the participating students and provides space for notes about that student. The Home Visit Record allows for the student to 53

69 show and tell about his main computer and all of the other computers he uses. Additionally, it provides space for recording the location of the computer; make, model, and year; peripheral devices; operating system (OS); and software used by the student. There are also prompts for info on other computers not seen in the visit and anything else the student may want to say about his home usage of computers. Data Collection Data were collected for this study through 33 interviews, 19 formal observations, 6 home visits, and document reviews. (Follow-up interviews were conducted with the teacher and some parents for the purpose of member checks on data accuracy.) Table 2 outlines the type of evidence that was collected, from whom, and how much; Table 23 in Appendix D details all 72 data points collected. Data Source Student Teacher Parent Interview Initial (12) Final (11) Initial (1) Final (1) (Follow-Up - 2) Initial (8) ( Follow Up -4) Formal Observation School (19) Home Visit (6) School Home Visit (6) Documents Work Products Program Usage Info Work Space Photos Table 2. Evidence collection outline Work Products Lesson Plans Work Space Photos Interviews Interviews are necessary to determine how participants perceive the world around them, perception being an unobservable phenomenon, and how they behave when not under observation (Merriam, 1998). Data collection in this study started with an interview of the teacher. This initial teacher interview was semi-structured, using the Teacher Interview 1 Prompts instrument. The interview was held one-on-one; notes were taken and an audio recording made. A final interview was held with the teacher after all initial student interviews, parent interviews, and home visits had been completed; by this time multiple observations had 54

70 also been made. Prompts for the second interview were open-ended and based on the data collected from all sources before the second interview. Additional informal questioning occurred during classroom observations and on other occasions outside of class time. Student interviews were conducted after the teacher interview. The initial student interviews were semi-structured, using the Student Interview 1 Prompts instrument. The interviews were held one-on-one; notes were taken and audio recordings made. A final interview was held with all but one of the students towards the end of the study, after most parent interviews, home visits, and formal observations had been completed. Prompts for this second interview, Student Interview 2 Prompts, were based on the data collected from all sources and made relevant to the individual student. A parent interview was held subsequent to the student initial interview with the parents of eight of the participating students. The initial parent interviews were semi-structured, using the Parent Interview 1 Prompts instrument. Seven of the interviews were held one-on-one; notes were taken and audio recordings made. Alternatively, one parent made use of the option to answer the same prompts in writing. This alternative, along with a web-based form, was offered to support greater participation by parents. Follow-up questions were asked and a chance to comment on pertinent sections of this report given to participating parents via . This final contact with the parents occurred nearly nine months after all other study activity had been completed; 4 parents responded. Observations and Home Visits Observations were conducted on a regular basis in the classroom of the participating teacher and around the school as participating students worked with technology. The Classroom Observation Record instrument was used to record these events. The number of students using technology, the type of technology, the delivery method (whole group, small group, 1-on-1, independent), and the use were noted. Furthermore, notes were taken as to specific usage characteristics of the teacher and participating students during classroom observations. The researcher, being the Educational Technologist at the school, was at times a participant-observer, working with the students on an activity while observing them. A home visit was arranged with the parents of six participating students. The purpose of these visits was to get firsthand knowledge of the technology available in the home, both hardware and software, and to have the technology serve as a prompt while the student further 55

71 enlightened the researcher on her usage of technology. The Home Visit Record instrument was used to record observations in the home. The student was asked to show the researcher the computers that she used; their locations were noted as well as device information such as make, model, year, and operating system. A photograph of the computer setup was taken to document the milieu and allow for subsequent analysis. The student was then asked to show which software and applications she used on the computer; these were noted on the record form. All household computers used by the student were inventoried and recorded in this manner. So too, the student s personal descriptions of the hardware, software, and usage were written on the Home Visit Record and recorded using a digital recorder. Documents Review The teacher provided a copy of her lesson plan. With her assistance, a key to terms used was created so that the researcher had a clearer understanding of the contents of this document. Textbooks and other such teaching materials were reviewed. All hardware and software that the teacher used was noted. Some student work was reviewed, especially work products that had been completed with the use of technology. The researcher, being the Educational Technologist at the school, often worked with the students on creative products and gave a firsthand account of their completion. Records of computer usage on programs which provided practice (i.e. Raz-Kids and IXL Math) were reviewed to gather data on time spent using the programs and activities completed. Data Analysis Creswell (2007) declares that case study analysis consists of first making a detailed description of the facts and settings, then looking for patterns, and finally making naturalistic generalizations. Merriam (1998) states that data is analyzed on three levels: descriptive, category construction, and inferential. Miles and Huberman (1994) picture data analysis as data reduction, data displays, and conclusion drawing/verification. And Yin (2009) recommends that the researcher have a general overall strategy for data analysis, one relying on theoretical propositions being the most preferred. Synthesizing these positions, herein the strategy employed was: (1) reduce data to descriptive statistics and codes, (2) look for patterns in the codes and construct categories within the theoretical framework so as to describe computer use in the 56

72 school and home microsystems, and (3) infer the interrelationships between these settings, exploring aspects of the mesosystem as conditions for applying technologies in learning. Data Reduction Early Analysis and Data Preparation. The first step in analyzing data was to write memos of interviews and observations (Merriam, 1998). Memoing is an informal method of data analysis that captures a researcher s developing first impressions of incoming data; it occurs from first data collection throughout the study (Miles & Huberman, 1994). Kept in a private blog for easy access and normally written within 72 hours of the data collection events, these memos were the first review and interpretation of the data. They augmented field notes with memories of the events, as well as capturing immediate impressions. Furthermore, they were a formative analysis of the events that directed further interviews, observations, and the research study itself. At the conclusion of the main data collection portion of the study, the interview recordings were transcribed into Microsoft Word documents. Both the audio recordings and the transcripts were then imported into NVivo 10, a qualitative data analysis computer software package; memos, pictures, scanned field notes, and all other data from the study were also added to the NVivo database. NVivo had the capability to parse interviewees responses in numerous ways. Also at this time, numerical data collected from interviews and usage records were entered into a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet for statistical calculations. Teacher lesson plans, teacher and student work products, and work space photos were organized for analysis. Table 3 shows the results of data preparation for each piece of evidence. As much as possible, evidence existed in both electronic and paper form. Quantitative Analysis. The semi-structured first interviews contained specific items asked of all responders from which tallies were made, descriptive statistics collated, and graphic presentations made; in short, a quantitative analysis. For example, the teacher was asked about her experience level, the students were asked which activity from a list they engaged in most on the Internet, and the parents were asked how many devices were in their homes. So too, students were asked Likert Scale questions about their perceptions of technology and its use, i.e. Computers help me learn. These data were used to paint a general picture of school and home computer usage, to compare to national averages, and to compare individual students to the class norm. Additionally, subsequent interviews, conversations during the home visits, and 57

73 questions during classroom observations contained questions that, having arisen from early analysis, further prompted the responders to speak towards the research questions. Data Source Evidence Preparation Interview Field Notes Memo Audio Recordings Numerical Responses Filed by teacher or student Posted chronologically Transcribed to Microsoft Word documents Entered into Microsoft Excel spreadsheet Filed by teacher or student participant Home Visit Observation Documents Field Notes Memo Audio Recordings Field Notes Memo Lesson Plans Usage Data Work Products Work Space Photos Filed by student Posted chronologically Transcribed to Microsoft Word Documents Filed chronologically Posted chronologically Filed chronologically (with teacher data) Entered into Microsoft Excel spreadsheet (filed by student participant) Filed by teacher or student participant Filed by teacher or student participant Table 3. Evidence preparation Usage data was likewise subject to descriptive statistical methods and graphical presentation. Usage data included that which was automatically generated from the use of some programs and a usage log kept by the students over the course of a week. Content Analysis. Content analysis is used to refer to any qualitative data reduction and sense-making effort that takes a volume of qualitative material and attempts to identify core consistencies and meanings (Patton, 2002, p. 453). Two means of content analysis I used were Word Count and Keywords-in-Context (KWIC), as described by Leech and Onwuegbuzie (2007). NVivo easily performed both of these two methods. Additionally, NVivo could perform a whole host of other queries and data presentation functions that provide for the analysis of collected qualitative data. A number of these queries were performed on text associated with specific pieces of software (i.e. Raz-Kids) or teaching terms (i.e. project) that clearly arose from the interviews. 58

74 The constant comparative method (Glaser & Strauss, 1967) was applied to transcripts, s, memos, and field notes. By the procedure of this most commonly used qualitative data analysis method (Leech & Onwuegbuzie, 2007), each piece of written evidence was read through, starting with a chronological evaluation of transcripts. NVivo was used to chunk respondent s words into meaningful pieces and code appropriated chunks. The codes were not created a priori but rather arose from the data. Still, in creating codes, notice was taken as to settings, transitions, activities, relations, roles, and proximal processes so as to place them within the ecological model which is the framework for this study. Each subsequent chunk was compared to previous chunks to give similar codes to similar data. Physically the codes appeared as nodes and sub-nodes within the NVivo software. The visual data collected as part of this study evidenced by photographs of work spaces and, to some extent, student work products were also coded. Visual data is as relevant as text in the examination of school culture (Prosser, 2007) and wider areas of social research (Banks, 2001). Visual content analysis (Ball & Smith, 1992; Bell, 2001) was used to produce codes from the visual data; it was processed in NVivo in a like manner of the constant comparative method of text data explained above. The visual content analysis occurred subsequent to the text methods and codes for elements of the imagery were compared to text codes; similar data receiving similar codes. Data reduction methods produced descriptive statistics and codes. Raw data was reduced to a relatively few numbers and words. These were used in the second step of the data analysis strategy. Patterns and Categories Data analysis continued as patterns were examined and categories created for the codes. Category generation is the second stage of the constant comparative method and involves the delineating of categories and their properties (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). Indeed all forms of content analysis further reduced initial codes to themes. The codes from interviews, observations, and documents distilled from the teacher, students, and parents were within NVivo. The codes had been devised within the ecological framework of the study. The task at this stage of data analysis was to use the statistics and codes to describe the perspectives on school and home use of computers by the class, the collective entity that was the main unit of analysis for this study; this is presented in Chapter 4. Data from three different 59

75 groups teacher, student, and parent had to be synthesized in order to create a class picture. Consistent coding of evidence among these groups during the first stage of analysis allowed for the categorization of data as a whole rather than just by group or individual. Furthermore, because data collection instruments used items from national surveys, comparisons were made between this class and U.S. averages. A description of each student, the sub-units in this embedded case study, follows in Chapter 5. A student description was formulated using not only his interview data, observations of him, and documents made by or about him but relevant data from the teacher and his parents. Each student description is compared to the class norm to highlight interesting differences that fall outside of discovered patterns or provide unique positions within constructed categories. At this middle stage of data analysis, Miles and Huberman (1994) prescribe data displays. They write, Valid analysis requires, and is driven by, displays that are focused enough to permit a viewing of a full data set in the same location, and are arranged systematically to answer the research questions (Miles & Huberman, 1994, pp ). In concurrence with their preference of succinct displays over voluminous text descriptions, matrices that visually portray the description of the class unit and student sub-units are included. Additionally, and most germane to the application of the ecological model, the system graphic shown in the framework for this study (see Figure 1) was revised to include details that were revealed in the patterns and categories from this research. The description of the class through the analysis of the recorded words and observed activities answer the first research question, How are third grade students' school and home technology environs perceived by them, their parents, and their teacher? Inferences & Conjectures As an end to the final analysis and to address the second research question, How does the interrelationship between these school and home technology environs impact the conditions for applying technologies in learning? an exploration of the interrelationship between the school and home settings described previously was undertaken. This interrelationship formed the mesosystem in the ecological model that frames this study. Inferences from the explicitly collected data were used to fill in some of the details of the mesosystem. Inductively shaping this level of the model, the foundation for theories about the interrelationship of school and home computer use of third graders was laid in Chapter 6 with six conjectures. 60

76 Grounded Theory is a method of generating theory from data (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). As defined in (Creswell, 2007, p. 63), grounded theory is a qualitative research design in which the inquirer generates a general explanation (a theory) of a process, action, or interaction shaped by the views of a large number of participants. The design was introduced in The Discovery of Grounded Theory: Strategies for Qualitative Research, the same text that outlined the Constant Comparative Analysis method. It is the logical extension of category building in that the concepts of the categories are codified into theory (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). As a conclusion of this study, the relationship between those categories relevant to perception of computer usage at school and those of computer usage at home were explored. Similarly, Eisenhardt (1989) outlined a method for building theory from case study research. The crux of her process involves the comparison of cases and the iteration between the construction of the theory and evidence to support it. She looks for the replication of logic across cases, ending when theoretical saturation has been reached. Here the embedded sub-units were used for comparison in the exploration of the interrelationship between the microsystems, thereby giving a second basis for outlining characteristics of the mesosystem. Validity Validation of qualitative research refers to the accuracy of the findings and the repeatability of the process (Creswell, 2007). Validity is ensured by procedural fidelity through a case study protocol, the proper management of data, and member checks of written reports. The case study protocol contains the instruments and procedures to be used, continually focuses the researcher on the research questions, and guides the researcher in the formation of the report (Yin, 2009). [I]nterviewees responses are subject to the common problems of bias, poor recall, and poor or inaccurate articulation (Yin, 2009, p. 108). Yin s (2009) three principles of data collection were followed: (1) multiple sources of evidence were collected for triangulation and collaboration, (2) a case study database was created, and (3) the chain of evidence was maintained. The multiple sources of evidence were: interviews of the teacher, students, and parents; observations of classroom and school activities and a home visit; and review of teacher and student documents. The case study database consisted of binders containing field notes, written transcripts, and documents; computer folders 61

77 with copies of all recorded interviews; and an online blog that contained memos of interview and observation data. To organize this data, a spreadsheet enumerated each piece of data as it was collected and cross-references it to the student(s) about whom the data refers (see Appendix D). Finally, all data was placed into NVivo, an electronic database, for ease of coding and manipulation. Member checks (Leech & Onwuegbuzie, 2007; Prosser, 2007; Yin, 2009) were performed with participating adults, adding to the study s reliability. Drafts of the report were given to the teacher involved in the study and to the principal of the school at which the study took place for review and comment. Their written notations and oral comments were used to revise the report and add extensions. So too, drafts of pertinent sections of the report were sent to participating parents for their review and comment; four parents replied the father of Alberto and the mothers of Beryl, Fernand, and Leslie. Basically they validated what was written about their child, in one case indicating a couple minor inaccuracies that were subsequently corrected in the report. They also provided a brief update of their child s continuing use of technology. Product While there is no standard write-up for a qualitative study, this report follows the standard dissertation formula. Indeed, the first three chapters were written from templates. The fourth and fifth chapters have comparative structure (Yin, 2009). Analysis of the main unit of study, a synthesis of all data collected on the whole class data, is presented first in Chapter 4. Then an analysis of each of the students data, the embedded unit of study, is presented and related to the whole in Chapter 5. The sixth chapter discusses earlier findings in comparison to the literature and draws some conclusions, formulated as conjectures. A rich description as to perceptions on school and home use of computers by the third grade students under study was written. An exploration of the interrelationship between the two followed. Timeline Data collection for this study took place during the Spring 2013 academic semester and the final report was written during the Spring 2014 term. A more specific timeline is given in Table 4. 62

78 Activity Dates Description Teacher Interview 1 JAN 2013 Semi-structured interview with teacher Students Interview 1 JAN MAR 2013 Semi-structured interviews with students Parent Interview 1 FEB JUN 2013 Semi-structured interviews with parents; subsequent to Student Interview 1 Observations FEB JUN 2013 Classroom observations occurred on a regular basis Home Visits APR JUN 2013 Home visits scheduled with parents and performed in their presence Student Interview 2 MAY JUN 2013 Semi-structured interviews with students; subsequent to Home Visit Teacher Interview 2 JUN 2013 Subsequent to other interviews and observations Document Review APR JUN 2013 Copies to be made for further review Member Checks Follow-Up MAR APR 2014 Adult members contacted for review of document and follow-up Table 4. Study timeline Summary Children & Computers used an embedded case study design, as outlined by Yin (2009), to describe and explore the use of computers by third grade students at a specific U.S. public school. Using an ecological model based on the work of Bronfenbrenner (1979, 1999), the microsystems of school and home were described and the mesosystem representing the interrelationship between the two was explored. Within this chapter are details of the participants, setting, and role of the researcher. Instruments and data collection procedures are also detailed; interviews, observations, and documents provide the main sources of data. The overall data analysis strategy was defined and each step detailed. The strategy had 3 stages: (1) reduce data to descriptive statistics and codes, (2) look for patterns in the codes and construct categories within the theoretical framework so as to describe computer use in the 63

79 school and home microsystems, and (3) infer the interrelationships between these settings, exploring aspects of the mesosystem as conditions for applying technologies in learning. The chapter concludes with a description of the product and a timeline for the study. 64

80 CHAPTER 4. THE CLASS In the Spring Semester of 2013, one third grade class in an overseas military-connected school was studied to gain insights into their use of computers in school and at home. To this end, interviews, observations, and home visits were used to gather data from the teacher, her students, and their parents. This data is also used to describe the interrelationship between computer use in the school and home environments, both directly and inferentially. This chapter lays out the findings for the class, the main unit of study. Chapter 5 then goes on to examine the students individually. Chapter 6 then brings us back to the class for a discussion of the findings. Ms. Barr s Third Grade class contained, on average, about eighteen students during the Spring 2013 Semester. Twelve of these students, 7 boys and 5 girls, were involved in this study: Alberto, Beryl, Chris, Dorian, Ernesto, Fernand, Gordon, Humberto, Ingrid, Joyce, Karen, and Leslie. (All student names have been changed to pseudonyms in keeping with the terms of consent for the study.) The parents of 8 students were interviewed: Alberto s dad and the mothers of Beryl, Chris, Fernand, Gordon, Joyce, Karen, and Leslie. Nineteen formal observations were made in the school. The homes of 6 students Beryl, Ernesto, Fernand, Gordon, Joyce, and Leslie were visited. The class findings are structured according to two characteristics: the theoretical framework which was in place a priori and the codes which arose during data analysis. The three researched settings from the ecological model school microsystem, home microsystem, and mesosystem are each sectioned to show findings related to roles and interpersonal relations, activities, and transitions. The sections on activities are, where appropriate, further subsectioned into six areas: applications, projects, research, games, communication, and videos. These were the most coded items in NVivo; a summary of their diffusion throughout the data is presented in Table 5. The table is ordered by the number of persons making the reference. For example, nearly all participants (19 of 20; 1 teacher, 12 students, and 7 parents) referenced Software Applications in some way. Moreover, the Total Number of References comes from all coded interview records, home visit records, and documents; these are included in the Number of Sources listed in the first column of the table. 65

81 Code Number of Sources Total Number of References Number of Teachers Referencing (n = 1) Number of Students Referencing (n = 12) Number of Parents Referencing (n = 8) Software Applications Doing Projects Researching Playing Games Communicating Watching Movies, TV, or Videos Table 5. Diffusion of highest-referenced codes throughout all sources The School Microsystem Classroom Physical and Material Characteristics The classroom was a 30 foot by 27 foot rectangle. Figures show the classroom from different perspectives. The entrance was near the front left corner. Immediately to the right, along the wall, was a bank of closets which were used for storage and the students lockers. A sink was built in along this wall. On the majority of the back wall were affixed shelving units which rose from the floor to about 6 feet; these contained sets of texts and reference books. The wall opposite the door was all windows which started at about 3 feet and rose to the ceiling. Centered in the front of the room was a chalkboard which slid up and down; behind the chalkboard was a white projection screen. A SMART interactive whiteboard was mounted to the left of the chalkboard at about 1 foot off the floor providing direct access for student use. 66

82 Figure 14. View of the classroom from the rear (Note: The picture was taken School Year ) Figure 15. View of the classroom from the front by the door (Note: The picture was taken School Year ) 67

83 Figure 16. View of the teacher s desk (Note: The picture was taken School Year ) The teacher s desk was set in the opposite corner of the room from the door. She sat with her back against the wall looking towards the closets on the opposite wall. Her swivel chair gave her an easy view of the entire room. The students sat in individual desks with detached chairs. The desks had storage inside, directly under the surface, and all of the students kept a basket with pencils, scissors, and other supplies on the top of the desk. Each desk was individualized with a name sign on the front and was owned by the student. The individual desks made it easier for the teacher to configure the room in different ways. I observed the desks alone, side-by-side in twos, three abreast, and in a horseshoe pattern that provided a large empty space in the middle of the classroom. When in the room, students worked in three main areas. They worked at their desks for whole group didactic lessons and to complete their individual seatwork. (The nomenclature of the student groupings is that used by the teacher in class.) There was a carpet area directly in front of the teacher s desk where the students gathered to listen to the teacher read, to present their work, and to have discussions. There was also an area on the floor, right inside the door, where students sat when working on the SMART Board. During book club and math groups, students were broken into smaller groups according to ability. It was typical to observe from two 68

84 to four groups working on different activities, related by subject area, in different parts of the room. Technology Technologies that were available in Ms. Barr s classroom are pictured in Figures There were 4 Dell desktop computers: one on the teacher s desk, two in the front of the room, and one in the back of the room. All of these were running Windows XP and three were connected to the school network by Ethernet cables. (The computer in the back of the room was never used because of its inability to go online.) A cart of 12 computers on wheels (COWS) resided in the classroom and, despite its mobility, was not moved from the classroom at any time during the duration of this study. Each of the Lenovo laptops in the COW ran Windows 7, an upgrade from the Gateway Windows XP machines which started the year in the room, and all of them could access the school s LAN through wireless access points located throughout the school. One other laptop, a Dell Windows XP machine, was dedicated for use with a SMART Board. Figure 17. Student desks, one of which has a laptop from the COW 69

85 Figure 18. Teacher s desk with her computer Figure 19. Student desktop workstations Figure 20. SMART Board, laptop for use with SMART Board, and covered Elmo document projector; also shown is TV with VCR Figure 21. Overhead projector on cart; also pictured is the B & W printer The SMART Board was mounted on the wall at the front of the room next to the door. The projector used to create the image on the board was attached to the ceiling on a bracket which allows it to hang approximately 10 feet from the floor. The SMART Board had speakers. 70

86 A laptop ran the software used with the board. It connected to the school s network by Ethernet cable. An Elmo document camera was also connected to the same computer for projection of papers and objects onto the board; this piece of technology was never observed in use. The teacher s computer and the other functioning desktops were connected through the network to a black and white printer in the room. The teacher also had access, through the LAN, to a high-speed printer and a color printer. An old overhead projector was also in the room and used on a daily basis. During whole group lessons, the teacher wrote on plastic slides, either blank or preprinted with lesson materials. She also reviewed the homework assignments at the end of each day using the overhead projector. A small TV was mounted from the wall, right inside the door. DVD s and VCR tapes were used to show educational materials and entertainment videos. A portable CD player was also in the room and the class often sang to its accompaniment; it was also used to play songs from Ms. Barr s personal ipod. In addition to their homeroom, the students also worked in specialists rooms for art, physical education, music, and host nation. All of those rooms, with the exception of the gym used for P.E., had computers, SMART Boards, and other technologies. In the library there were 9 computers connected by Ethernet cable and a COW with 10 computers connected wirelessly available for student use. In the computer lab there was a compliment of 25 computers for student use. The School Microsystem Roles and Interpersonal Relations The two main roles in this classroom, as in most elementary classrooms, were teacher and student. It was the interaction among Ms. Barr and her students which was observed the most in this study since they were together for the majority of the day. A student intern, who worked under the tutelage of Ms. Barr, also played a more than minor role in the classroom. Special education teachers and para-professionals, a gifted teacher, an occupational therapist, a speech therapist, and reading specialists all had a role in the education of these students. So too did the art teacher, P.E. teacher, music teacher, host nation teacher, media specialist, counselor, and principal. Only the data about the teacher and her students were sought for this study. 71

87 The Teacher Ms. Barr was a forty-six year old bespectacled Caucasian lady from the Southeastern United States. She was certified to teach elementary up to grade 6 and K-12 music. At the time of this study, she had been teaching for the previous twenty years; 14 of which had been with the same military-connected school and in the same third grade classroom. She arrived at school early almost every day, dressed in a coordinated outfit which often included a tee shirt fitting for the season, showing off Hello Kitty, or portraying Disney characters. Ms. Barr ate lunch in her room, often working with students who needed extra help or simply allowing students to escape the lunchroom by eating there. She was usually not observed leaving before four o clock, an hour and a half after the school day ended, and had reported spending numerous weekend days in her classroom. When asked in the first interview her philosophy of teaching she responded: To help all the students improve. My time at school should be devoted to the students and what they need for their life. And I have a goal that as things change in the world I want to make sure that my teaching is changing along with it so they are prepared. Because I owe it to these kids, you know. I can't be all old-fashioned and send them to the fourth grade. To the follow-up question on her philosophy of using computers and technology in her teaching, she responded: Well it s kinda like the same answer here. I want [to] make sure that they know the skills they need, because when they graduate it s all going to be different technology, it s going to be a computer world. And the other thing that I like about it is the instant use of information. You know it s really enhances the lesson, if the kids don't have a background knowledge on something I can just Google certain pictures right away. To this end, she adjusted the central focus of her Professional Growth Plan, a three-year individual plan required of all teachers in the school system, to incorporate technology into every aspect of her teaching. She sought to make her repertoire of technology bigger, increasing her knowledge of tech tools from which she can draw. Ms. Barr has sought out technology professional development opportunities and chose professional development activities and training provided by staff responsible for technology support and/or integration at your school as having a major contribution in preparing her to make effective use of educational technology for instruction; undergraduate teacher programs and independent learning had only minor contributions. Moreover, Ms. Barr learned from and alongside of her students. She said: I can say that the luxury now is even kids can help, you know. You make that bond with your kids and you tell em, like, okay, so some of you have used this at home, can you 72

88 help me? And if you have that bond where you treat each other with respect, and you are learning together they are happy to show you. And it s just really, it s nice. Likewise, she agreed to be in this study because she has seen the rise of technology in her students lives and though by getting a closer look at it she would be better prepared to teach them. She wrote: Over the 16 years that I have taught third grade I have watched the children coming to school more familiarized with computer vocabulary, operating skills, and knowledge of many computer programs (word [sic], power point [sic], game sites). It is now expected that children have easy access to computers at home and are allowed to use them to complete homework assignments. It would be most unusual for children not to have a computer at home and most of them own their own laptops now. Many of my students tell me about their computers and how they spend most of their free time playing games on them, watching Youtube [sic], using the google [sic] search engine. Because of the amount of technology third graders now have at home, the nature of my lessons and the homework assignments have changed. I am very interested in talking to the parents about how technology is used at home. This will better help me to understand what expectations the parents have about their children using computers and the latest technology. Some parents are already inquiring if the children can bring their notebooks, Kindles, Nooks to school for silent reading. Some children are bringing ipods [sic] to school to discuss podcasts they have read. This study of children and computers is an excellent opportunity for me to move forward in my teaching career to teach a more modern population of students and parents. Ms. Barr felt it necessary and was willing to integrate technology into her classroom. She had seen colleagues less willing to do so and stated disbelief that teachers in this age would not incorporate technology to the greatest extent possible. But there were challenges, the greatest of which was reliability of the technology. She said: I m willing and I want to do it and I love all this stuff, but the equipment that we have isn t reliable. So it takes somebody like me who is willing to learn it. I enjoy learning with the kids. And then when stuff is cutting out and it s not working it s really sort of low on [motivation], I think. Like the kids are growing wild and this server went down and somebody ripped the laptop cart up, you know. Her Students During the first interview, the first specific, non-open-ended item asked a student was How much time do you spend on computers in school every day? They were to choose from 6 responses: (1) none, (2) less than 30 minutes, (3) about minutes, (4) about 1-2 hours, (5) about 2-3 hours, or (6) more than 3 hours. This question and subsequent items which asked students about average time frames were answered with a certain trepidation and consternation. The results of asking third graders to estimate time on task may easily be shown to be invalid and 73

89 none less than 30 min. about min. about 1-2 hours about 2-3 hours more than 3 hours Number of Students unreliable. Still, this study is about perceptions and therefore only the student could state his perception. Furthermore, the results, even with such a small number of students, followed a normal distribution which in and of itself lends credence to the students perceptions. Figure 22 shows a graph of the tallied results for How much time do you spend on computers in school every day? More than half responded minutes and 92% 12 How much time do you spend on computers every day? In school Figure 22. Student Interview 1 Prompt, Section 3A, #1. Responses from all 12 participants are shown. (11 out of 12) fixed the time at under an hour. No student said none and only one indicated more than an hour. These reports are in line with observations; students were often seen using computers either in the lab or in their classroom but more often they were working without technology. Students were asked Likert scale questions about their computer abilities and attitudes during each of the two interviews. The means and medians of the class s responses are listed in Table 6. I know how to search for information I need online, was constantly highly rated by the class with a median of 5 and means close to 4.5. This fortifies the numerous student statements and the teacher statement on the use of Google to look up information. I am very skilled with computers, a more broad statement, had a rating closer to neutral. 74

90 Interview 1 Interview 2 Mean Median Mean Median Ability 2. I am very skilled with computers I know how to search for information I need online Attitude 3. I am interested in working with technology and computers Computers are important to me Computers help me learn better Internet is important to me Internet helps me learn better I trust everything on the Internet Some websites are not good for children Table 6. Mean and median ability and attitude scale self-reports for both interviews. All items on a scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree); 3 is neutral. Bolded items were rated exactly the same in both interviews. Interview 1 averages are from all 12 students; Interview 2 averages from all except S08 who left the school early. All of the items categorized as attitude garnered positive ratings from the class except the statement I trust everything on the Internet, with which the class consistently disagreed (median 2, mean about 2). Coupled with the high consistent agreement (median 5, mean about 4.5) to the statement Some websites are not good for children, the class showed a healthy amount of skepticism about what can be found on the Internet. The School Microsystem Activities The school was a bustle with activity from the time the bus started dropping off students at 7:45 am until it loaded them up again at 2:30 pm and sometimes even longer. Ms. Barr s students started their well-planned day at 8:00 am, putting away their things, handing in their homework, and preparing for the day s activities. Ms. Barr s teacher plan book serviced as her 75

91 outline of the daily lessons and evidences those activities in which her students participated when in her care, a majority of the school day. Of course the plan book evidenced more than just those activities that involved technology. Seventy-three journal prompts appeared throughout the year in the writing section of the planner on topics as diverse as my dad, Jamestown, the water cycle, and the metric system ; these were always tied into holidays, classroom events, or the current lessons. A whole class spell aloud activity was planned for a majority of school days as part of the spelling lesson. These were observed as multimodal lessons in which spelling words were not only repeated chorally but were also tapped out using drumsticks. Textbook activities and worksheets to be done, hands-on experiments and activities to be tried, stories and books to be read, handwriting to be practiced, and a myriad of other educational endeavors appeared in Ms. Barr s planner under the section headings: Reading, Grammar, Writing, Spelling, Handwriting, Health/Science, Social Studies, and Math. Still, it was the use of technology in this third grade class that was salient to this study and therefore it was those items related to technology that were highlighted in Ms. Barr s plan book. Plan book entries were not written with great detail but were supplemented by a daily outline that was kept always handy on a clipboard for the teacher s ease of reference. In the plan book, Ms. Barr s indications of the use of technology mirrored the other entries in simplicity with phrases like BrainPOP, Type to Learn, or S.B. (for SMART Board). Since a preponderance of these entries indicated a particular software application or hardware technology, this section starts by examining the use of those technologies. Moreover, it was mostly because these applications occur prominently and regularly within the lesson plans that they garnered the most attention from study participants, as measured by the coded data (see Table 5 on page 66). Ms. Barr s plan book also had references to projects and multimedia resources that were used in class. Details of the projects were not in the book nor were notations of researching, but each of these activities was well-evidenced through other means. All three projects, research, and multimedia are detailed in sections which follow. Brief sections on games and communications are also included. The teacher s facilitation of lessons was one side of the teaching and learning dyad. The student s perception of these was the other side. Interviews served to give a window into the student s perceptions and were matched against the teacher plans. According to the students, the 76

92 searching info for school searching info for other purposes readingnews playing games chatting surfing online for fun downloadingm usic, pics, movies, etc blogs,discussion boards, etc educational sites other Number of Students Internet was used in school by the class for three main activities: playing games, searching information for school, and going to educational sites, as shown in Figure 23. While the latter two complement the teacher data on these activities, the high use of the Internet for games in school, according to the students, contrasted the lack of mention in this area by the teacher. 12 What do you use the Internet for? (multiple responses allowed) In School Figure 23. Student Interview 1 Prompt, Section 3A, #8. Responses from all 12 participants are shown; multiple responses allowed. Software Applications in Teacher Plans Software applications were present in the school because they had been provided by the school system, were free, or had been procured by the teacher. Ms. Barr used a combination of these methodologies for application acquisition for use in her classroom. The most frequently used applications as recorded in the plan book, reported by the teacher, and observed in use are documented here. BrainPOP Jr. (and BrainPOP ). BrainPOP, and mostly its K-3 affiliate indicated with the Jr. designation, was the single most mentioned technology activity in Mr. Barr s plan book. She recorded plans for using 81 different BrainPOP videos on topics such as even and odd, possessive nouns, landforms, poetry, and volcanos. BrainPOP creates web-based videos in which the characters help introduce new topics and illustrate complex concepts (BrainPOP, 2014, para. 2). In addition to videos, the site also includes quizzes, games, and activities covering hundreds of topics in seven academic areas (i.e. math, science, social studies). 77

93 The school had subscribed to BrainPOP; the password-protected sites, and were available to students both in school and at home. (Parts of the site were free to everyone on the Internet; the subscription extended access.) Ms. Barr integrated the videos and other parts of the sites into her classroom lessons. Usually used in whole group settings, they served to kick off a lesson or review a topic which had been taught. envisionmath. The school system adopted envisionmath for use in grades 3-6 in School Year In addition to a plethora of printed materials, including the teacher and student texts, this buy also contained digital resources. Some of these were provided on discs and others (or duplicates of the same) could, with username and password, be accessed online at According to the publisher, digital resources include diagnostic and intervention systems, digital copies of the teacher and student textbooks, interactive lessons, and online student assessments (Pearson Education, 2014a). Ms. Barr was only observed using the interactive lessons and there was no indication, despite availability, that she ever used other envisionmath digital resources; no individual account username and password information was relayed to students for home usage. For the year, there were 23 distinguishable notations of envisionmath digital resource usage in Ms. Barr s plan book; more could be inferred and were observed although, because of the shorthand used, were not as explicit. Exemplative of these entries, for September 11, 2012, S.B. 1-4 was written in the math section. The indication was that she would use the interactive lessons provided with envisionmath on the SMART Board. Basically, a PowerPoint-like slideshow, with audio and some animation, was projected onto the interactive whiteboard, computations written on the board, and touch capacities used. These lessons were delivered either to the whole group or, as observed more often, to a smaller more homogeneous math group of students. In the latter case, half of the students worked with the teacher on a didactic lesson in the front of the room while the other half worked independently at their desks; groups were switched. Type to Learn 4 and TypingWeb. From a decade preceding this study, the militaryconnected school system had required 3 rd grade students to learn keyboarding skills and had adopted Type to Learn to this end. According to the manufacturer s website, 97% of school districts own a Type to Learn series (Sunburst Digital, 2014). The commercially popular 78

94 software broke down keyboarding skills into 36 lessons. Ms. Barr took her class to the computer lab and allowed the students to proceed through the lessons at their own individual pace. Twenty-three notations of Type to Learn were written in her plan book and the students were observed in the lab on several occasions. The version of Type to Learn purchased for the school only provided for usage of the program within the school. Ms. Barr s class was also introduced to TypingWeb, a free online typing tutor & keyboarding tutorial for typists of all skill levels (FTW Innovations, 2014, para. 1). The combination of these two software applications, and recommendations of others, was used to allow students to work both at school and home towards the school system s third grade keyboarding standard of 15 words per minute with 75% accuracy. Raz-Kids. Raz-Kids, was an online site which, according to the publisher, contained over 400 ebooks at 27 levels and corresponding online comprehension tests (Learning A-Z, 2014a, "Overview"). The site, along with Reading Counts tests, was an integral part of the school s reading incentive program whereby students earned points for books read (online or hardcopy) and received medals for achieving certain point levels within a quarter. The objective of the program was to promote reading as a lifestyle activity and encourage students to read outside of school. The subscription to Raz-Kids was paid for by the school s Parent Teacher Organization (PTO); each student in the school had an individual account with 24/7 access to the online resource. Ms. Barr s plan book only listed eight entries for Raz-Kids; all of these were in the first semester (before this study began). Built into the Raz-Kids application were student management and reporting features. The data collected by the program showed that the students in this study used Raz-Kids an average of 11.6 days during the first semester, working on an average of 65 activities each. (Data was collected by day and not time so it was not possible to ascertain from it if the activities were done at school or home.) During the second semester, the average number of days dropped by more than half to 5.3 and the average number of activities shrunk to 30. IXL Math. Purchased by the school district, IXL Math, was a webbased drill-and-practice type application that features skills to go along with every lesson (IXL Learning, 2014a, para. 1). Each student in the school had an individual IXL Math username and 79

95 password that could be used 24/7. Skills on the site were organized into hundreds of categorized topics; completing topics earned users digital rewards viewable on the site. Ms. Barr had only two entries in her plan book for IXL Math. The main usage of the application in class was to serve as individualized practice for students in one math group to work on laptops at their desks while the other math group worked with the teacher at the SMART Board; this two-group approach to math lessons was observed on several occasions. IXL Math contained a reporting feature. The data collected by the program showed that during the first semester the students in this study used IXL Math an average of 9.7 days for an average total time per student of 139 minutes, completing an average of 403 problems. During the second semester the numbers increased to an average of 24 days, 308 minutes, and 1097 problems. The increase was confirmed by Ms. Barr to be due to the late implementation of IXL in the school and the later solidification of the two-group math lessons. (Data was collected by day and did show a session start time but time zone problems made it too difficult to ascertain from the student usage log if the activities were done at school or home.) Online Tests. Scheduled times for the class s participation in several online tests were listed in Ms. Barr s plan book. In keeping with the school s Continuous School Improvement (CSI) plan, beginning, middle, and end of the year use of the Scholastic Reading Inventory (SRI) and STAR Reading tests were administered to collect data on reading progress and guide reading instruction. Likewise, the CSI plan called for the use of STAR Math to achieve similar goals in that discipline. Individual students were observed taking Reading Counts tests on books they had completed. The objective of these was to assess reading comprehension. Reading Counts, along with Raz-Kids, was an integral part of the school s reading incentive program whereby students earned points for books read (online or hardcopy) and received medals for achieving certain point levels within a quarter. The objective of the program was to promote reading as a lifestyle activity and encourage students to read outside of school. SMART Notebook. Used in conjunction with the SMART Board, an interactive whiteboard from SMART Technologies, SMART Notebook allowed Ms. Barr to create and save lessons. Although not specifically referenced in the plan book, a number of these files were present on the computer attached to the SMART Board and the teacher was observed using some of these in conjunction with her lessons. SMART Notebook files were only created by the 80

96 teacher and used in whole group or small group lessons, where the students were occasionally observed using the board s interactive features to write in the files and manipulate objects therein. Software Applications in Student Perceptions Student interview and home visit records were coded for references to software applications. The first substantive item in the first interview was Tell me about your computer usage in school. Table 7 shows, in the column labeled Coded Computer Usage in School - Interview 1 Item#2 Conversations, how many times each application was referenced during responses to that item, by the interviewee or interviewer, is in the sub-column labeled Number of References. Since an application was often referenced multiple times within the conversation that ensued from the prompt, the number of student interviews in which the referenced application was mentioned at least once is shown in the sub-column labeled Number of Students. It is important to note that this was an open-ended item with no foreshadowing of particular applications. Raz-Kids was mentioned the most frequently by students in Interview 1 conversations; ten (10) of the twelve. Then, in descending order, IXL Math (9), Type to Learn (6), Assessments (6), and Typing Web (4) round out the top 5. These all played a significant part in Ms. Barr s plan and were all applications that the students used individually. BrainPOP (2) and envisionmath (0), both of which were planned mostly as group lessons, were referenced by few. The first substantive item in the second interview was Tell me how computers help you learn. Table 7 shows, in the column labeled Coded Computers and Learning - Interview 2 Item#2 Conversation, how many times each application was referenced in response to that item, by the interviewee or interviewer, and the number of student interviews in which the application was referenced. Google (6), Raz-Kids (4) and IXL (4) were referenced in the most conversations in response to this open-ended item; two of these were applications specifically mentioned in the plan book and oft used in class and the third, Google, played an important part in class activities that is detailed in the subsequent section of this report on researching. 81

97 Coded Computer Usage in School - Interview1 Item#2 Conversations Coded Computers and Learning - Interview2 Item#2 Conversations Coded Overall - All Interviews & Home Visits Students ONLY Software Number of Number of Number of Number of Number of Application References Students References Students References Assessments Number of Students BrainPOP Britannica Calculator Cool Math envisionmath Facebook FaceTime Google Google Earth itunes IXL Math Mathletics MS PowerPoint MS Word Raz-Kids Skype SMART Notebk Type to Learn Typing Web YouTube Table 7. References to specific software applications that were used in school in response to open-ended items in each student interview (Interview 1, Item #2 and Interview 2, Item #2) and throughout all interview and home visit records; highlighted applications were those referenced in the teacher s plan book 82

98 Lastly, Table 7 shows the total number of references by students only to each application throughout all interview and home visit records. Also, the table displays the number of students who referenced the application. The top five, in descending order of the number of students who made the references, are Raz-Kids (12), IXL Math (11), Google (11), Type to Learn (10), and Assessments (10). All, except Google, played an important part in the lesson planning and all were applications that had been used individually by students. Furthermore, with the exception of Google, all were used to practice or assess skills. Those applications which allowed for more creativity, i.e. Microsoft Word and Microsoft PowerPoint, received less reference overall. For corroboration, nine of the students were asked, during the second interview, about their use of specific applications in school. They all responded that they had used IXL Math, Raz-Kids, Type to Learn, BrainPOP, and Google. Other applications had a less than unanimous perception of use in school: envisionmath (7), Microsoft PowerPoint (7), Pixie (a drawing program by Tech4Learning; 7), Online Encyclopedia (5), and Microsoft Word (4). Projects Doing Projects was coded in the second highest number of data sources (see Table 5 on page 66). There were two kinds of projects observed in Ms. Barr s class: projects assigned to the whole class and projects related to book club. In her plan book she had written State Projects Due as the entry for April 19, 2013, the only notation referencing that project. Still, evidence abounded of this project, the most tangible being the posters of various U.S. States that hung in the hall showing the products of the project; these contained a combination of text, maps, and pictures that were either handwritten or printed from a computer. So too, a number of students referenced this particular project. For example, Joyce said, Ms. Barr gives us a project for every, um, every month. And our project is a state project so I need to research about Oklahoma, that s my state. Another project assigned to all the students, which was mentioned by multiple students, was on Native Americans. The second kind of project arose from the students reading. In book clubs, groups of three to five students homogenously formed according to reading level, read a book at their level. Then they are tasked with extending their knowledge of the topic by choosing an item from the book and making a project from it. Alberto, Fernand, and another student were observed doing a project on reptiles after they read about them. Beryl, Humberto, Ingrid, and Joyce were observed 83

99 following up their reading of Desert Life with a project on this topic. Both of these book club projects had the students choosing an element of the topic, researching facts about it, typing their facts into PowerPoint slides, and printing out the slides to create a poster or large display. The reptile group made individual products. The desert life group combined their individual efforts to create one large poster which also included pictures printed from the Internet and some handdrawn by members. Other book club projects made with technology have included brochures, booklets, and written documents. These projects are not specifically listed in Ms. Barr s plan book but they are planned to allow students to extend their learning, follow their interests, and show creative ways of presenting what they have learned. Research Researching was an activity mentioned by all of the students (see Table 5 on page 66) and meant a number of things in Ms. Barr s Third Grade class. One aspect of research was closely tied to the task of doing projects reported in the previous section. Online sources were used to find information for the projects. Humberto stated that he used Britannica, [I m] researching on, um, tarantulas cause we re doing a project. Online sources were also used for the multimedia in projects. Beryl said, I had this [Social Studies project on] the Indians. I looked at pictures and everything on the Internet. Chris detailed the process for one of his projects: ask Ms. Barr first and go on Google; type in Hawaii Volcanos ; and choose the returned item that says for kids because you don t want to go on adult sites. Ingrid was less specific but also relayed the idea of doing research for a project. She said, Ms. Barr gives us a project and we have to go online, and then we have to, um, find, um, ask the questions on it and then it has to tell you the answer and then you have to make a project out of that. Researching is also synonymous with looking up information. Ms. Barr said, The kids [raise their hand to get a laptop] all the time now, you know. [We] were writing in our journals, and I always teach them to refer back to their textbook. But a lot of them aren t satisfied cause those textbooks only give a paragraph. And I teach them to be crazy about research, and [have] fun, and let's see who find[s something]. And by 3rd quarter especially, they re just like can I get [a] laptop, you know, and research whenever we re doing, the Constitution, or whenever we re writing about. Ah, we use that Ben s Guide to Government a lot. Ah, we wrote about monuments in Washington DC which our textbook had just [a] little tiny thing, and, um, tons of kids just pop up, grab a laptop, look it up, write in our journal. I m like, oh, we ve made a lot of progress here. 84

100 Karen said that computers help her learn because Well, they help us get information and search up websites that help us get information. Fernand said that the computers helps me learn, um, new things that I wanna learn. And I learn on the computer I go on Google and like, um, search something, and then it shows on some, um, websites. Then I click on the one, and then it gives me information about the something I m looking for. Ernesto was succinct, Hmm, if you [are] researching you can learn about the past. Looking up information included unknown words, objects, places, people, et cetera. Ms. Barr gave the following example: One thing that really has developed over the past year or two or three years I would say is when we have our book club meetings, the children are taking laptops and using them like say they have a word they don t know. Like when we read Mary Poppins, it said perambulator. Well we had no idea what that was. And so they like Google searched it images and then saw the picture and, oh, so baby buggy. You know, like they ve been doing it a lot. She also reported that she had trained the students to go on dictionary.com to look up words. The first thing that Alberto said about his usage of computers in school was Ah, well, we use them when we have like questions, or we like don t know how to spell it, or do something. Ingrid said that computers help her learn because Um, well you can, um, sometimes if you need something, like if you have a question, you can look on the web and it might tell you what the answer is. Interestingly, the class used Google both as its search engine of choice and as the verb meaning to search for information. When asked how computers help her learn, Joyce said, And then like Google. It can help you search on stuff. No other search engine was specifically mentioned by the teacher or her students. Games Every student said that Playing Games was an activity they did in school (see Figure 23 on page 82). Ms. Barr did not notate this activity in her plan book nor did she mention it in her interviews (see Table 5 on page 66). Students were not observed playing computer games during class but they were seen doing so in the classroom outside of class time. On one occasion, Chris, Dorian, and some other students were observed during recess using the laptops in the classroom to play games on Friv, a game site popular with study participants. When asked, they said they that Ms. Barr sometimes let them play games during recess. Members of the class were also 85

101 observed playing games in the library and in the computer lab during free time. So while Playing Games was an in school activity it was not connected, per se, to classroom academics. Communication The coding for Communicating (see Table 5 on page 66) included ing, texting, chatting, and video calling. These were not activities that were planned for the students or mentioned by them. When asked about their Internet use in school (see Figure 23 on page 77) no student said they did , one said chatting, and one said blogs, discussion boards, etc. Ms. Barr reported being in frequent contact with parents by and phone regarding individual concerns; on one occasion she was observed calling a parent in the middle of class to discuss a student s behavior. She contacted parents by and phoned them to arrange class events. She was in daily contact with parents though a take home folder of notes. But the students did not use electronic forms of communication in school. One notable exception was a video conference with the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM). Arranged by the art teacher, all third grades at the school met with a professional SAAM art educator who was in Washington, DC via video conference technology to be presented a lesson on Keith Haring. Ms. Barr liked the event so much that she arranged for second conference about the Great Migration, an event she was covering in Social Studies. I observed the students to be fully engaged during both events, raising their hands and interacting with the online presenter in a manor congruent to the way they would a live presenter. Interestingly, no student mentioned the event during the interviews. Ingrid, the student who raised her hand for every one of the presenter s questions and answered the most, a student who professed liking art, could recall the details of the lesson but only after she was reminded that it had even taken place. Videos and Multimedia Watching Movies, TV, or Videos (see Table 5 on page 66) was an activity often observed in Ms. Barr s classroom. The small TV in the front of the room played VCR tapes and DVD s on a regular basis. These ranged from Charlie Brown cartoons to the Little House on the Prairie TV series to National Geographic documentaries. The students often watched these from their desk with the lights off. 86

102 Videos were also displayed on the SMART Board. These came almost exclusively from the Internet; BrainPOP and YouTube were primary sources for such videos. As reported earlier, BrainPOP was an often used resource, with 81 notations in the plan book for use of specific videos. YouTube videos were also regularly included in lessons. Responding to how students use computers in her room to learn, Ms. Barr said, Lots of searching and lots of YouTube videos. It s such a luxury. We watch that whole Liberty Kids. I mean a picture, a movie, a cartoon really capture [their attention]. She went on to say, [I]f we re gonna use YouTube, it is a lesson, and it s planned, and it has a purpose, you know. These videos were usually watched in whole groups from the student desks or sitting in front of the SMART Board. Sometimes students watched videos independently. For example, Ms. Barr said, [During] rainy day recess some of them will say it s cold out, it s rainy, and I don t wanna go outside. And a lot of them will say, oh can I just go and search BrainPOP's. Nevertheless, for the first open-ended student interview item in each interview, BrainPOP was mentioned only 4 times in total and YouTube only once in total by students as an educational use for the computer (see Table 7 on page 82). Multimedia was an important part of Ms. Barr s classroom. In addition to video, she also reported taking virtual tours and using Internet pictures to reinforce learning in the classroom. And no account of the classroom activities would be complete without mention of audio. Songs were an integral part of classroom activities; these were played on a portable stereo using cassette tapes, CDs, or Ms. Barr s ipod. Each student kept a song folder in their desk with lyrics and the children s voices often accompanied the recorded songs. The School Microsystem Transitions Changing schools is a typical transition for military-connected students. At the school where this study took place, 34 students left and 8 new students were enrolled, bringing enrollment to 226, between February and April 2013 (Bertschinger, 2013)! Of the study participants, one left abruptly in March, one left in late May, three left right before or right after the school year ended, and one enrolled at the end of the first semester. Plus, since third was the highest grade at the school, all students had to transition to a new school the next academic year. Technology was one thing that changed with the change of schools. In a March 2014 follow-up , Fernand s mom wrote regarding Fernand s school in the U.S., Unfortunately, his new school doesn t have the same level of technology he was used to last year no key 87

103 board [sic] classes, very rare use of the computers in the library, no smart boards [sic]. In a similarly timed , Alberto s father wrote regarding Alberto s new school, the local 4-8 middle school one block from the elementary school. He said, [Alberto] now uses less Raz-Kids because in 4 th grade he is more dedicated to other programs required in his class with [the teacher] at [the new school]. Ingrid, who came in from Florida, highlighted a transition she made when she said, But [my old school] didn t have Reading Counts, they had something called AR. But it was the same thing. [To] get the score, you have to read books. The Home Microsystems There were twelve students and twelve different home microsystems included in this study. (No provision was given for multiple home microsystems which would occur if a student lived part-time in more than one household. At least three students Ernesto, Humberto, and Ingrid could have had such circumstances but no investigation was made to ascertain the full facts.) Therefore there would be twelve different descriptions of physical and material characteristics. The similarities are laid out in this section, aided by six home visit records and the interview data from eight parents. Differences in home microsystems are the main emphasis of Chapter 5. All students lived with at least one parent in a home off base. All of the six homes visited were larger free-standing houses in which the family of the participating student occupied the whole house. These were in six different local villages. They were well maintained and in cozy neighborhoods. At least one member of the household had a military-connected job. In at least four of the twelve households the second adult also worked; in four others the second adult was a stay-at-home spouse. Besides the conditions stemming from living in a country other than the United States, no major extenuating circumstances (i.e. homelessness, joblessness) were revealed. The six visited families had comfortable living circumstances and there was no evidence to show the other six families did not have the same. Of the eight parents interviewed, five of whose homes were visited, none reported being enrolled in the free/reduced lunch program. Each of them had a spouse who was an office (3), a warrant officer (1), upper enlisted (1), or government civilian (3); all of the government civilians were prior military. Of the interviewed parents, five held bachelor s degrees, one had an associate s degree, one some college, and one a high school diploma. Amongst their military- 88

104 Desktop Laptop Tablet Smartphone ipod Average Quantity connected spouses there were five master s degrees, two bachelor s degrees, and an associate s degree. Highly educated members of the middle class would be an accurate description of their socioeconomic status. Inferring that the other four families were in the same category would be harder than the inference made about their living circumstances. Technology Technology devices were abundant in the homes of participants. From the eight parents surveyed, households averaged about two desktops, two laptops, two tablets/ipads, a smartphone, and an ipod (see Figure 24). No home was without at least one computer, desktop or laptop, and the majority had more. Moreover, newer technologies and smaller mobile devices like ipads, smartphones, and ipods were prevalent. To this end, Beryl s mother said, [W]e use the ipad a lot more than the hard desktop computers. All parents reported having a broadband connection at home, either DSL or cable. 3 How many of each of these devices do you own? Figure 24. Parent Interview 1 Prompt, Section 6B, #3. Averages from all 8 participants are shown; multiple responses allowed. In all six homes that were visited, a desktop computer was placed in a central location living room, office, guest room, or hallway and this computer was indicated by the student to be their main computer. Three of the students from the visited homes also had their own 89

105 computer; two had laptops and one a desktop. All of the non-visited students indicated during interviews that there were computers in their homes and they had access to them, although one of these students repeatedly expressed his access to be extremely limited. Often students related ownership to devices. For example, Ingrid said, Well if my tablet doesn t work I have to do it on the computer [I]t s my mom's computer and I use it. Multiple devices were also used to connect to the Internet. Participating parents were asked about the main devices used by them, their spouses, and their third grade student to connect to the Internet at home. While four of the eight participating parents indicated they and their spouses usually used a desktop or laptop, the other half indicated more access through mobile devices including ipads, tablets, and Kindles. Six of the eight participating parents indicated that their children used a more traditional computer or laptop to connect; the other two indicated their child used an ipad or an ipod. Two other technology devices were prevalent in the students homes: game consoles and televisions. Ten of the eleven students prompted said that they had a game console at home; the eleventh got his after the summer. TV connections were reported by five of the six participating parents asked: two had satellite TV, two had cable TV, one had both satellite and cable, and the other had Internet TV. Only one parent indicated that they did not watch traditional TV in his household. The Home Microsystems Roles and Interpersonal Relations The main roles in the home, relevant to this study, were parent and child. At least 75% of the households were run by two adults who were the biological parents of the child; at least one household had a step-parent and at least one was headed by one parent. So too, at least one student had another relative, in this case a grandmother, who lived in the house with him. In all but one home the third grade child had siblings, ranging in age from newborn babies to brothers and sisters a decade older. The average number of children per household was three; one home had six children (all under 12 years old) and half of the homes had three or more children. Information about the home microsystems came from parent and student interviews and home visit records. Still, the normal interpersonal relations between the third grade children and their parents were not directly observed, the home visit being an exceptional event which focused on the child s use of computers at home. 90

106 At least once per day At least once per week At least once per month Less than once per week Number of Persons The Parents The parents provided all the technology in the household and were major consumers themselves. All eight of the participating parents and their spouses used computers and the Internet from home and it can be inferred, from student interviews, that the four nonparticipating parents did the same. The majority of participating parents used the home computer to do paid or volunteer work at home; none were in school themselves. The military-connected spouses of the participants all were reported to have used a computer at work and 75% of them used at computer at home to do work. Furthermore, five of the spouses had used a computer recently to do school work, continuing education being important to them. All participating parents and their spouses used the Internet at least once a day and five of the eight reported that their third grade child did the same (see Figure 25). The phrase at least once a day was, for most, a major understatement. When asked how often she used the Internet, Chris s mother said, Oh, Lord! To the same prompt, Karen s mother said, That s cute. Yes, I do that [at least] one time a day. It s way more than that. Internet use often extended outside the house; Beryl s mom said, [A]ny place there s wireless Internet, we ll use it. [Laughs] 8 How often do you usually use Internet? Respondent Spouse Student Figure 25. Parent Interview 1 Prompt, Section 3A, #21. Responses from all 8 participants are shown. Respondent answered for self, spouse, and student. 91

107 none less than 30 min. about min. about 1-2 hours about 2-3 hours more than 3 hours Number of Students For all their use of computers and the Internet the parents were comfortable using technology. Asked to rate their comfort level with technology on a scale from 0 (low) to 5 (high), participating parents rated themselves an average of 3.9 with one 5, five 4 s, and two 3 s. They rated their military-connected spouses higher, with an average of 4.6 from six 5 s, a 4, and a 3. All except one participant rated their spouse s comfort level equal to or higher than their own. Their Children Unlike their perception of time spent on computers in school which was reported to be about minutes (see Figure 22 on page 74), students perceptions of time spent on computers at home varied more (see Figure 26). This is not unexpected since unlike their school experience, home life is much more unique and is controlled by 12 different entities (parents) rather than just one (the teacher). Alberto reported that he spent less than 30 minutes a day on computers at home and his father said, I try to let him play as much as possible away from anything that is electronic. Fernand reported he spent 1 to 2 hours on the computer and his mother said, [He s on everyday] unless he s in trouble [so] that he doesn t get to go on the Internet cause that s all, that s his That s what matters to him. Estimates of time spent on the computer at home 12 How much time do you spend on computers every day? At Home Figure 26. Student Interview 1 Prompt, Section 3A, #2. Responses from 11 participants are shown; S04 did not respond. 92

108 every day were evenly distributed among less than 30 minutes (3 students), about minutes (3), and 1-2 hours (3). One student said none and only a couple of students one stating 2-3 hours and the other stating more than 3 hours fell in higher ranges. Still, it is safe to say that there is no norm among the students home use. Students were asked Likert scale questions about their accessibility to computers and the Internet at home during each of the two interviews. The means and medians of the class s responses are listed in Table 8. The class, on average, was allowed by their parents to use computers and, although a bit less, the Internet. Only one of the twelve participants, Dorian, consistently disagreed with both My parents allow me to use computers and My parents allow me to use the Internet. Accessibility 1. My parents allow me to use computers. 6. My parents allow me to use the Internet. 93 Interview 1 Interview 2 Mean Median Mean Median Table 8. Mean and median accessibility scale self-reports for both interviews. All items on a scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree); 3 is neutral. Bolded items were rated exactly the same in both interviews. Interview 1 averages are from all 12 students; Interview 2 averages from all except S08 who PCS ed. The Home Microsystem Activities Homes in which young children reside are very active. During the home visits, brief snippets of the kinds of activities engaged in were seen; other bits were gleaned from the student and parent interviews. There was ball playing, doll dressing, martial arts practicing, pet caring, play fighting, book reading, conversing, tree climbing, trampoline jumping, and, of course, just running around. Since this study is about children and computers, the focus of the home visits and interviews were activities related to the computer. As recounted earlier (see Figure 26 on the previous page), students reported spending varying amount of time on the computer at home, from none to more than three hours a day. This section details some of their home computer activities.

109 searching info for school searching info for other purposes readingnews playing games chatting surfing online for fun downloadingm usic, pics, movies, etc blogs,discussion boards, etc educational sites other Number of Students Just as they were asked about their Internet usage at school (see Figure 23 on page 77), the students were asked At home, what do you use the Internet for? As shown in Figure 27, playing games and going on educational sites were activities engaged in by all participants at home; searching information for school was a nearly unanimous activity with 11 of the 12 participants choosing it. Other activities that were reported by at least half the participants were: surfing online for fun (8 students); downloading music, pictures, movies, etc. (8); chatting (7); (6); and searching info for other purposes (6). 12 What do you use the Internet for? (multiple responses allowed) At Home Figure 27. Student Interview 1 Prompt, Section 3A, #7. Responses from all 12 participants are shown; multiple responses allowed. Parents use computers and the Internet at home, too. Leslie s mother wrote, I use the Internet daily hourly!! As reported earlier (see Figure 25 on page 98), every participating parent indicated that they used the Internet daily. To find when the parents and students worked together on the computer, students were asked How much time do your parents spend on working with you on computers every day? The majority of students indicated that they worked with their parents on the computer, only three did not, and that this collaboration was less than 30 minutes (see Figure 28). Also disclosed during many of the interviews was home computer time spent in concert with siblings or friends. Sometimes the third grader got help from a sister, 94

110 Number of Students sometimes the third grader helped her brother, and sometimes they just played together on the computer. 12 How much time do your parents spend working with you every day? On computers min. less than 30 min. about none about 1-2 hours about 2-3 hours more than 3 hours Figure 28. Student Interview 1 Prompt, Section 3A, #5. Responses from 11 participants are shown; the 12 th replied I don t know. The next four subsections report the findings of computer applications used at home, research performed at home, games played at home, communications done at home, and multimedia enjoyed at home. These subsections run parallel to those reported in The School Microsystem Activities Section with the exception of the Project subsection. The intent is to report items here which were exclusively done at home and then in The Mesosystem Activities section those items which connected school and home. Software Applications Hardware needed software. References to Software Applications were the most coded items throughout all sources of data (see Table 5 on page 66). Student interview and home visit records and parent interview records were further coded for references to software applications. Student References. The second substantive item in the first interview was Tell me about your computer usage at home. Table 9 shows, in the column labeled Coded Computer Usage at Home - Interview 1 Item#2 Conversations, how many times each application was 95

111 referenced in responses to that item, by either the interviewee or interviewer, in the sub-column labeled Number of References. An application was often referenced multiple times within the conversation that ensued from the prompt; the number of student interviews in which the referenced application was mentioned at least once is shown in the sub-column labeled Number of Students. It is important to note that this was an open-ended item with no foreshadowing of particular applications. Raz-Kids was mentioned within the most student Interview 1 s; four (4) of the twelve. The only other applications mentioned in more than one interview were, IXL Math (3), MS Word (3), Assessments (2), Cool Math (2), and YouTube (2). Two contrasts relative to the similar item about usage of applications in school (see Table 7 on page 82) are noteworthy. First, none of the applications were part of any more than 25% of the conversations relative to the item at home; whereas four were mentioned in at least 50% of the conversations relative to school usage. Second, there is a wider variety of applications mentioned in home usage. The second substantive item in the second interview was Tell me how you learn using computers at home. Table 9 shows, in the column labeled Coded Computers and Learning - Interview 2 Item#2 Conversation, how many times each application was referenced in response to that item by the interviewee or interviewer. The number of student interviews in which the application was referenced is also displayed. IXL Math (4), Raz-Kids (3), and Google (2) were the only applications referenced in more than one conversation in response to this open-ended item. Lastly, as stated earlier in reference to Table 7 on page 82, Table 9 also shows the total number of references by students only to each application throughout all interview and home visit records. Also displayed is the number of students who referenced the application. The top five, in descending order of the number of students who made the references, are Raz-Kids (12), IXL Math (11), Google (11), Type to Learn (10), and Assessments (10). 96

112 Coded Computer Usage at Home - Interview1 Item#3 Conversations Coded Learning from Home - Interview2 Item#3 Conversations Coded Overall - All Interviews & Home Visits Students ONLY Software/ Number of Number of Number of Number of Number of Application References Students References Students References Assessments Number of Students BrainPOP Britannica Calculator Cool Math envisionmath Facebook FaceTime Google Google Earth itunes IXL Math Mathletics MS PowerPoint MS Word Raz-Kids Skype SMART Notebk Type to Learn Typing Web YouTube Table 9. References to specific applications that were used at home in response to open-ended items in each student interview (Interview 1, Item #3 and Interview 2, Item #3) and throughout all interview and home visits; highlighted applications were those referenced in the teacher s plan book 97

113 Parent References. The parent interview prompts did not contain references to specific software applications although types of software usage were prompted (i.e. word processing/desktop publishing, spreadsheets, databases). Nevertheless, the parents did reference software applications. Coding within their interviews followed the same scheme as the students (see Table 9 on the previous page), in this regard. Of the seven parents who gave oral interviews, the following software applications were mentioned by more than one parent within their interviews: Skype (9 references within 6 parent interviews), Raz-Kids (6 within 5 interviews), Microsoft Word (8 within 4 interviews), Google (8 within 4 interviews), YouTube (8 within 3 interviews), FaceTime (7 within 3 interviews), Microsoft PowerPoint (4 within 2 interviews), and BrainPOP (3 within 2 interviews). Also mentioned in one interview were: Facebook, itunes, IXL Math, and Mathletics. Research Searching info for purposes other than school was an activity reported by half the students (see Figure 27 on page 94). Leslie said she looks things up because sometimes I'm just curious of stuff. Ernesto said that he liked to look up historical information. Gordon looked for pictures of a machinegun that interested him and stinging nettle to see if it was the plant his father had encountered in the woods. Alberto looked up a Sidewinder missile on the Internet to see a picture because books don't usually show you, like, stuff that is too big for the page. Ingrid said, [S]ometimes if you need something, like if you have a question, you can look on the web and it might tell you what the answer is. As an example of something he would look up online, Dorian said, [U]sually I would use Google to, like, sometimes, I don t know, like, prehistoric times. Cause I like prehistoric. Fernand stated that sometimes his mom directs him to the Internet to learn more about a topic. Parents used the Internet at home to search for information, too. Karen s mother indicated she has researched recipes for her job and music as the choir director. Beryl s parents used the Internet to research houses in their next duty station. Leslie s mother called the Internet information at your fingertips. Joyce said, Sometimes when my mom needs to find something out, we use Google. The Internet could be used to gather news, weather and sports information. During their interviews, all eight participating parents reported that they and their spouses used the Internet for this purpose; only two of them said their third grader did the same. All eight participating 98

114 parents also reported that they and their spouses used the Internet to search for and purchase products and services; only half of them said their third grader performed these activities online. Games I observed Moshi Monsters, Nancy Drew: Secret of the Old Clock, Plants vs. Zombies, and Stardoll in action during the home visits. ABCya, Club Penguin, Command & Conquer, Cool Math 4 Kids, Free Realms, Friv, Games Freak, Kizi, MovieStarPlanet, Not Doppler, Pixie, Hollow, Poptropica, Safe Kid Games, and Star City were games that were mentioned during the open-ended parts of the first student interview; ten students each named at least one game and the other two students said playing games was something they did at home. Almost all of these games are Internet-based computer games. Additionally, in reply to a specific question during Interview 1, every student participant reported that they played games on the Internet at home (see Figure 27 on page 94). Furthermore, nine of the students said that playing games was the task for which they spent the most time using the Internet. All eight participating parents reported, during their interviews, that their third grade children played games on the computer that did not require the Internet. Five of the parents said they did the same. Four reported their spouses played non-internet games. Playing games on the Internet was again unanimously reported for the children and for a higher number of parents: six of the participants and seven of their spouses. Using technology to play games extended beyond the computer. ipod, ipad, and Kindle games were also shown during home visits or mentioned during conversations with students. Nine of the ten students specifically asked reported having at least one game console; the tenth was looking forward to getting his. Communication All eight participating parents reported, during their interviews, that they and their spouses used at home. Only three reported that their third grade student used at home. Six students reported using the Internet for (see Figure 27 on page 94); three matched their parents report, two had parents that did not participate, and one s response conflicted with her parent s. Seven of the eight parents reported that they, their spouses, and their third grader had used the Internet for telephone calls this year. 99

115 and the telephone, even when run through the Internet, are older forms of communication. A wide array of newer forms of text, voice, and video communications where used by the participants in their homes. Joyce s mother said of her communications with family back in the States, I FaceTime with my nephew cause, you know, we re very close and my kids FaceTime with my brother and then my family we use the [XBOX] Kinect. Fernand s mother said, [H]is dad is in Afghanistan so he uses it to communicate with his dad. He ll use, um, either the imessage, or he ll make videos of himself and, you know, on his ipod. And you know those the apps where you can take your pictures and then mock yourself [he ll] do all of those things and then send those to his dad, or his grandparents. Both Ernesto and Ingrid used technology to communicate with their fathers who lived back in the States; Ingrid said, [I go on Skype] with my Dad. Beryl commented on communication with her mother who was, at the time, temporarily back in the States that the family was going to FaceTime her today. Beryl said that she text with Gordon; Gordon said that he texted with another friend; and Gordon s mom, in a follow-up, said that Gordon continued to text that same friend a year later. Video and Multimedia The eight participating parents were asked during their interview if they had Used Internet this year to listen to the radio or view TV or movies? Seven said they had, eight reported their spouse had, and six reported their third grade child had. Alberto said, I use [my dad s computer] to watch TV like every once in a while. Chris s mother said, [L]iving overseas [the computer with Internet has] been a lifesaver, I think, [to keep] the whole family [in] touch with what s going on. You know our television is not the greatest with AFN [Armed Forces Network] and you don t get select things at select hours. So, ah, my husband and I both use, um, our laptops as the source of news. Online choices for video programing were oft mentioned by the expatriate participants; the need for English language is one key reason. Ernesto said he uses Netflix because I always like watching movies. Fernand s mother said, All we do is watch Apple TV. Joyce s mother reeled off their choices, We have Netflix, Hulu's, and [we have] Apple TVs in all, almost all the TVs. And it's just, yeah, we'll watch all those. If we watch TV, that's how we watch it; if we rent movies, that's how we rent them. Humberto said, I go to Project Free TV, indicating that he also used a site, like Hulu, that 100

116 provided free streaming episodes of stateside programs. Chris said that he had found a show, Phineas and Ferb, online after watching an episode on Armed Forces Television (AFN) first. Using the Internet to bring in traditional TV shows and movies was popular with a majority of families. YouTube videos were mentioned by 12 participants, 9 students and 3 parents. For example Ernesto said he used the site to learn how to use a game console and Gordon reported watching cheat videos for his games on YouTube. Beryl mentioned a specific YouTube site, Sometimes I go on, um, YouTube and my brother found this MisterEpicMann thing. And there s plenty of videos. Like you want to see how animal eats their food, and it shows how animals eat their food and stuff. And Ingrid also had a specific use for YouTube, Like maybe music videos. Like there is this music video, You Belong with Me, from Taylor Swift. I know all the words, really, so I like hearing it a lot. Watching DVD s on a home computer was mentioned by students. As too was taking their video entertainment with them. Leslie said, [I]f we go on trips my dad will bring [his Toughbook] so [my brother] and I can watch movies. Multimedia use at home extended beyond videos to include images and audio. Listening to music was mentioned by students as an activity for which they used their mobile devices. For example, Beryl said, [W]henever I go on the trampoline I always try to bring my ipod out and listen to the music. Gordon s mother said of her family, [W]e'll listen to talks given by our church leaders, um, so you know. Beryl, Joyce, and Leslie all reported using their ipod s to take pictures. Fernand s mother said he used his to make short videos and send them to other people. The Home Microsystems Transitions Moving as part of a Permanent Change of Station (PCS) was a way of life for militaryconnected families. Five families who were part of this study PCS ed out during or just after the academic year: one in May and the others in June/July. PCS ing is a process that includes packing up the entire household, shipping out personal goods, living under temporary conditions, moving the family to the new duty location, living under more temporary conditions, procuring a new home, and moving into it. So to, sometimes military-connected individuals move not as part of a PCS but for other reasons. Two students who were pare of this study transitioned this way: one came in January to live with her mother and another left in March to live in the States. Over 101

117 half of the participating students (7 of 12) and their families were involved in a transition during this study. Moving disrupted technology access at home as computers were packed up to be shipped and Internet connections were severed. During the conversation on how he learns using a computer at home, Chris, the student who PCS ed in May, said, I m not allowed to use the computer anymore. His lack of access was due to the move. In her final interview, Beryl said, But now, ah, at home I can't use the ipad cause we don't have any Internet, and our house is all packed out. The Mesosystem The mesosystem is the interrelationship between a student s use of technology at school and his use of technology at home. The previous sections of this chapter have detailed usage in the school and in the homes of the students. This section examines the connections between those two microsystems. In keeping with the structure of this report, this section lays out classwide similarities in mesosystems and Chapter 5 lists some of the connections for each student. So too, this section on the mesosystem is sub-sectioned in the same way as the previous two about microsystems The mesosystem is harder to describe because it, unlike the microsystems, is not an observable space. Direct observation was not a means of data collection regarding the mesosystem. The interviews with the teacher, students, and parents were used, some of which contained pointed question regarding connections. Overall themes and inferences between school and home activities guide the findings presented here. The Mesosystem Roles & Interpersonal Relationships The salient role of the children in this study was students who learn through their use of technology. That role was unchanged in the two settings, school and home, albeit markedly different within these two venues. The role of the teacher and the role of the parents were different but they contained many similarities. Two similar characteristics which stood out strongly from the data were provider and protector. The teacher and parents were providers because these adults provided the technology being used by the children. They were protectors 102

118 because these adults sought to protect children from the inappropriate places that technology, especially the Internet, could take them. Provider In the classroom, Ms. Barr had arranged to have the technology available for the students and she served as gatekeeper for its use. Lessons were planned for the computer lab and using the computers within the classroom. She said, [S]ometimes on the weekends I sit there and search things and write down exact websites. And put it right in my plan book or my outline. Planned usage does not preclude the use of computers on other occasions, for example when unknown words or concepts come up within the discourse or reading. Students are allowed to use the computers to research these but with permission. Ms. Barr said, Okay maybe you can t just pop-up out of seat, and run all around, and get it. But you should raise your hand and say may I get a laptop? The teacher managed technology use within the classroom. Parents managed technology at home. They provided for the hardware, software, and the Internet service. Most devices within the home had specific ownership: mom s ipad, dad s laptop, my brother s ipod ; at least eight of the participating students had a device that had been given to them. Even so, all six of the households visited had a computer in a central location that was considered the family s computer. The parents served as gatekeepers for access to these devices ranging from Dorian s reported lack of access to Fernand s incessant use and overseers of the computer rules ranging from time restricted usage to nebulous do no wrong rules. Students were aware when they had an obligation to obtain permission to use the computer and Internet, both at school and at home. When asked about his usage of Google in the classroom, Chris said, We re allowed to and followed that by [Y]ou got to ask. About his home usage of the resource, Dorian said, The only time my mom lets me go on Google is when, um, I have to search for something. About a more entertaining activity, Alberto said, I sometimes play video games when I'm finished with all my homework if my dad lets me. About hardware at her house, Ingrid said, My mum has two computers, but she uses one for her homework, and then, um, the other one she, um, lets me sometimes go on [that] computer if I need it. 103

119 More concerned Less concerned About the same Number of Parents Protector Ms. Barr worried out loud during interviews about what could come up on the Internet. She worried about the students seeing inappropriate material. She said that when doing group activities, I can say they could just hold up, and I can Google search the image. Then if it s okay I can turn the projector on. But when then students search, It makes me a little nervous when they do it by themselves, I m afraid inappropriate things come up. But we talk about it a lot. And I m like you know I can t always look at everything, so if anything inappropriate pops up just X- out immediately. We have to talk about that all the time. So she provides them with lessons on digital citizenship and strategies for dealing with inappropriate material. (There is also a filter on the network used at school.) Parents also sought to protect their children from inappropriate material. When asked how concerned they were about exposing children to certain kinds of material on the Internet, compared to television, all eight participating parents said more concerned (see Figure 29). 8 How concerned are you about the Internet compared to the following? Providing information - compared to the telephone Exposing children to certain kinds of material - compared to TV 1 0 Figure 29. Parent Interview 1 Prompt, Section 4, #33 and #34. Responses from all 8 participants are shown. The majority of these same parents (six out of eight) were less concerned or had the same concern about providing information on the Internet, compared to the phone. This would appear 104

120 to indicate a relative trust in the Internet when it came to providing personal data, in comparison to doing so on an older technology, but a lack of trust when it came to material appropriate for children. Parents knew that even without trying, their child might see something on the Internet that they would deem inappropriate. They had different ways of mitigating this danger. Joyce s parents put parental controls on the family computer. Ingrid s mother took the Internet off Ingrid s tablet. Alberto s father used intense supervision, saying, They need to be supervised every time they want to look for something or, ah, even if they want like look at [something that] Ms. Barr introduced them to, like some science videos. Fernand s mother echoed what seemed to be a more common management style, That's not their fault if [they] put in something and this comes up. It's not their fault; as long as you act appropriately when you see that. Karen s mom addressed the issue head on, saying, So they grow up fast enough, we don t need to assist them in that, by exposing them too soon to things. They re gonna be exposed, there s no way around that. And I m under no delusion that [my guards] and my all of my, um, preventive measures are going to avoid the process, but I can at least slow it down. Students knew their obligation to avoid inappropriate material. They strongly agreed that some websites are not good for children and disagreed that I trust everything on the Internet (see Table 6 on page 75). When asked what she would do if something inappropriate came up by accident, Ingrid said, I ll press the X button. This course of action was echoed by several of her classmates. Fernand, explaining how he knew something was inappropriate, said, [O]n YouTube, um, I think I could tell when I watch a little bit if it is inappropriate. And sometimes I know because, um, the picture shows. His mother said, I'm sure [watching inappropriate material] will become more of a concern but right now they're all like, ah, and the first thing they do is run and tell me that, you know, saw some topless lady ad or whatever. So right now they narc on themselves. Her statement indicated that what may be a deliberate attempt to view websites that parents would deem inappropriate is not generally a concern a parent would have about a third grader, accidental viewing is. Ecological Model: The Micro- and Mesosystems with Role Elements The children in this study learned through the use of technology at school and, often more informally, through the use of technology at home. Two roles which the adults held in common were provider and protector; the teacher fulfilling these roles in school and the parent at home. 105

121 The adults provided the technology used by the children and sought to protect them from inappropriate ramifications of that use. Figure 30 shows the role elements within the ecological model. The child is in the mesosystem as he provided the direct link between the school microsystem where he was a student and the home microsystem where he was a son. The roles of provider and protector are in the mesosystem because they overtly occurred in both microsystems. Figure 30. The ecological model for this Children & Computers study with role elements included. The Mesosystem Activities Activities placed in the mesosystem are those which occurred in the school microsystem and the home microsystems. An activity did not have to be exactly the same in both school and home settings to qualify; similar activities would do. The importance of the activities placed in the mesosystem was their potential for impacting the conditions for applying technologies in learning. The activities described here are ones in which connections have been made by the children or those with the possibility of having connections made in the future. Clearly, the assignment of homework by the teacher in school and the completion of that work at home by the students was a concrete example of a connection between the learning that goes on in the classroom and its extension to the home. Ms. Barr was observed assigning homework at the end of the school day; she wrote it on the overhead and the students copied it to 106

122 Number of Students an assignment sheet. Data on non-technology related homework were not specifically collected for this study but students were asked How much time do your parents spend on working with you on your schoolwork every day? Eighty-three percent (83%) of the students reported getting help on their homework with the majority saying that help was less than 30 minutes (see Figure 31). 12 How much time do your parents spend working with you every day? On your schoolwork min. less than 30 min. about none about 1-2 hours about 2-3 hours more than 3 hours Figure 31. Student Interview 1 Prompt, Section 3A, #5. Responses from all 12 participants are shown. Students reported using the computer for homework, in addition to a variety of other uses, as shown in the responses to the question What do you use the computer for? The item did not specifically ask about school or home use but is presented here nonetheless (see Figure 32). Playing computer games and searching for information for schoolwork were two activities that the participants unanimously agreed upon. Using software like Word and PowerPoint was indicated by 83% of the participants in the class; homework, surfing online for fun, and chatting were all indicated by more than half of the participants as usages for a computer. 107

123 homework search info for schoolwork surf online for fun playcomputer games chat software(exp Word, PPT) create websites other Number of Students What do you use the computer for? (multuple responses allowed) Figure 32. Student Interview 1 Prompt, Section 3A, #4. Responses from all 12 participants are shown; multiple responses allowed. Figure 33 combines school uses of the Internet from Figure 23 (page 77) and home uses of the Internet from Figure 27 (page 94) into one graphic. The side-by-side comparison shows three uses to have been reported as nearly universal in both school and home: visiting educational sites, searching information for school, and playing games. Searching information for other purposes was reported by half the students, nearly equally at home and school. The other activities had a disparity between home and school use. It was obvious, not only from the quantitative data but from interview responses, that students felt that some activities were only to be done in school and some only at home. Asked if she ever used a SMART Board at home, Karen replied with the self-evident answer, No, I don t have one at home. When asked if he ever used an ipad in school, Chris said, No way!! although he did think it would be cool. About using a game console at school, Dorian said, That s silly. 108

124 searching info for school searching info for other purposes readingnews playing games chatting surfing online for fun downloadingm usic, pics, movies, etc blogs,discussion boards, etc educational sites other Number of Students 12 What do you use the Internet for? (multiple responses allowed) In School At Home Figure 33. Student Interview 1 Prompt, Section 3A, #7 & #8. Responses from all 12 participants are shown; multiple responses allowed. Although two-thirds of the students reported using the computer for homework (see Figure 32 on the previous page), it was not necessary that they do so. Ms. Barr was reticent to assign tasks which required the use of a computer at home. During the second interview she said: [I] think that part of the problem in the past, which I think the gap keeps narrowing, is that there s always someone that doesn t have a computer. So even if there s one child that doesn t have a computer, it s hard as the teacher because then how is that fair you know. I mean, yeah, you can say, you can do it here at school or whatever. But to actually say that okay your homework assignment is to go home and you know research or something. Or I want everyone to go on YouTube and watch this and be ready to report on it. It s hard. Cause, you know, and then we have a lot of PCS, my computer is not here yet. You know, so there s a lot of issues that still have to be resolved before you can just assume, but it s pretty good now. I mean you can pretty well assume someone has some sort of access. I mean, if I was a parent, and I had no computer, I could empower myself. I know [the] bowling center has free internet right there. Home uses of the computer were suggestions by the teacher. Ms. Barr said that she sent home the login information for educational sites used at school, that she recommended specific sites for specific purposes and that she discussed home computer usage with parents at conferences. But during School Year she did not assign homework that specifically required use of a computer. 109

125 Software Applications Raz-Kids and IXL Math were the two applications that were mentioned by the most number of students during the open-ended part of the first interview as being how they used computers in school and how they used computers at home (see Figure 34; data from Table 7 on page 82 and Table 9 on page 97).These were the applications used by them on an individual basis during class and these were recommended by the teacher for home use. Even beyond that, they were school-wide applications used to increase reading and math skills, school-wide efforts. Still, no student expressed an ongoing use of the software on a regular basis; quite the opposite. Not only are the numbers from the open-ended items lower for home use Raz-Kids was mentioned by 4 students for home use vs. 10 for school use and IXL Math was mentioned by 3 for home use vs. 9 for school use but direct questioning into the use of these applications at home was often met with qualifiers. As to using Raz-Kids at home: Alberto said, Not really ; Chris said, A long time ago I, um, went on Raz-Kids ; Fernand said, Um, not that much but sometimes ; and Karen said, Sometimes, yes As to using IXL Math at home: Beryl said, Sometimes ; Dorian said, Um, I want to but my dad and mom won t let me ; Gordon said, And I do IXL a bit but I ve only done that like once so far on these [home computers] ; Ingrid said, Um, not so much but yeah I still do it ; Joyce said, My mom makes me do that ; and Leslie said, I do IXL sometimes, only whenever I have time. There was no student who gave an unadulterated yes to using these programs at home but most of the students did just respond with a simple yes about using them at school. Furthermore, no student went into any detail about these programs or showed anything beyond a passing interest. 110

126 Number of Students with References to Software Application Students Referencing Software Applications During Open-Ended Items in Interview 1 Computer Usage in School Computer Usage at Home Figure 34. References to specific software applications there were used in school and at home in response to open-ended items in the first student interview (Interview 1, Item #2 & #3) Some of the applications that were used in school were not available at home. Assessments were mainly done through school-based services and Type to Learn was run on a school server. (Student responses as to their use at home are inexplicable.) Typing Web was an attempt by the school to offer keyboarding practice at home; it was not often mentioned as an application done at home. One the other hand, Microsoft Word is a program available on all computers in the school but not specifically used by Ms. Barr for in class assignments. Some students reported using this program at home. About using Word at school, Leslie said, Um not really at school, but mainly at home. Figure 35 shows application data in a different way. In that diagram, the number of references is stacked for each piece of software: teacher references on the bottom, then student, then parent references on top. Google not only has the most number of references but those references are proportionally diffused through the three groups of participants. This would indicated an application that has a base in what the teacher does, is used by the students, and has a place in the home. Raz-Kids, YouTube, and Microsoft Word are all similarly stacked. IXL Math shows less parental references. Both the assessments and Type to Learn have no references 111

127 by that group, not surprisingly because these applications are generally not available for home use. Several applications Facebook, FaceTime, Google Earth, itunes, Mathletics, and Skype were only mentioned by the students and their parents, indicating they did not have much of a connection to school. Finally, Cool Math for Kids is an interesting software application because it is an educational site that was mentioned by several students but seemingly not as a direct result of adult prompting. Figure 35. References to specific software applications by the teacher, students, and parents Projects Projects were multifaceted school assignments that were more involved than daily homework and designed to be completed over a longer period of time. The teacher assigned projects on a regular basis with the notion that they would be done at home but the use of a computer, although encouraged, was not required. Doing Projects was an activity referenced by all but one of the students. Parents were very aware of these, with six out of eight referencing projects as something their child did at home on the computer (see Table 5 on page 66). 112

128 Joyce s mother said of Word, [T]hat s where [Joyce] does all her projects for Ms. Barr. Alberto s father said, [For some] projects Ms. Barr make him use Word and something, indicating incorrectly that his son had to use Word but acknowledging that he worked on a project at home. Chris s mother talked about her son using PowerPoint at home to do a project on states of matter. Leslie indicated a collaborative effort had occurred at home on her projects: Um, if it s for a project my dad will probably work until it s time for bed. We ll be working on it. Um, I ll just like get my head down, start like signing things and have him sign it, and, um, I ll just be doing the rough draft, and printing it out. Yeah, and, um, then probably, and then my dad will like help out cause he like prints it out, get the question board, or whenever we re using for it, glue it all on. And then I ll do like the decorations of those. While showing his computer during a home visit, Fernand talked about using it to do projects, the last of which he noted was a state project, Ah, I did like, um, mostly every project, um, we like, um, if we have to write it down, we just write it on here and then print it out. Alberto talked about using a particular piece of software to do a project, PowerPoint for some of my projects. Beryl said, For when we have assignments we have to type like at home. I, um, when we have our projects I type it on the computer. Ingrid said about software on her computer, I usually use it for projects. Joyce talked about a project she worked on at home, And we have, I mean cause we had a make a project how to do something. I used a cute Santa, also drew it with just a pen and book and then paint it. So it looks like a Santa. The project seemed to be very non-tech until she added, I typed in how I did it, and then I printed it. Dorian, who often bemoaned that he rarely got to use a computer at home, said of one of his project, And then my mom came home and then I had to type it on her computer. Typing up projects at home with Word or a similar program was an almost universally mentioned home endeavor of the class members. Doing research was another aspect of projects. Research The idea of research is tied closely, in one way, with doing projects. Asked during the home visit about the last thing he looked up on Google, Gordon said, Hmm, I don t know. Um, for a project I did some research, some Texas stuff. I don t know if you knew about, you know, about that project and all? Getting information for my projects with Ms. Barr, is one of the ways Karen uses a computer at home. Ingrid talked about looking up information in two ways, Um, sometimes on my homework, I have difficulties so I go on the, um, the Internet to ask, um, 113

129 to help me. Like or if I have an essay, like Ms. Barr gives us a project and we have to go online, and then we have to [ask] the questions on it and then it has to tell you the answer and then you have to make a project out of that. Sometimes research extended beyond projects and specific school work. Leslie said, And sometimes I m just curious of stuff And then I look, do the research and I look it up what I was curious. Ernesto, who was a self-proclaimed history buff, said, I do history Google Yeah and I type, ah um, the past like 1899, what they did. Ingrid s response to a question on using her home computer to search for information for school was out of the box: Sometimes, like if this is for yearbooks or something, maybe. Every student referenced Researching as something they did on the computer (see Table 5 on page 66). Furthermore, the Google search engine was a software application synonymous with doing research and it was cumulatively the most referenced application by all groups of study participants (see Figure 35 on page 112). Parents supported research. Karen s mother talked about the need for her daughter to be able to use the computer for research, Joyce s mother talked about the relative ease of having her daughter look up information online for compared to using an encyclopedia, while Beryl s mother lamented that her daughter may be relying on the computer too much and should be able to use books to look up information. Leslie s mother wrote that the computer is great for getting information for projects. Alberto s father said, he has to do a research and he look for pictures and stuff like that extending the definition of research beyond textual information. Fernand s mother said, [Fernand uses a computer for school] when he does research for Ms. Barr, indicating her awareness, and capsulizing the sentiments of her peers, of a main school-home connection for the computer. Ms. Barr supported her students using computers to search for information by saying, [The students have] been doing a lot of research on their own anymore. And it used to be a lot harder, but they re so used to computers now that they just they know search engines, they know I mean they just do it. And while she did not require the computer and Internet for assignments she did expect they re usage. She said: [O]ne thing especially I noticed this year, I have a lot of children who at this age are very un-empowered people you know. Like they ll come to[school] and they ll just [say] I didn t know this. And I m just like, excuse me but we re in the 21st Century here. If you had any kind of imagination whatsoever you would have gone to the computer or asked your parents maybe you could have Google searched it. You know I think the time is over in education where the child comes with a question unanswered or 114

130 a blank page and says, oh, I forgot my book. Oh guess what... go online. Oh yes, oh I do, I give punches for it too, I give consequences. I say, if you come to me, then I need a written note from your parents saying that you had no way to go online, and research this. Because you know they just wanna be so un-empowered, and this is the age to teach them, you know. They ll say, I don t know. I forgot my book, so I couldn t do it. And I talk to a lot of parents about that at conferences. I even call at home and said, Couldn t they Google search it? I mean, even we have some parents who are like, oh they forgot the book, I don t know we have all the answers right there. So I really try to encourage the kids in some way you know look it up. Or ask the search engine. By her words, research on the Internet to help with assignments was a form of empowerment that she tried to instill in her students. And she expected this empowerment to carry over to the homes and to be supported by the parents. She gave an example: I had a mom say to me, We were in the car. I had the, whatever it was, the BlackBerry, or whatever, and I just looked it up there in the car, you know. And I m like, okay, there s an empowered family, you know. After going on each of the home visits, Ms. Barr indicated that she saw disconnect between the students who did not say they used a computer at home much to do school work and the work they produced. She said: Games Well the first thing I thought, honestly, was the things that the children were telling us didn t really match what I saw at school. Like when they bring their reports and they clearly have used a computer for a lot of things we did in class this year. I mean it goes on and on, but none of them mentioned it. And I thought, now why? Like you went back to say, they don t make connections. It s like home and school is totally disconnected. I mean we ve done Native American reports. We did State projects and the kids would even have on their reports, oh I found it on this website or. But then when you say, how do you use a computer for any learning, they re like, well, ah... They had to have. Computer games were not used in the classroom, per se, but video game features were present in the educational software used. Raz-Kids awards stars for every book listened to and read, quizzes or assessment taken, and assignments successfully computed, Incentives including the Raz Rocket and Robot Builder motivate students to earn more stars by providing engaging features to personalize both (Learning A-Z, 2014b). About itself, IXL exclaims: Embark on a virtual treasure hunt as you tackle math challenges and reveal colorful prizes. The more you practice, the more you win (IXL Learning, 2014b). Students were observed pouring their prizes in IXL Math in the classroom. The Raz Rocket was closed most of the year by the school manager of Raz-Kids to keep students from spending too much time on that feature. Raz-Kids 115

131 was incentivized, along with the Reading Counts assessment, with a school-wide points earning gold/silver/bronze medal program. That program was announced to parents and had an objective of having the students use Raz-Kids and read at home. Ms. Barr used the slide presentation materials that were part of the envisionmath series. These provided not only colorful reproductions of the text but multimedia and interactive features. Although not a feature available for her use, Pearson had added a new feature to envisionmath, touting on their website, Welcome to the Future! DimensionM is an immersive 3D video game world that engages students in learning and applying mathematics. Standards-based objectives are covered through a series of missions that bring math into a context that today s students understand (Pearson Education, 2014b). While BrainPOP videos were an oft used resource in the classroom, the site also included educational games. The students use of them was not an assigned class activity but Ms. Barr said that the students would ask to use the BrainPOP site during rainy day recesses. Still, there was no evidence that these games were played at home. Recess was a time for games in the classroom. About using a computer in school, Humberto said, [W]hen it s recess time I use it [to play] Friv. Other students were observed playing Friv during recess. Additionally, there are 19 references to that game site from three students and a parent. It is a game from outside which is shared in school but not as part of a class activity. Along a more educational line, Cool Math for Kids was referenced by four students. Students have been observed playing it in school and reported using it outside of school. Students have also been observed playing games in the library. Games and techniques for playing them are shared informally amongst students. But none of these games, even when educational in nature have specific educational goals which match the class goals. Games played at home are not connected to specific school activities, even when they are educational. Joyce s mother said, We ve bought her, um, actual programs where it helps her with, you know, the certain grade that she is in; it has stuff to help her with that grade level. Her comment shows a desire to enhance grade level skills through technology, making a connection in a general way to what is done in the classroom. Communication Outside communications were not activities that took place in Ms. Barr s room. She reported that she ed the parents about individual concerns and sometimes sent them group 116

132 informational s but she did not students nor did the students use the computer to correspond with others. All students in grades 3-12 in the military-connected school system were issued an address by the system; Ms. Barr did not pass these on to the students. In response to the prompt What do you use the Internet for? six students chose (see Figure 33 on page 109); several of these talked about their address and the people that they ed. No student said they used in school and Joyce said, No, cause [the librarian] won t let us and Ms. Barr will get mean, you ll get in trouble. Clearly this form of communication used by half the class, albeit on a limited basis, was not welcome in school. Chatting, text messaging, blogging/discussion boards, and website creation were all forms of textual communication that were each reported but at least one student as something they did; chatting was reported by seven students. None of these were used for academic classroom activities. FaceTime, Skype, and other forms of video communication were reported by student as activities they did at home. Similar to these, in school they twice used videoconferencing technology to interact with a SAAM professional art expert in Washington, DC. The extraordinary activity was taken in stride by the students, not garnering any extraordinary amazement, most likely because of video chat experiences at home. (It must be noted that Skype is blocked in school and the SAAM videoconferences used equipment not normally available at the school.) Participating parents reported universal usage of at home by the adults in their household and of /instant messaging at work by their spouse. Five of them acknowledged that their third grade child had used within the past year. Seven of the eight parents said that they had used the Internet in the past year to place a telephone call; all of these said their child had done the same. Video calls through Skype or similar technologies were reported by parents as a way to keep up with family and friends back in the States; the students joined in on these calls. Only the plain old telephone system (POTS) was used for calls from the classroom. Video and Multimedia There was a plethora of video and multimedia used in school and at home. Ms. Barr played DVD s and VCR tapes. She used videos from BrainPOP specifically targeted to educational objectives and videos from YouTube which she melded into her lessons. She played videos for entertainment and their value to show period genre, i.e. Little House on the Prairie. The students reported, both in interviews and during home visits, watching DVD s, streaming 117

133 video through sites such as Netflix, and watching online videos from sites such as YouTube. Eight of the twelve students reported downloading music, pics, movies, etc. at home (see Figure 33 on page 117) and YouTube was a much referenced application by the teacher, students, and parents (see Figure 35 on page 112). Video was prevalent in both microsystems. Specific connections were made as students accessed from home the videos that they had seen in school. Ms. Barr frequently used videos from the subscription service BrainPOP. The school s subscription allowed for these to be watched at home and, after entering the credentials, some students did this. Karen s mother said, Well I know that she likes to do BrainPOP quite a bit and she got that from [the school] that's for sure ; Karen knew the username and password by heart. About Liberty Kids, a series available on YouTube, Ms. Barr said, Well that one I had planned to watch in school. But some of the kids had said to me, Can we watch it at home? And I m like of course but if you go ahead, you know, don t come and blab cause we actually use that for lessons. Music was another highlight of Ms. Barr s class. The students sang songs about educational topics for learning practice and just for fun. Ms. Barr had an extensive collection of learning jingles and songs on CD and some she had downloaded into her ipod. There was no evidence that students had copies of these songs at home. Several of them did have downloaded music on their mobile devices and a couple talked about music videos. Ecological Model: The Micro- and Mesosystems with Application & Hardware and Activity Elements Technology-related activities were placed into two groups by their dependency on specific software and hardware. A number of software applications like Raz Kids, IXL Math, and Skype were specifically cited by study participants. Contrastingly, a number of activities like doing projects, researching, and playing games were also cited but not bound to specific software. Both kinds of activities played a large part in school, at home, or both as denoted by the high frequency with which they were mentioned in interviews (see Table 5 on page 66). Figure 36 shows the application and hardware elements within the ecological model. Assessments, envisionmath, and Type to Learn are applications that were used exclusively in the school microsystem; Skype, FaceTime, Facebook, and a plethora of games were applications used exclusively in the home microsystem. Raz Kids, IXL Math, and BrainPOP are shown on the line between the school microsystem and the mesosystem because while it was the intent of the 118

134 teacher, and the school as a whole, to have these applications used at home as well as in school, home use was infrequent and uninspired. SMART Boards are shown in the diagram as hardware used exclusively in the school microsystem; ipads/tables, ipods, game consoles, and smartphones are shown exclusively in the home microsystem. Desktops, laptops, and TV s are squarely in the mesosystem because these devices were in both settings. Figure 36. The ecological model for this Children & Computers study with application & hardware elements included. Figure 37 shows activity elements within the ecological model. Projects are activities which were assigned in school and some of them were completed at home, i.e. a state project. Productivity tools like Microsoft Word and Apple Keynote were used in undertaking the projects. Not necessarily the same tools were used in the school and home microsystems; so too, different students could use different tools to complete a project. Researching, often Googling, was an integral part in completing projects. In the diagram, doing projects, researching, and productivity tools are tied together with lines to show their interrelationship. Also, researching is an activity placed squarely in the mesosystem because it occurred frequently in both microsystems. Furthermore, the diagram shows communicating and playing games as activities which emanated from the home microsystem and have a place, albeit small, in the mesosystem because students or their parents have brought these activities into the school. Lastly, watching or listening to multimedia are activities which occurred in both microsystems and, while not exactly the same in content, are tied together for their similarity. 119

135 Figure 37. The ecological model for this Children & Computers study with activity elements included. Mesosystems Transitions Moving was a disruptive activity affecting home, school, and all aspects of a student s life. A PCS move is placed definitely in the mesosystem because it causes a change of so many microsystems at the same time. Technology could play a role in PCS moves. Joyce s mother, talking about using a device from a restaurant said, But on the tablet it s easier to move around, you know. Mobile devices were abounding with every participating family having at least one and a number of the third graders having one of their own. These devices could be used while traveling. All eight participating parents said that they used the Internet at the airport, hotel, etc. while traveling ; four said that their child did the same. And when a new duty station was reached, connections with friends could be maintained. Fernand s mother wrote in a follow-up message after her family had moved to the Continental United States, I am happy to report that he and his friend, [Jeff], FaceTime on the ipods [sic] every Friday (he moved to Seoul Korea in July) while simultaneously playing mine craft [sic] on the imac together. Every student transitions to a new grade. They take with them the computer skills that they have learned. About PowerPoint, Leslie said, I used to do that last year [in my second grade teacher] s class. Dorian talked about a project that he did when he was in second grade, with the help of his mother, about spiders. Both Leslie and Dorian attended the same school the 120

136 previous year. All of the other students, with the exception of Ingrid, also attended the same school. Ingrid brought with her knowledge of educational programs similar to the ones she was introduced to in Ms. Barr s room and other activities (i.e. Cool Math for Kids) that helped her transition technologically into the class. All of the students had to transition to a new school in School Year since third grade was the highest in the school where the study was done. Ecological Model: The Micro- and Mesosystems with Transition Elements Figure 38 shows transition elements within the ecological model. A PCS move is placed squarely in the mesosystem because it is affected by both the change in schools and the change in homes. Indeed, since a military move often involving a change in countries or states, it is a totally disruptive change. Class promotions, while not as all-encompassing, are a change of school microsystem settings. Figure 38. The ecological model for this Children & Computers study with transition elements included. Summary This chapter described the class as a whole. It used the theoretical framework and the diffusion of highest-referenced codes to populate sections on the school microsystem, the home microsystem, and the mesosystem. The teacher s and parents perspectives played a large role in 121

137 describing these areas. The students characteristics were amalgamated to get a view of a general student in the class; representative quotes were used throughout. Next, Chapter 5 describes each of the twelve study participants with a goal toward highlighting their individualities. Chapter 6 returns to the class, discussing the major themes which have arisen about it, comparing it to the literature base of this report, and drawing conclusions about it. 122

138 CHAPTER 5. THE STUDENTS The last chapter examined a third grade class in a military-connected school as one unit of study. Chapter 5 treats each student as an individual mini-case. This is in keeping with the embedded case study model as defined by Yin (2009). What follows is a description of each student in the study, their use of computers in school, their use of computers at home, and the connections that have been made by them between these two environs. While Chapter 4 amalgamated the characteristics of the 12 students in this study to produce a portrait of the class, this chapter portrays the 12 students as individuals, highlighting those characteristics and uses of technology which make them standout within the class. Each student is described in a section of this chapter. Data were collected through student interviews, parent interviews, a teacher interview, home visits, formal observations, informal observations, and document reviews. The amount of data varied depending on access to the participant. Table 10 shows a summary of the data collected. Student Parent Formal Student Home Visits Interviews Interviews Observations Alberto (S01) Beryl (S02) Chris (S03) Dorian (S04) Ernesto (S05) Fernand (S06) Gordon (S07) Humberto (S08) Ingrid (S09) Joyce (S10) Karen (S11) Leslie (S13) Table 10. Summary of collected data by student 123

139 Alberto (S01) Alberto was an athletic nine year-old who looked and dressed the part, wearing sweatpants and tee shirts nearly every day. He was observed actively participating in group games on the playground. Both he and his father declared that he was a member of a soccer team and took karate lessons. He also mentioned enjoying tennis, swimming, football, and baseball. Alberto s father said that he encouraged his children to go outside and play on nice days. Alberto was an insightful child, often answering interview prompts and in-class questions in novel ways. Alberto s father was a stay-at-home dad who was formally in the Italian Navy. His mother was a U.S. government civilian employee who was also a Major in the U.S. military reserve. Both parents had university degrees, he a bachelor s and she a master s, and both were comfortable with technology, 4 on a scale of 0 to 5, as reported by Alberto s father. Because of his naval duties, Alberto s father had been away from home a lot and, on one occasion, the rest of the family moved back to Kansas where the mother had grown up. Alberto reported that he had gone to six different schools which included an Italian school, a school in Kansas, a German school, and two U.S. military-connected schools overseas. Alberto was bilingual, speaking both English and Italian. During the study period, Alberto, his ten-year-old sister and six-year-old brother, lived with their parents in a village near the school; the family often spent vacations in Italy with Alberto s father s family. In addition to sports, Alberto reeled off a number of other hobbies that he had including playing with Nerf guns, walking the dog, riding his bike, making paper airplanes, and drawing. He also said he did experiments at home, detailing an example with an egg. Many of his outside activities were done with the family. His father corroborated the plethora of activities in which Alberto was involved. These non-tech activities could be a reason that Alberto and his family place less emphasis on computer games and tech related activities. Alberto self-reported being skilled with computers, especially when it came to finding information he needed online, and having computers and the Internet accessible to him at home (see Table 11). Alberto s attitude was not overly enthusiastic about computers. In the second interview, he rated computers are important to me as a 2 (he had rated it as a 4 during the first interview), saying I disagree because I mean [they re] 124

140 Ability Attitude 2. I am very skilled with computers. 4* 3. I am interested in working with technology and computers I know how to search for 5 4. Computers are important to me. information I need online. 3* 5. Computers help me learn better. 3.5 Accessibility 8. Internet is important to me My parents allow me to use computers. 6. My parents allow me to use the Internet Internet helps me learn better * 10. I trust everything on the Internet Some websites are not good for children. Table 11. Average ability, accessibility, and attitude scale self-reports for Alberto. All items on a scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree); 3 is neutral. Bolded items were rated exactly the same in both interviews. Italicized items marked with a * differed by more than 1 in the two interviews. not so important, like if it breaks down I start crying or anything. Alberto disagreed that he trusted everything on the Internet but his rational was different from others. He said that the Internet doesn t really show you everything that you need sometimes, citing an example whereby he was searching the term pentagon and got information on a hotel instead of the geometric figure. Alberto did strongly agree that he was interested in working with technology and computers and that some websites were not good for children; he reemphasized several times that he only went to sites that were safe for kids. Alberto s Computer Use in School When asked how he uses a computer in school, Alberto said, Ah well, we use them when we have, like questions, or we like don t know how to spell [or] do something. So we go to the computer. [Sometimes], like, we use it for Raz-Kids or Math IXL for like, [when] you finish all your work. He pointed out two of the main programs used in the class and one of the main activities for which the class used computers, looking up information on the Internet. About the latter, he went on to say, Like we go on Google, um, and then we like type in what we think it is and then, well, they show you what it really is. And then we write it down [where we] need to write it. He pointed out that the class looked up information when neither the teacher nor anyone else in the class knew it

141 Alberto s tenacity in completing a particular computer project in school, a reading group activity, was observed as I worked with his group through most of the process. He looked up information on a king cobra using an online encyclopedia and database, resources to which the school had subscriptions. He put the facts into a PowerPoint presentation, one per slide. Using an idea from other group members, he decided to print out the slides and tape them together so that they would stretch out to the 18-foot length of a king cobra. More facts were needed to make the whole length and found using Google. The fact snake was cut out, colored, and presented to the class. Even after the presentation, Alberto went back to the project to add color and some finishing touches. Alberto said he sometimes played computer games at school but only whenever the teacher says we can stay in, referring to indoor recess on inclement weather days. He reported using computers at school minutes a day. Alberto s Computer Use at Home Alberto said, Yeah, and well I sometimes play video games when I m finished with all my homework if my dad lets me. This quote points out not only that he used computers to play games but also that those games were only allowed after homework had been done and with explicit parental permission. Alberto went on to say that he played safe kid games. Like there s this website called safekidgames.com and I go there and there s some really fun games. He said that he used the computers at home less than 30 minutes per day placing him in the lowest quartile of students in this regard but combined with other data even that seems like a high estimate. Alberto reported that he sought help from his parents when he didn t know how to do something on the computer or had a question. He used the computer to watch TV at home sometimes; his father reported that they do not have a regular TV cable or satellite connection. Sometimes the family downloaded movies, especially, according to Alberto, when they were going on a trip to Italy. Alberto s father relayed that they had a ten-year old desktop, a newer laptop, an ipad, and ipod, and that each parent had a smartphone; additionally, he said that Alberto s mother often brought home her computer from work. They had a broadband DSL connection to the Internet at home. The children mostly used the desktop which was set up in a guest room. Alberto said his sister had an ipod but he s saving money so, like, that I can buy, like ah, this Go Kart. Because 126

142 it s like, I know like a phone is pretty cool, but a Go Kart is pretty cool too [Giggles], a statement which further indicates decreased interest in technology Alberto s father reported that he and his wife used the Internet on a daily basis and in several locations in addition to their home. Contrastingly, he said that Alberto used the Internet and computer less than his parents and only at home. His farther said, I try to let him play as much as possible away from anything that is electronic. Alberto did not have an account. His father said that For homework he needs to research in books and stuff like that. His parents did let Alberto play games on an iphone when he was on long trips and the family had a Nintendo Wii console at home. Alberto said the main computer rule at home was that you can't go on not trusted websites. He said that he had to ask first, have at least, like, one person by you to see [what] you do. Because you have to, like um, [be] guided, and was limited in the time spent on the computer. His father concurred, saying They can [use the computer] but, ah, limited time. And [they are] not going to surf the Internet unattended. One justification Alberto s father gave for monitoring his children s Internet usage was that not only might they see inappropriate material but they might also seek to try unsafe activities they saw online. He said, Especially for boys, what they see then they want to try. Alberto s Connections Alberto reported that he sometimes goes on IXL Math and Raz-Kids at home, pointing out that activities at home help him get top score on reading, like the reading inventory, or like the Reading Counts, both of which had to have been done at school. Alberto also made an explicit reference to a home-school connection when he said, Ah sometimes, like, if I don t know what a word means [on] my homework, I look it up too, like I do at school and at home. Sometimes, Alberto said, he looked up information for school and sometimes for fun. Alberto was the only student who listed doing research and going to educational sites as the task(s) done most often on the Internet; 75% of his classmates chose playing games. When pointedly asked if he played a lot of games on the computer, he said, not really a lot. When specifically asked how he learned using computers at home he said, I learned how to use computers at home, by school, because usually they teach you how to use computers at school. Although the response indicates a misinterpretation of the intended question, it signifies Alberto s mindset that computer skills are taught in school. His father said that Alberto had gone 127

143 on YouTube to view videos to which Ms. Barr introduced them. Alberto also indicated that he watched BrainPOP videos at home. Alberto used computers to look up facts and pictures. He said that he looked up pictures that he couldn t find in books. He reported doing a Native American project at home using PowerPoint to record his information on the tribe assigned to him. He replied on several occasions that he used computers to look things up; this activity was done both at school and at home and it indicated his self-motivation to learn things. He had also used Word to do projects at home, according to his father. About envisionmath, Alberto said that he used it during math groups in class but at home said, I don't think I could use it. While members of the class could use parts of the envisionmath program at home, the teacher had not passed on login information to the site and had not chosen to make that home connection to school software. Similarly, when asked if he had a SMART Board at home, Alberto said No. My parents said it was too big. He went on to say that he didn t think they knew what a SMART Board was but it was too expensive to ask them to buy. Still, he did not answer the question with incredulity like most of the other students. Beryl (S02) Beryl was a soft-spoken well-mannered young lady. She was a rule follower in school and at home. She was always observed on task in class and raised her hand when she wished to speak, although she did not do so often due to her quiet nature. On the home visit, Beryl was an excellent hostess, conducting the affair with good manners that were obviously a family quality. Even while operating within the bounds of rules and etiquette, Beryl was not afraid to experiment. She was curious and willing to try things, traits which repeatedly surfaced in discussions of her computer usage. Beryl often talked about her family, including her dog, and her home life appeared to be quite happy. Beryl s father was a Marine Lieutenant Colonel (O-5). Her mother, who did not have a job outside the home, was a frequent volunteer at the school and held a position with the School Advisory Council. Both parents had college degrees. According to Beryl s mother, both parents were comfortable with technology, but she a bit more so than her husband. At nine, Beryl was the middle child with an older brother (13), sister (11), and two younger brothers (7 and 5). The family lived in a large house off base; Beryl shared a bedroom with her sister on the lower 128

144 level where all the children slept. The family was set to return to the United States in June 2013 and were preparing for that transition. Outside of school, Beryl took Taekwondo lessons, working on getting her black belt, and piano lessons. She also reported enjoying playing soccer, kickball, and reading. A huge trampoline in the backyard of Beryl s house provided another enjoyable activity for her and her siblings. Beryl had access to computers and the Internet at home (see Table 12). Beryl said she was interested in working with computers, they were important to her and helped her learn, but she did not rate her ability level with them high although she like[s] using them a lot. Likewise, Beryl said the Internet was very important to her and helped her learn better but she did not trust everything on the Internet, some things are wrong, she said, and strongly agreed that some websites are not for children. Ability Attitude 2. I am very skilled with computers I am interested in working with technology and computers I know how to search for Computers are important to me. information I need online Computers help me learn better. 5 Accessibility 8. Internet is important to me My parents allow me to use computers. 6. My parents allow me to use the Internet Internet helps me learn better I trust everything on the Internet Some websites are not good for children. Table 12. Average ability, accessibility, and attitude scale self-reports for Beryl. All items on a scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree); 3 is neutral. Bolded items were rated exactly the same in both interviews. Italicized items marked with a * differed by more than 1 in the two interviews. Beryl s Computer Use in School When asked how she uses computers in school, Beryl responded I put my fingers on F, D, S and A, [and] then the thumb on the space button. She went on to further explain the typing technique she had learned during the year, responding to her very literal interpretation of the 5 129

145 question. Yet, her work on the Type to Learn program in school exemplified her work ethic in general steady, deliberate, and with as best a technique as she can muster. Beryl did online research in school. She appeared to think of this endeavor as synonymous with how one learns with computers. When researching, she often worried that something inappropriate would pop up but X ed out (used the X button to close the window) if that happened. Both her teacher and her mother had the same fear and recommended the same action when inappropriate material surfaced. Beryl said that she wrote down what she learned in her research but did not copy. The latter statement is a sign of her emerging integrity in research. Beryl used Reading Counts to take quizzes on books she had read; she had just earned a gold medal in the school s reading incentive program before the first interview. She also reported using IXL Math and Raz-Kids in school. Beryl said that she spent about minutes a day on the computer in school. Besides the educational programs mentioned and researching information, she said she also plays games in school. Beryl followed directions well and, when she understood something, was willing to help others. When working on a reading group project about desert life, Beryl quickly learned to used PowerPoint to type in her information and save it to a network drive for easy retrieval. At one point, she changed the font direction and the rest of the group liked it so she taught them how to incorporate the change into their projects. It is noteworthy that Beryl did not mention some of the technology used in whole group lessons. She was prompted to mention that envisionmath was used during her math time and that she had used a SMART Board. Beryl s Computer Use at Home Family collaboration was a theme in several of Beryl s responses. She mentioned that when she needed help she would ask her parents or older siblings and that she would help her younger siblings when they needed help. She said that her parents spent minutes a day working with her on her schoolwork and on the computer. She said, Sometimes when my mom s checking my homework she s like, I don t know what this means. So she has to look it up. This quote is indicative of both the helpfulness that went on at home and the culture of using computers to research questions that arose. In fact, Beryl seemed to have a reliance on the Internet to look up information that, when not available, was missed. By the second interview, the family s household goods had been packed up in preparation for a return to the States, they 130

146 were about to move temporarily into a hotel and, as one last hurrah, they had taken a cruise about which Beryl said: And if you re getting confused and stuff, you can look it up on the computer, and it tells you what it is, how to do it. And, um, like when I was on the cruise boat, Ms. Barr gave me some assignments, but there wasn t any Internet, only in a bar room. But she printed off some, um, some sheets that told me. And I m like, I wish we had a computer because we could go and look it up. But now, ah, at home I can't use the ipad cause we don't have any Internet, and our house is all packed out. Beryl s mom also mentioned that she used a computer, mainly her ipad, for everything, stating: I use [computers] to make lists. I use them to organize things for the kids. I use the calendar around the computer. Everything is done on the computer. So really it s kind of, you know, if a computer doesn t work [it s] scary. Her philosophy for her children using the computer was that it be accessible but monitored. She worried about what could come up on the Internet and wanted to be able to see what the children were doing. She said their main computer was in the living room but when the home visit occurred a month later they had gotten a new Mac and kept it in a spare bedroom. Beryl s mom did lament that the computer really has taken over the book and she would like to see more of a balance between the computer and books; she noted that when she asked her children to use a book to look up something they thought she was crazy. In the house, there was a variety of computers including a new Mac desktop which had replaced a 7 year-old computer just before the home visit (see Figure 39), a laptop from 2004 which had gone through several upgrades, three ipads, one other tablet, and three ipods. The family had high-speed Internet access at home and sought out access when they traveled or went to friends houses. On my visit to Beryl s house she showed me the new imac first. Beryl seemed to revel in demonstrating what she had learned on the computer. She took some time to tell about Photo Booth and how the boys used it to make silly pictures. She told about her favorite game, Stardoll, an online dress up game for girls. She liked to troubleshoot computer problems, for example, on one occasion she helped the family figure out why FaceTime wasn t working. All the time I was asking Beryl questions, she was asking me questions about how things work on the computer and how to do things. She seemed genuinely interested in learning about the computer and was not afraid to ask questions. 131

147 Figure 39. Beryl s family s new imac on a desk in the spare bedroom Beryl's secondary computer was her ipod. On it, she used imessage and a number of other apps. She had her own Apple account and could download things as long as she had credits. (The account may have been shared.) Beryl used her ipod to make a video of her friends doing the Harlem Shake. She had read books on the ipod as well as her mom s Kindle. Beryl used computers at home to keep in contact with friends and family. She said that she has used FaceTime, an Apple video messaging application, with members of her class. During the home visit, she received an imessage, an Apple text message, from her mother on her ipod. Her mom was in the States looking for a new house and the family kept in touch through text and video applications. Beryl said that she spent about minutes a day using the computer at home. She said some of the computer rules at home were: ask first, older kids help the younger kids, and if you don t understand something or you get to a bad website then you tell an adult. This last rule was reiterated by her mother during her interview because she worried about the children seeing inappropriate material. Beryl s Connections The first computer program Beryl showed me when I visited her home was Google Earth. She said that she had told her parents about it after having used it in class for a virtual tour of Washington, DC. (Her brother had also told them about it.) Google Earth was downloaded onto 132

148 the Mac. The family used it to house hunt; her father said we were able to eliminate so many homes because it has a street view. Beryl also used it to "go" to Disney World in Florida, where the family was scheduled to visit the following summer. She had explored this app on her own at home, a concrete example of tech learning in school being transferred to the home environment. Beryl said that she had FaceTimed with a student in her class and another 3rd grader in the school who was not in her class. (Her classmate did not recall having FaceTimed with her.) On FaceTime, she said, they sometimes talked about school work but I got the impressions it was primarily playing rather than educational. Still, this was one of only a handful of student perceived home uses of technology for communicating about school. Beryl said she sometimes used IXL Math, Raz-Kids, and a typing program at home. When asked if she used envisionmath at home she said no and for BrainPOP she said that she didn t have the password even though the school s subscription made it available 24/7 and allowed teachers to freely give the password to students. Beryl did research in school and research at home, although it is not readily apparent how the two related to each other, except when she was doing projects for school. Beryl reported that she brought her ipod to school, on one occasion, so that she could take pictures of the activities she was doing in an after school science club. She felt it important to include that she kept it in her bag until the club began. Use of personal hardware in school was not reported by any other student. The point system from the school s reading incentive program was so important to Beryl, she said, I read the whole book for nothing when the book she read did not have a Reading Counts quiz. The purpose of that program was to motivate students to read outside of school and show that they had done so back at school. Her comment showed that she understood the objective but the connection was not made in a positive light. Chris (S03) His mother characterized Chris as an easy going kid and a people pleaser. From my observations I would agree. Chris, himself, often brought up the importance of asking first before he did something in class. Chris was a small child and seemed to be always on the go. He talked fast with a diminutive voice. In second grade, Chris s desk was set aside from the rest of the class to reduce distractions. Chris played soccer in a local league and was looking forward to 133

149 playing football in a few years. He excitedly reported having saved $144 to buy his own computer which he said would cost about in the 200s. Chris s father was a Chief Petty Officer (E-7) in the Navy and, after nearly 19 years, was close to retirement. In what Chris s mom hoped was their final move, the family was moving to Iowa, taking up residence in the area in which she and her husband grew up. Chris s mom, who had worked as a teacher in a local preschool until the impending move made her quit, stated, So [the move is] kinda good for the kids, well, cause they ve never been around cousins or family. Chris s mom rated herself as between a 2 and 3 (on a scale of 0 to 5) comfort level with technology. She said her husband would be a 5 and reported him having had much more exposure to technology at work. Chris s mother had an associate s degree and his father a bachelor s degree. Chris strongly agreed that computers helped him learn yet he was neutral about their importance to him (see Table 13). Likewise, his interest and self-reported ability Ability 134 Attitude 2. I am very skilled with computers I am interested in working with technology and computers I know how to search for Computers are important to me. information I need online Computers help me learn better. 5 Accessibility 8. Internet is important to me. X 1. My parents allow me to use computers. 6. My parents allow me to use the Internet Internet helps me learn better I trust everything on the Internet Some websites are not good for children. Table 13. Average ability, accessibility, and attitude scale self-reports for Chris. All items on a scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree); 3 is neutral. Bolded items were rated exactly the same in both interviews. Italicized items marked with a * differed by more than 1 in the two interviews. X indicates a data irregularity. levels were not rated as high. Chris s self-rating of 4 for Internet access seems to conflict with his lower rating (2.5) for access to computers. Chris strongly agreed that some websites are not good for children. He reiterated his disdain for adult material on several occasions. His mother said he is easily embarrassed and would visibly be so were he to see inappropriate material. 5

150 Chris s Computer Use in School When asked how computers help him learn, Chris listed by name all the teacher directed software applications used by individuals in his class Raz-Kids, Reading Counts, IXL Math, Type to Learn, and Typing Web. He also said that he viewed Google as like a website for to help you on like a journal referring to locating information by using the search engine. He reported spending less than 30 minutes a day on the computers at school. He only reported searching for information at school, playing games, and going to educational sites at school. Chris was observed one recess period playing Friv, an online computer game, on a laptop in the classroom. He was collaborating with other classmates on the game which they told me was only a recess activity. Chris s Computer Use at Home About her personal philosophy of using the computer and Internet, Chris s mother said, living overseas it s been a lifesaver, I think, [to keep] the whole family in touch with what s going on. She went on to talk about getting the news online and communicating with family over the Internet with and Skype. She thought that technology was an important part of the children s world and stated I m glad both my kids are, you know, comfortably using the computer. Chris and his sister had an older desktop computer to use at home. In the last interview, Chris said his sister had tripped over the cord and cracked the monitor. No matter, Chris s mother stated that the kids preferred using her laptop most of time anyways. She reported a desktop, two laptops, an ipod, and a Kindle as available home technology. She also said that the family had a broadband connection in their off-base house but did not generally use the Internet away from the house, except for parental use while traveling. This contrasts Chris s family with some of the others that reported using the Internet everywhere. Chris s mother reported that she and her husband used the Internet everyday but Chris only a couple times a week, limited by Mom even though he bugged her to use it sometimes. Chris and his sister usually used the Internet in the living room where they could be monitored because mom worried about what could be seen on the Internet and she said, I don t want them exposed to a lot of [those] things. Chris reported spending 1-2 hours on the computer at home and that playing games was the thing he used the Internet for most. As with many of his 135

151 classmates, Friv was a favored game site but its usage required Internet. Chris s self-reported home computer usage time seems to contrast with the home details given by Chris s mother. There were Nintendo Wii and Microsoft Xbox game consoles in Chris s house. His favorite game to play on the computer was Fireboy and Watergirl; he took the role of Fireboy and his sister was Watergirl. Despite all the technology, Chris reported that he liked to play traditional board games, saying The Game of Life was his favorite. Chris s Connections Chris said, A long time ago I, um, went on Raz-Kids, when asked about how he learned with computers at home. The Raz-Kids database showed Chris to have been an average user of the program the first semester and, by far, the student who used the program most the second semester. (Location of use, in school or outside school, could not be determined by these records.) When asked why he did not use Raz-Kids anymore he said, Cause I don't get it. I m going to be moving [in the] fourth quarter, so I don't have to, like, go on Raz-Kids. His reference to moving implied that the family no longer had Internet access and that he would no longer be able to use the points in the school s reading incentive program. He also reported having used IXL Math at home and Google to look up information for a Hawaii report. He said he used BrainPOP at home to play games and watch videos. Chris s mother reported having sent in a project in PowerPoint, saying [Chris] did his states of matter [project] and I saved [it on] USB cause I thought you guys can [use USB drives] for some reason, cause when [his sister] did hers we saved it [like that]. She said Chris s sister, who had the year before been in Ms. Barr s class, helped because the mom did not feel comfortable with the program. Yet interestingly, when asked in an interview, Chris did not even seem to know what PowerPoint was! Chris clearly thought that some technologies were for school and others were for home. For example, when asked if he ever used a SMART Board at home he loudly exclaimed No! Likewise, when asked if he ever used an ipad in school he just as emphatically stated No way! Same for the use of a game console in school. Dorian (S04) Dorian was a delightful student, eager to please and polite. He dressed well, with a classic look seldom seen on a third grader; he often sported a tie. He was talkative, requiring little 136

152 prompting, and delivered most of his responses in what seemed to be a calm monotone. For example, when he saw a cut necktie hanging on the bulletin board in my office he remembered learning that German ladies cut ties during a particular holiday. I said he remembered what he learned in school to which he matter-of-factly replied, "Why else do you go to school." Dorian lived in a village not far from the school with his mother, father, 20-year-old brother, 5 th grade brother George (not his real name), and grandmother; he and George were described as being close. None of the adults in his household participated in this study nor was there a visit to his home; all data about computer usage at home is from Dorian s perspective. Dorian mentioned bike riding and Disneyland as hobbies; and talked about his affinity for LEGOS. He also said that he had played on local soccer and basketball teams and liked playing football. Standing out within responses from his classmates was Dorian s self-assessment of his accessibility to computers and the Internet; he disagreed (1.5) that my parents allow me to use computers and strongly disagreed (1) that my parents allow me to use the Internet (see Table 14). Opposing that, he rated his abilities and his attitudes towards using the computer and Internet as consistently very high. He did not trust everything on the Internet and strongly agreed (5) that some websites are not good for children. Ability Attitude 2. I am very skilled with computers I am interested in working with technology and computers. 4* 7. I know how to search for 5 4. Computers are important to me. information I need online. 4* 5. Computers help me learn better. 4.5 Accessibility 8. Internet is important to me. 4* 1. My parents allow me to use computers. 6. My parents allow me to use the Internet Internet helps me learn better I trust everything on the Internet Some websites are not good for children. Table 14. Average ability, accessibility, and attitude scale self-reports for Dorian. All items on a scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree); 3 is neutral. Bolded items were rated exactly the same in both interviews. Italicized items marked with a * differed by more than 1 in the two interviews

153 Dorian s Computer Use in School When asked about his computer usage in school, Dorian first started talking about keyboarding techniques; he described correct finger placement and not looking. Dorian was observed to be on only the 2 nd (of 26 to be completed) Type to Learn lessons at the end of April, after the class had been working in the program all year. This apparent lack of success did not seem to dampen his enthusiasm about working with computers nor his resolve to do the best he could on learning keyboarding skills. Dorian was often observed having troubles navigating and using a computer at school: he inquired often how to do things, and seemed to be a bit behind his classmates. These observations contradict his self-reported high ability with computers (see Table 14 above). Dorian was one of only a few students who said he used computers in the library. There he went to library links ; it was important for him to say what he did on the computers was educational and "not a game." He pointed out that he shared the computers in the library because there were only nine of them (he had the exact number); he said that when he wasn't on the computer there then he was reading a book. Dorian stated that he used Reading Counts, IXL Math, and Raz-Kids in school. IXL Math and Raz-Kids he revealed having used with the resource teacher in addition to using in his regular classroom. He self-reported that he spent less than 30 minutes a day on computers in school. Once, while using IXL Math, he was asked if he liked using the program. Why wouldn t I? he casually replied. Dorian s Computer Use at Home When asked during the first interview how much time he spent on computers at home, he said that sometimes his mom let him play a game on the computer with his brother George; they played Cool Math. He went on to say, I don t have my own computer. All of his other responses in this interview corroborated his lack of computer time at home his parents spent no time with him working on the computer, he never had to use the computer or Internet to complete his homework, he strongly disagreed that his parents allowed him to use the computer or Internet except that he chose 5 tasks from a list provided for which he used the Internet at home. 138

154 Lack of a computer at home became even more of an issue in the second interview when he repeatedly mentioned that he did not use a computer at home because he did not have a computer at home. When asked what he had to do to use the computer he said, I have to ask my mom, but she usually says no. Later he said, Pretty much no one let s [me] use their computer or anything. According to Dorian, his mother, father, older brother, and grandmother all had computers; he and George did not but George was to get one when he went into middle school because he would need it for his homework. Towards the end of this interview Dorian did say, Yeah I have [a tablet] at my house and I usually do Google and my brother [George] plays games on it. He reported having a game console at home. As a computer rule he said, [We re] not allowed to go onto the computer unless when my mom s here; or dad or when any of my parents. So if it s like my grandma here, she would only let me use her computer for pretty much nothing. And then, um, [my] dad won t let me use his computer. So pretty much no one [lets me use a computer]. He looked forward to when George was to get his computer because Dorian expressed confidence that George would share. Dorian s Connections During the first interview, Dorian said he used Mathletics (a program to which the school had a subscription the previous year), Typing Web, and another typing program of which he could not remember the name. He did recall a project on spiders he did in 2nd grade on which his mother helped him. He said that project was "pretty fun". He also disclosed that he had typed up a project on the Anasazi American Indian tribe on his mother s computer the current school year for an assigned project. When asked how computers help him learn he said, [I]f you don t know something you could go on Google. And say, um, you type in what you want to know and you say like whatever you want to know. And it will pop up. [You] have to click the right one that you want to learn on. His implication was that he could use it to look up information but he went on to say, [M]ostly people use [Google] to go on games. But I don t usually do that cause my mom doesn t like me going on Google. He corrected himself to say that he was allowed to use Google at home as long as he was looking up information, he cited a search of "pre-historic times" as an example, but lack of permission remained a constant theme. Dorian said, And usually you mostly use it for homework because my dad, and my mom, and everybody uses, ah, their computer for homework. He verified that all of those members of 139

155 his family were taking classes; his name was conspicuously missing from the family members who used a computer to do homework. When asked if he used IXL Math at home he said, I want to but my dad and mom won t let me. According to him, he was not allowed to use any of the programs from a list of those used at school at his home. Dorian said "computers are fun and educational." (The statement was not made in reference to home or school use of computers so it is recorded here.) He referred to Raz Kids, IXL Math, and Reading Counts, following up with the great quote "all fun and educational, pretty much win/win." He was one of the few students who said educational sites were what he spent the most time on the Internet doing. He rarely mentioned games in keeping with his desire, I think, to always tell me he did educational things using a computer. Ernesto (S05) Ernesto was quiet, observed to be often behind the pace of the classroom lessons or totally off task, and seemed at times to be in his own world. He was reticent to talk in the first interview but opened up during the home visit, saying I don t wanna say a lot of things at school, but I think I can say a lot at home ; and was talkative in the second interview. Still, some of his remarks were hard to believe and others were inconsistent with previous remarks or observed practice; this could be due to a misunderstanding of what was being asked or a lack of seriousness in formulating replies. Ernesto, interestingly, said, I love history! History is the favorite thing I always want, and [I am] always too shy to say, can you please give me history during a conversation about the information he searched on the Internet. That statement revealed his self-characterization as a shy boy, surprising Ms. Barr who was present when Ernesto said it. Living at home with his mother, new guinea pig, and fish, Ernesto kept in contact with his father in the States by using technology tools. The relationship between the parents was uncertain and unexplored. Ernesto and his mother lived in a multistory home about 20 minutes from the school. His mother was in transition in her job; she was awaiting word on a new job and unsure if she and Ernesto would have had to move shortly afterwards. She said she had been preparing for such an event by downsizing some of the things in the house. Ernesto participated in a before and after school child care program because his working mother could not be home to care for him after school. 140

156 Asked about his hobbies, he said Play games and I normally don t go outside. Ernesto repeated his predilection for games over other hobbies on multiple occasions; movie and TV watching also appeared popular with him. He did claim to play football when he was younger and said, My mother super loved me when I played football. She [was] like, screw this, you don t have to do your homework. [Giggles] Ernesto rated his ability with computers high but the accessibility of computers and the Internet to him as midline (see Table 15). His attitude about using technology was very inconsistent between the two interviews. He strongly agreed (5) that computers helped him learn and strongly disagreed (1) with the statement Some websites are not good for children. He was the only student who rated the latter so low; most students strongly agreed with that statement. Following up, Ernesto was asked, So do you agree that they re not good or do you think that they are all good? and answered, They are all good. His logic, Because some day if you wanna be a police officer then you should play games that help you with that. Ability 141 Attitude 2. I am very skilled with computers I am interested in working with technology and computers. 4* 7. I know how to search for Computers are important to me. information I need online. 3.5* 5. Computers help me learn better. 5 Accessibility 8. Internet is important to me. 3.5* 1. My parents allow me to use computers. 6. My parents allow me to use the Internet. 4* 9. Internet helps me learn better. 4* I trust everything on the Internet Some websites are not good for children. Table 15. Average ability, accessibility, and attitude scale self-reports for Ernesto. All items on a scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree); 3 is neutral. Bolded items were rated exactly the same in both interviews. Italicized items marked with a * differed by more than 1 in the two interviews. Ernesto s Computer Use in School Ernesto said that he used IXL Math and Raz-Kids in school and at the end of the day he would play games. He did not remember the name of the games but they were fighting games. When asked to choose from a list the tasks he used the Internet at school for he choose 8 of the 1

157 10 tasks (excepting reading news and ), plus added shopping and learning cursive. When asked about learning cursive on the computer he said, More cursive, different kinds of cursives. That statement evidences his different thinking about certain tasks but was, unfortunately, not explored deeply. He reported spending minutes on the computer at school every day. When asked in the first interview if there was anything else he wanted to say about computers he said, Hmm, yes, [we] get to look at the States. He reported that this was an activity that only he did. (The class did have a project on the States.) His recollection of research on States spoke to his confessed love of history. Ernesto also used a computer at school in the before & after school child care program (B & A) held on the campus. He said, That s only because, um, my fun time is playing video games for B & A because they got a TV and a Wii. Ernesto s Computer Use at Home Ernesto reported that he shopped, watched movies, and played games on the computer at home. Further inquiry revealed that his mother actually did the shopping, that the two of them watched movies both from Netflix and by using DVDs, and that he liked shooting games. At Ernesto s house there was a large Mac in a corner of the living room that he referred to as the computer room (see Figure 40). It was that computer that he used most often. He had a laptop in his room (see Figure 41), but it had had some technical problems, only had three icons on the desktop, and was not reported to have been used as much. He did say, I always, sometimes I bring it to my bed because I was like doing my homework. He also reported watching movies on it and playing a Spiderman game; both on DVD. Ernesto said he had an Xbox game console at home. 142

158 Figure 40. Ernesto s family s home computer in a part of the living room he calls the computer room Figure 41. Ernesto s laptop on the desk in his room Ernesto reported, during the first interview, spending over three hours on the computer at home every day but said just one hour during the home visit. (He also said he used computers more than five hours all together, picking the max from the list of choices on my written prompts.) Likewise, he reported using Internet on the home computer for every activity on the 143

159 list but did not know, for example, what discussion boards were. Still, all told, he appears to have spent a lot of time on the computer. Ernesto revealed that his father was gone but he talked to him every day using technology; Even when I sleep, he said but followed that with I wake up. (A six hour time difference between Ernesto s and his father s location would make this logical.) He first mentioned FaceTime as the conduit of their conversations and added that Skype was also used. They saw each other, talked, and sometimes typed when there were loud noises. These video conversations happened both on the computer and his mom s smartphone. Ernesto and his mother used the computers to play movies and TV programs in a variety of ways. Ernesto reported that they had Apple TV and were subscribers to Netflix. He said that they played DVD s on the computer. He also detailed a special technique for watching important programing, [We] can also have a laptop be connected so the TV can be not the TV but the laptop [display]. That s how we watch NFL. We watch it on the laptop. When asked if he had any rules for using the computer, Ernesto said One rule. Never ever play leaf games. In following up he seemed to be referring to certain video games but the rule is as irrational as it seems to be and indicative of Ernesto s hard to follow statements. Ernesto s Connections The first program Ernesto showed on the home visit was Dance Mat Typing. He said, Going online and typing because that s how I type. Normally I don t type very good at school, but I type good at this. His last observed typing lesson at school had him on Lesson 8 (of 26 to be completed) in Type to Learn. Ernesto also had My Spelling Test Free on his home computer. The program was not used by Ms. Barr s class, but Ernesto said he could use it to learn his spelling words. Upon further investigation it was revealed that he had not used it for that purpose since 1 st Grade. I always wanna watch BrainPOP so I can see a lot. So I can raise my hand at school [but] I don t wanna do it because I want them to see to it too, said Ernesto during the home visit. The reason he used for not going on BrainPOP at home was that he did not know the password. Lack of proper credentials was also the reason he and his mother said that IXL Math was not used at home; I helped connect in a matter of minutes since they were only missing one vital piece of information. 144

160 Ernesto used Google at home to look up information. He again claimed that he liked to look up things about history. He demonstrated his adeptness at doing so by looking up information on the gold rush and doing a simple analysis of the results that were returned. During the second interview he said, If you [are] researching, you can learn about the past, as a way he used computers to learn. Ernesto responded with an enthusiastic yes when asked if he played games on the Internet at home and with the same enthusiastic yes about playing games on the Internet at school. Consistent with the majority of his classmates, Ernesto said that playing games was the task on which he spent the most time using the Internet. He tied some of his game playing into reading, saying I type reading games and there s this, um, shooting game, and there s a lot of reading. And I ve read them all. Ernesto pointed to the reading incentive program, getting points, and earning medals as part of his rational for doing the reading. Fernand (S06) Fernand was a quiet nine-year-old who squirmed about during the interviews, but was fully engaged. In class he seemed more reserved and was also attentive to his work. When asked about his hobbies, Fernand said, I like to play games and YouTube. A follow-up question about sports was misunderstood to mean sports games on the computer, which he did play, but further inquiry showed that Fernand did not participate in any organized sports or activities. He did like to watch TV and movies. He also said, I like to play fight with my body... And I play it like every day. I use my imagination. This activity was demonstrated in the family computer room as martial-arts style maneuvers; it was an activity he engaged in alone. Fernand s father was an Army Major (O-4) with 16 years of service. For most of the school year he was deployed to Afghanistan. Fernand s mother was a stay-at-home mom and a frequent volunteer at the school. His mother reported her comfort with technology as a 4 (on a scale of 0 to 5) and rated her husband a 5; she was quick to point out that comfort level differed from ability. She had a bachelor s degree and was knowledgeable about academic research; he had a master s. The family lived in a multi-story house in a village that was about 20 minutes from the school. They were getting ready for a move to Washington State which commenced at the end of the school year. 145

161 Fernand rated access to a computer (and the Internet) a 5 Because I always use it (see Table 16). His ability ratings both averaged to 4 but interestingly I know how to search for information I need online rose from a 3 in the first interview to a 5 in the second. His rating of Computers help me learn better and Internet is important to me rose similarly, yet he consistently strongly agreed (5) Computers are important to me. He also strongly agreed that some websites are not good for children and said some websites could be super inappropriate [or] like that, and went on to talk about bloody games not being for children. Ability 146 Attitude 2. I am very skilled with computers I am interested in working with technology and computers I know how to search for 4* 4. Computers are important to me. information I need online Computers help me learn better. 4* Accessibility 8. Internet is important to me. 4* 1. My parents allow me to use computers. 6. My parents allow me to use the Internet Internet helps me learn better I trust everything on the Internet Some websites are not good for children. Table 16. Average ability, accessibility, and attitude scale self-reports for Fernand. All items on a scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree); 3 is neutral. Bolded items were rated exactly the same in both interviews. Italicized items marked with a * differed by more than 1 in the two interviews. Fernand s Computer Use in School At the beginning of the first interview, Fernand listed IXL Math, Type to Learn, Raz- Kids, and Reading Counts as the ways he used computers in school but [couldn t] really think of another one. He had to be reminded about a book club project on frilled lizards for which he looked up information and pictures using both online databases and the Internet, typed facts into a PowerPoint, printed the slides, and taped them to a poster. He was well versed in the aspects of the project after it was brought to his attention. He similarly researched a US National Park for a group presentation. Fernand s skill in using the computer was observed during the preparation of both of these projects; he navigated the computer with ease, what he didn t know how to do, he asked, and picked up quickly. 5

162 A field note notation characterized him as fully engaged but laid back when working individually on IXL Math. He applied himself to the Type to Learn lessons, having reached Lesson 24 (of 26 to be completed) when last observed. Fernand estimated that he spent minutes on computers at school. Fernand s Computer Use at Home The first thing I was shown during the home visit to Fernand s house was a video on YouTube. Fernand loved to watch YouTube, especially amateur videos about how to play video games. About content of one of his favored YouTube poster s videos, he said, Um, mostly like fighting and, um, information [I get on there]. [S]ometimes, um, he just like does like video games and, um, information about like games coming out or like about games. And he has like reviews about the games he does walk-throughs on. The ironic thing about his preferred YouTube genre was that he did not own a game console, the device for which the videos were made. [W]e don t have any of that but my dad s gonna get me an Xbox 360 when we move. Contrasting his reply to How do you use computers in school, Fernand reeled off a list of games on the Internet including Games Freak, Club Penguin, Friv, Poptropic, and MovieStarPlanet when asked How do you use computers at home. Games were the thing he reported doing most often on the Internet and the word games always seemed to get a chuckle out of him. Several online games he had played with friends. Especially noteworthy was his interaction with Jeff (not his real name) while playing these; Fernand and Jeff communicated with FaceTime on their ipods while playing games on their respective home computers. And even without FaceTime, Fernand said they could communicate because there s like a chatting thing where you get to chat [within the game]. Fernand and his sister shared a broadband-connected Mac that was set up in the computer room, a normal sized room off of the living/dining room on the main floor of the house (see Figure 42). School flyers with websites and passwords were taped to the wall around the computer but Fernand said they were mostly for his sister. Sharing the home computer seemed to reduce his time on the device; he said, Well sometimes I have to let my sister at home so I ll do about one to four, no one to two [hours]. His mother said she used a timer to give each child a fair amount of time with the computer. So sometimes on weekends too, he can, if I didn t get him off, he could sit there for three hours. He can, no problem. He has become difficult, according to mom, when asked to leave the computer for other activities and it 147

163 kills him having it taken away as punishment. He self-reported using the computer at home 1-2 hours a day. All indications, including a Computer Usage Table he completed, show Fernand as one of the most avid computer users in the study. His mother even mentioned addiction as a fear. Figure 42. Fernand s family s computer, set in the corner of the computer room Fernand also had an ipod touch, another device he had filled with games. He used the home Mac more often, the ipod was reserved, he said, Mostly when we re all, like, in the car and that. Fernand s mother reports that he also has used the ipod for texting family members and friends on imessage, taking photos, and making videos, some of which he sent to his friend Jeff. The family had a computer culture and connected to the Internet from locations other than home, including use of friends Wi-Fi connections when visiting. Fernand s mother reported she used computers for communicating, shopping, banking, gathering information, and managing her photos; she stated an increased importance of electronic means of communicating and shopping since the family was living outside the United States. She indicated that computers were used by her son mainly for entertainment but that he also used them for communication, saying His dad is in Afghanistan so he uses it to communicate with his dad. She also reported that he did research for school but primarily entertainment for him, I m sure that would be the number one for him. [Laughs] Apple TV was the family s preferred method of video entertainment. Fernand 148

164 had downloaded games, music, movies, and TV shows from the Internet using a family itunes account, paying for some of these downloads with his own money. Fernand shopped at Amazon, making lists of items he wished his mother to buy. Fernand claimed that he did not have an account but his mother said that one was set up for him so he could have an Apple account; both reported that he never ed. The only computer rule Fernand disclosed was that he was not to go on inappropriate sites or watch inappropriate videos. Asked what is inappropriate, Fernand said, Um, on YouTube, um, I think I could tell when I watch a little bit [if] it is inappropriate. And sometimes I know because, um, the picture shows. Fernand s mother was not too concerned about his computer use practices; she said, I m sure it will become more of a concern but right now they re all like ah and the first thing they do is run and tell me that, you know, saw some topless lady ad or whatever. So right now [they] narc on themselves. She indicated that it may be a problem in the future and will be dealt with at that time. I mean because [you] can t protect them that much in the real world. She also said that it is important for Fernand to know the difference between what is real and what is pretend. Fernand s mother also stressed the importance of similar set of standards in the circle of friends in which the family runs; Fernand is not allowed to visit certain classmates because their rules do not fall within what she considers acceptable. Fernand s mother voiced concern that the computer has become a babysitter but readily admitted that she used it in such a manner to keep the peace. She was also concerned that the Internet may be addictive. She has measured these concerns against the benefits of computers, specifically naming the ability of her children to stay connected with their deployed dad. Fernand s Connections Fernand reported having done school projects at home before. When asked if he had used IXL Math or Raz-Kids at home, he said, Yeah, my mom tells me I need to do it sometimes. Contrastingly, Fernand says, [M]y sister has to because she has IXL and Raz-Kids for homework. Fernand s remark implied that his 2 nd grade sister was required by her teacher to use the online educational programs where he was not required by his teacher to do so. When asked which educational tasks he completed on the home computer, Fernand said, [M]ostly, like, for just like projects. One example he named was a state project on Nevada. Fernand also used his YouTube skills and affinity on the frilled lizard project he did for class, gleaning some facts about the reptile from online videos. 149

165 Ferdinand stated that he used Google to find information both at school and at home. He equated this action with using computers to help him learn. At home, Google helped him to find websites that I didn t know at school but when asked if he shared this information at school he said, I don t think you re allowed to play, like, the stuff that I do at school [Giggles]. Ferdinand implied that there was a difference between websites acceptable in school and those acceptable at home. When the class was introduced to Google Earth, he said I know Google Earth because I sometimes go on it at home. When asked, he said, I don t have PowerPoint at home I have something similar, similar but different. Fernand made a connection between the program at school and the similar offering on his home Mac; he had used both to work on school projects. Gordon (S07) Gordon was a bright child, one of the few identified as gifted at the school, who was sometimes seen as enthusiastic during the interviews and home visit but observed as quiet and moody in the classroom. He seemed a very stoic child with little facial expression or emotion until he got on a subject that he wanted to talk about. His mood swung and his countenance changed: from dour and just getting by to smiling and happy. Gordon was observed in class to totally shut down when technical problems on the computer frustrated him. Gordon, his parents, two brothers, and three sisters lived in a large house on top of a hill in a village about 20 minutes from the school. Gordon, at nine, was the second oldest of the children whose ages ranged from 1 to 11. The house showed the presence of children and was a bustle of activity during the home visit. An oversized dining room table occupied a very visible place on the main floor. Gordon s father was a Major (O-4) in the Air Force with ten and a half years of service; he worked in the communications field. His mother was a stay-athome mom. She was 32 years old and held a bachelor s degree; he was 35 with a master s. Gordon s mother rated her comfort level with technology a 4 (on a scale of 0 to 5) and said her husband would be a 5. The family was preparing for a PCS (Permanent Change of Station) move to Hawaii during the semester. Gordon, who had been at his current school for three years (typical for a military family), was looking forward to the move and talked about it and the activities that go along with a PCS move packing up the household goods, cleaning up the house, moving into a 150

166 hotel, leaving school three weeks early, flying out with a stopover to see family in Colorado, and moving into a new house. The only part that made his move different from that of other students in the study is that his mother planned to home school the children when they settled in Hawaii. She had picked out an online computer-based curriculum that was to be used at home or, possibly, in combination with a charter school that used the same curriculum. Playing on a Kindle and computer games were the first hobbies that popped into Gordon s head. He said that he would like to get into basketball and soccer in the future, as well as continue in Tai Kwan Do. He reminisced about shooting BB guns and cooking at a day camp. And when prompted about reading books, he said, Oh yeah, that s awesome. Gordon rated his access to computers very high (5) and his ability to search information he needed online also very high (5), but his skill level as neutral (3; see Table 17). Computers are important to me rated a 5 and the Internet is important to me was Ability Attitude 2. I am very skilled with computers I am interested in working with technology and computers I know how to search for 5 4. Computers are important to me. information I need online Computers help me learn better. 3.5 Accessibility 8. Internet is important to me My parents allow me to use computers. 6. My parents allow me to use the Internet Internet helps me learn better I trust everything on the Internet Some websites are not good for children. Table 17. Average ability, accessibility, and attitude scale self-reports for Gordon. All items on a scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree); 3 is neutral. Bolded items were rated exactly the same in both interviews. Italicized items marked with a * differed by more than 1 in the two interviews. rated a 5 and a big smile. Gordon felt less strongly that computers and the Internet helped him learn. He was neutral (3) about trusting everything on the Internet, but strongly agreed (5) that some websites were not for children, saying Cause, like, I wouldn t want to go on a very bad site

167 Gordon s Computer Use in School When asked about computer use in school, Gordon listed Raz-Kids, Type to Learn 4, IXL Math, Typing Web, and Mathletics as programs he used. He said "I can do Mathletics"; its use was very limited the year of the study and he did it with the other students in the gifted program. He also reported playing games in school, listing Cool Math for Kids and Friv as examples. Gordon was the only student in the class who did not report using the Internet at school for Searching information for school. He said that he did his projects at home. When reminded of a snake project he did as part of a Whiz Kids group the previous year, he recollected, Oh yeah, that one we did at school. Gordon reported using computers in school about minutes. Gordon said that Type to Learn helped him learn to type and Um, then Raz-Kids help me with the reading and then SRI, well, it s supposed to find out [something] but also it might help you. Besides SRI, he was the only student who mentioned STAR Math and STAR Reading, two other online assessments, as ways he learned on the computer in school. Gordon s Computer Use at Home Gordon had his own laptop computer but the computer he preferred to use at home was a duel-monitor desktop that was in the corner of the living room (see Figure 43). As to why his parents bought him a laptop two years earlier, he said, Hmm, I had to finish this huge book, it s about 500 pages. Now that ain t a lot for me but it was a lot since I wasn t too into it. But I still had to read it to get my computer. There were three other laptops in the house and three Kindles; a broadband connection and wireless routing allowed for access throughout the house on all devices. Gordon s mother did not seem as enthused as other parents about using the computer and Internet even though she said she used it every day. She reported that the family did not connect from other locations except while traveling. She did like her Kindle and used it for everything reading, games, and Internet access. Gordon often used his mother s Kindle to play games but he preferred to read paper books to those on the e-reader. Gordon reported that he used the computer at home about 2-3 hours a day but his mother said, It honestly depends on the day when asked if Gordon used the Internet daily. 152

168 Figure 43. Gordon s family s computer in the corner of their living room Gordon played games at home, Plants vs. Zombies being one of his favorites. The game had been loaded on the computer and had user profiles for a number of family members. I made the mistake of asking Gordon to show me the game during the home visit and he got engrossed in it, watering plants and killing zombies. We talked as he did so, he answered my questions but his attention was on the game. He played games both installed on the computer and games on the Internet. He had his own which he had used to contact his former kindergarten teacher and immediate family members but both he and his mother said that he no longer used it. When asked if he surfed online just for fun he said, Oh yeah, definitely. Gordon s mother reported that the family really didn't watch TV but did watch movies and shows online; the computer was a source of entertainment that replaced TV. They also used Skype and an Internet phone for communications. Gordon had watched YouTube videos of cheats for his Plants and Zombies game. He said that finding ways to do better in the game is a form of learning, as was learning responsibility by owning his own computer. He was the only participant in this study to equate learning to game play and character traits. The family used the Internet to access religious material. Gordon s mother said they read scripture online and [E]very Sunday the kids will sit down and listen to a talk from a church leader. This was the only mention of regularly viewed non-entertainment programming that was voiced by a study participant. 153

169 Gordon said that he must finish his homework and his chores he s in charge of the laundry before he can use the computer. As to who gets to use the one desktop in the living room he said, Whoever gets on it first. Gordon did not seem to be confined to one area while using his laptop and said that he had used it in his bedroom and other locations within the house. His mother said of computers and the Internet, Ah it s a very useful tool. It can be either, um, a useful tool, or an evil tool depending on what you choose to do with it. And we try to only have good things from the Internet in our home. How that was enforced was never the subject of conversation with her or her son. He did say, [On] computers I go on, like, whatever sites I really like except the bad ones. Gordon s Connections Gordon mentioned Cool Math 4 Kids several times as a game that he played both in school and at home. He also said, I also use [the computer at home] to play different games, um, different like Plants vs. Zombies. Clearly it was not an educational game and Gordon noted this difference. When specifically asked about the use of school software at home, Gordon said Hmm, [I] do Mathletics a bit. And I do IXL a bit but I ve only done that like once so far on these. He also said We use, um, Microsoft Word and PowerPoint, all those Microsofts. He had typed up projects at home on Word but said, I don t do everything on Word sometimes I write it down cause I m faster with writing. Specifically asked about why he did not apply the keyboarding techniques he had learned in school, where he was observed to be on Lesson 25 (of 26 to be completed) in Type to Learn, he said I m just not used to it. When working on homework he did get help from his parents. He said, [I] ask them and if they don t know we ll have to Google or something. When asked her feelings of her children using computers and the Internet Gordon s mother said, Um, whenever they ask questions I m like, go Google it. She said it was a useful tool. Gordon said that he and his father used Google to search for pictures of stinging nettle to see if the older man had touched any. Playing games was the task on which Gordon spent the most time using the Internet. He used Google to look up things for his homework, specifically citing information on Texas for a state project. His mother said that Gordon did not use the computer for homework a lot. She said, And then sometimes if he doesn t understand something else we ll Google it and 154

170 figure it out. But other than that he s not used it for homework. Homework, like in ah, maybe two or three times is all this year. A connection was made by Gordon s mother about computer use at home and achievement of one of her other children. Regarding the Kindle that they bought their oldest daughter, she said, Yeah and it s been good for my oldest cause she s behind in reading. So it s, you know, kind of we found something that she likes to read. And we ll read and she ll listen to it and read it at the same time. So I ll help kinda [reinforce] at first. So [it s been] good for her. Humberto (S08) Humberto could be a bad boy. He spent a lot of time in the principal s office the previous year and the year of the study, Ms. Barr said, he still acted out at times. He had a smile which could light up a room but it could also turn easily to an impish grin. He was polite, often saying Yes, sir and No, sir. He fidgeted throughout the interview session. On the playground, Humberto liked to play hard and was often seen taking the lead in games. Humberto liked things to go his way and often got frustrated or angry when they did not. In the middle of the interview he said, Hurry up so I can get to class. He was ready to move on, yet he stayed at the end of the session to discuss a book series he liked and his reading habits. There is the least amount of data on Humberto because he left suddenly at the end of March. He was sent back to the States due to a family situation, the details of which I was not privy. While most Permanent Change of Station (PCS) moves are scheduled and occur towards the end of the school year like those of Beryl, Chris, Fernand, Gordon, and Joyce sometimes students return to the States early and must transition to a new school in the middle of the school year. There was only one interview with Humberto, no home visit, nor parental interview. In the interview, Humberto, the youngest of four children, self-rated his ability level with computers and their importance to him high (5; see Table 18). Yet, he disagreed that he liked working with technology and did not seem to think that computers or the Internet helped him to learn better. He was not sure if everything on the Internet was to be trusted but strongly agreed that some websites are not for children. 155

171 Ability Attitude 2. I am very skilled with computers I am interested in working with technology and computers I know how to search for 5 4. Computers are important to me. information I need online Computers help me learn better. 3 Accessibility 8. Internet is important to me My parents allow me to use computers. 6. My parents allow me to use the Internet Internet helps me learn better I trust everything on the Internet Some websites are not good for children. Table 18. Ability, accessibility, and attitude scale self-reports for Humberto. All items on a scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree); 3 is neutral. Humberto only rated himself on one occasion. Humberto s Computer Use at School Humberto took advantage of the school s reading incentive program, proudly earning one silver and two gold medals. His initial response to the How do you use computers in school prompt was, I use the computers in school to read and to sort of take test and, um, to do the SRI. He followed that up with, When it s recess time I use it [to play] Friv, emphasizing that the online game was only used at school during recess. He mentioned Raz-Kids, BrainPOP, and Britannica all by name, indicating an awareness of the programs used in the classroom. I observed him using Britannica to research facts on tarantulas and later to type them into PowerPoint. Humberto estimated that he spent 1-2 hours a day using computers at school. Humberto s Computer Use at Home [W]hen I finish with my homework, I usually just play on the computer all day until it s my bedtime, said Humberto. That seems a bit of an exaggeration because he later said that he liked to go outside and play when the weather was nice and that he liked to read at night; he also self-reported home computer use to be minutes a day. Humberto did say that he watched TV on the family s Mac, naming Free TV Project as a site from which he streamed content. Like most of the other students, Humberto said that he spent most of his time on the Internet playing games and, like some of the other students, he named Friv as one of his favorite online games. Humberto reported that his parents let him use the computer and the Internet at home; rules related to this usage were not explored. He did not mention the kind of family help that 156 5

172 others reported; at one point he said his sister was mean to him. Uniquely, he said that he used the calculator application on his computer, indicating how he easily found it on the computer. Humberto s Connections Humberto mentioned research both when talking about his use of computers in school and at home. He strongly agreed that he knew how to search for information that he needed online (see Table 18 on the previous page). He had used Word at home but did not specifically mention any of the school s educational programs, i.e. Raz Kids, as software he accessed at home. He did say that he had homework that required him to use the computer or Internet but did not give specifics. While he chose 8 of 10 uses for the Internet at home from the list shown him, he only chose 4 of those searching information for school, searching for information for other purposes, playing games, and educational sites as school Internet usages. Ingrid (S09) Ingrid was inquisitive. During the interviews she played with the audio recorder and spotted a Van Gogh cube that sent her on a discussion of the museum in Amsterdam, among other tangential conversations started by her. In class she was observed to often ask questions like what is this red thing about the computer s pointer mouse. Ingrid operated within rules and convention. A lot of her statements on computer usage were accompanied by disclaims like when Ms. Barr lets us or if I have permission. She corrected me on two different occasions when I called a married woman Ms. ; I had to write the r in my notes because that is how Ingrid said it should be. During the interviews, Ingrid was deliberate in her responses and contemplated the meaning of questions before responding. She seemed like a happy girl; the transcripts of her interviews are filled with giggles. Ingrid joined the class in January when she moved to live with her mother and step-father. Previous to that she had been living with her father in Florida. Ingrid implied that she had been in at least two stateside schools before coming overseas. Her mother worked in an office at their home, using a computer to make travel arrangements for groups, according to Ingrid. There was no contact with any member of the family so all data on Ingrid is from her perspective. Ingrid also reported that she was going to Florida for the summer to stay with her father but she would be back the following year to start fourth grade. 157

173 While being interviewed, Ingrid pointed out several times that I was asking what appeared to her to be the same questions (i.e. Items #4, 7, and 8 in Table 19). When I said one was about the computer and the other about the Internet she said "they're the same thing," further pointing out, Internet is on a computer. Ingrid s responses to the attitude, accessibility, and ability items were inconsistent between the two interviews. The most glaring example was when she rated "Computers are important to me" as a 2 during the first interview and as a 5 during the second. The two items which received the same rating, strongly agree (5), in both interviews were I know how to search for information I need online, showing her oft used habit of answering questions with Google, and Some websites are not good for children. To the latter, she went on to say if something inappropriate came up on the computer she would try to disappear from it. [Giggle]. Ability 158 Attitude 2. I am very skilled with computers I am interested in working with technology and computers I know how to search for 5 4. Computers are important to me. information I need online. 3.5* 5. Computers help me learn better. 4* Accessibility 8. Internet is important to me My parents allow me to use computers. 6. My parents allow me to use the Internet Internet helps me learn better. 4* I trust everything on the Internet Some websites are not good for children. Table 19. Average ability, accessibility, and attitude scale self-reports for Ingrid. All items on a scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree); 3 is neutral. Bolded items were rated exactly the same in both interviews. Italicized items marked with a * differed by more than 1 in the two interviews. Ingrid s Computer Use in School When asked about computer use in school, Ingrid said, Well, mmh, Ms. Barr would tell us maybe to go [to] IXL or Raz-Kids, Type to Web or Type to Learn. So, and then we would go in that and then if we didn t know our passwords, she would give us the card. For a student new to the school with only a few months to learn the routine of Ms. Barr s class, this statement indicated both that she knew the main computer programs used by the class and that she had 5

174 already learned how to access computers at school. Furthermore, she knew that the culture of the class allowed for her to stay in at recess on some days and go to self-chosen websites; she went to Cool Math. For book club" she worked on a project about coyotes. She used PowerPoint for the first time on this project and was observed to pick it up fairly quickly. Ingrid had to be prompted to remember a video-conference that the class had done with the Smithsonian American Art Museum despite the fact that she was a very enthusiastic participant in that activity, answering more of the on-screen presenter s questions than any other student. Ingrid joined the class in the middle of the year, a situation not uncommon in militaryconnected schools, but she was the only participant of this study who transitioned into the class. When prompted to tell about the technology she used in her previous school, she said that they did AR (Accelerated Reader), which is like the Reading Counts program in her present school, and that they did not have a specific computer program for math. Ingrid s Computer Use at Home Ingrid said she used her tablet most of the time at home but that her mom had a couple of computers and an ipad which Ingrid could sometimes use. She had owned two ipod Touches but lost both of them. When asked if her parents helped her with the computer she said, Oh I don t know but, like, I don t remember any times they did, but said I should write less than 30 minutes. She reported that her mother had turned off the Internet on her tablet and that she didn t use her game console that often. Ingrid revealed that she used the technology at home for Facebook and Skype; she made calls to her dad back in the States over Skype. She also said that she had an account but did not use it much. On YouTube she liked to watch music videos and had memorized the words of several of them. She also liked a paint program from the computer and mentioned it several times. Ingrid s Connections Google was a program that Ingrid used to answer questions, both at home and in school. Regarding this endeavor, she said, It s the same exact thing as I do at school, but I do it more at home than at school. Trying to prompt Ingrid to say where she had first learned to do this, she said: 159

175 Oh, I learned it when I knew to use a computer. So I don t know really because, ah, um, I use a computer a lot and I don t remember the first time I got on the computer. So I don t know which one at school or not. But I think it should be school, I don t know. Cause my mom had the computer for a long time. This statement exemplifies the point that computer skills, while being learned in different situations, become an amalgamation. Among the reports of her use of that program, she said, I would Google for my homework like a map or something, I ll Google for that. In addition to having used the computer to help her on her homework, she said that she has used the school s IXL Math and Raz-Kids programs in both locations but not so much at home. Exemplifying that some programs were just for school, Ingrid said, I don t use [it] at home. It s only Ms. Barr does, when asked about envisionmath. She also said, Ms. Barr usually puts [BrainPOP] on for us. So [we don t] do it too much here at school. Here Ingrid implied that software applications used by the teacher with the whole class did not count as Ingrid using a computer in school. In addition to making connections between home and school environs, connections can also be made between different schools. Ingrid said she remembered Cool Math from her "old old" school, saying, They showed me that this website, like a lot of kids from my other school knew this website, so they showed me and I used to go on it all the time. I haven t been on it so in such a long time. So I [start] going on it again. Several other students in the class mentioned Cool Math and seeing those on it may have sparked her memory or having free time could have done it; either way, knowledge of an educational website was transferred from one school environment to another. More relevant to the curriculum, Ingrid said that her previous school used AR. Comparing it to the Reading Counts program at the school under study and the two schools reading incentive programs, she said [I]t was the same thing. You get the scores, you have to read books. And it gets up but it doesn t do the medal things. It s just you get these little thingies for your necklace. And they give you a necklace and like you re supposed to keep them till the last of year and then you would like get a prize, if you had, ah, more than like 1 or 2. When it was pointed out they weren t exactly the same, she said, But it was really really like. This ability to find the similarities in programs seemed to have positively impact Ingrid s transition from one school to the next. 160

176 Joyce (S10) Joyce was the most eager participant in this study. She could not wait until it was her turn to be interviewed. She loved to be involved; to the point of being nosey, says Ms. Barr. She also wanted to help and was often observed doing so in school. She was a talker and liked to talk things through. She wanted to share what she was doing with others and often had me look at her work. All of these characteristics made Joyce a very good participant. Additionally, her mom said that she loved to read and draw. She is artistic. She said, [W]hen I don t have anything to do I lay down in my bed and like close my eyes, and just imagine cool things. Joyce is part of a tight-knit nuclear family of mother, father, and 5 th grade brother. Her brother was also a member of Ms. Barr s class when he was in third grade. Joyce s father was a Chief Warrant Officer (CW-4) in the Army with over 21 years of service. His duties frequently caused him to be away from the home. Joyce s mother was a self-employed beautician who worked from the home. He had an Associate s degree and she went to technical school and took some college classes. Joyce s mother reported that both she and her husband had a comfort level of 5 (highest on the scale) with technology. The family lived in a large house in a village about 15 minutes from the school. When visited, they were in the process of packing, readying for a move to Oklahoma at the end of the school year. Drawing, outside games like tag and seek, cooking with her mom, walking, and bike riding were some of the activities Joyce said she liked to do. She had taken classes in both ballet and gymnastics. She said she knew how to play football and wanted to play tackle. For the ability, accessibility, and attitude questions, Joyce had the most consistent responses of all the students between the two interviews (see Table 20). She strongly agreed (5) that computers and the Internet were accessible, that she had a positive attitude about them, and that they were an important part of her learning. She did not strongly agree that she was very skilled with computers (3.5), or that she trusted everything on the Internet (2). Interestingly, during the first interview she was neutral (3) about the Internet being important to her because my family is more important but in the second interview she strongly agreed (5). She selfreported 5 for websites not being for children and, during the first interview, went on to talk about game sites with blood and gore. When asked, she said she would play these but they would not be for a child under 9; she had recently turned

177 Ability 162 Attitude 2. I am very skilled with computers I am interested in working with technology and computers I know how to search for 5 4. Computers are important to me. information I need online Computers help me learn better. 5 Accessibility 8. Internet is important to me. 4* 1. My parents allow me to use computers. 6. My parents allow me to use the Internet Internet helps me learn better I trust everything on the Internet Some websites are not good for children. Table 20. Average ability, accessibility, and attitude scale self-reports for Joyce. All items on a scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree); 3 is neutral. Bolded items were rated exactly the same in both interviews. Italicized items marked with a * differed by more than 1 in the two interviews. Joyce s Computer Use in School In the first interview, Joyce named all the teacher-directed class programs Type to Learn, Typing Web, Raz-Kids, and IXL Math at the initial prompt. She also added, and in the library, [the librarian] shows us some websites, giving Judy Moody as an example. She was one of only a couple of students who mentioned the library as a place where she had used technology. She went on to say that she did projects in school, naming the Elf Owl project she had just completed and used the computer to type up. About minutes is the amount of time she reported using the computer at school every day. Joyce s Computer Use at Home Joyce s home had a lot of technology! There was a desktop, three laptops, an ipad, a smartphone for each of the parents, an ipod Touch for each of the two kids, Apple TV on a number of the televisions, and several game consoles. The family had a broadband connection in the house and ran everything, including their home phone and their televisions, through the Internet. The main computer used by Joyce was a newer Dell desktop running Windows 7 (see Figure 44). It was located in the changing room, a common area between bedrooms. This computer had a profile for Joyce and her brother which differed from their father s passwordprotected profile. Favorites, consisting of games and some school sites, were saved to the kid s profile; Internet constituted Joyce s main usage of this computer. 5

178 Figure 44. Joyce s family s desktop computer in the changing room Joyce used the other devices in the house but had recently acquired an ipod Touch as a birthday gift that seemed to be getting a lot of use. She showed the ipod to me when I visited the home and went through a number of the apps that were on the device, mostly games. She said that a lot of apps came with the device (it was second hand) and she was working to understand them. Her desire to explore, coupled with her willingness to ask her brother and parents for help, supported her learning to use this device. Joyce talked about a number of games that she played on the computer at home; playing games was the task she reported spending the most time on the Internet doing. The game that garnered the most talk was Mushy Monsters. Joyce had been playing this game for three years and right before the first interview she had become a paid member because she was given a gift 163

179 card for her birthday to join. She had made friends on Mushy Monsters; some of them she knew in real life and some were just her Mushy Monster friends. She reported having accounts on a number of other game sites including Movie Star Planet that was recommended by her brother and Free Realms that was recommended by her friend, Mary (not her real name). Joyce also has her own Yahoo account because, My mom said, you re gonna need that. She reported as a very close second Internet task she did most often and had used it to communicate with a few family members and friends, to recover passwords, and to receive game codes. She also had her own itunes and bank accounts and, according to her mom, banked online. The family used FaceTime and Connect, an application on the Xbox game console, for video communications with those in the States. Mom said, [It] makes these distances so much easier. They rented videos from the Internet, watched series, and followed news events. About her ipad, Mom said, I use a tablet regularly, like it s my right arm. The household had a culture of computer and Internet use; Joyce followed the culture. Even so, she reports using the computer less than 30 minutes a day, one of the lowest self-reports in the class. Her mother said that Joyce was perfectly happy to draw or read a book. The mother reported that the family sought out Internet access whenever they left the house. They appeared to always be connected. Mom said, They hate being in the car because they can t connect to anything in the car. But she went on to talk about the kids personal DVD players, They each have their own. They each have their own everything. So there is no fighting, there is no discussion. But you know what s funny is they text message each other in a car. Even with all the technology use in their house, Joyce s parents worried about the content available on the Internet. Her mother said, You look up some that you would think would be totally not risqué, but you will pull up some crazy [thing]. Joyce s parents ran parental controls on the desktop used by the children which created for them a unique profile and locked them out of the computer at 8 PM. They required the children to use the laptops in the living room or common area, not allowing Joyce to bring one to her bedroom. Joyce stated the computer rules as using her profile on the computer and only until 8; she has to go on only appropriate sites; and no password sharing, including Yahoo password sharing. But she did say that she shared her password with Mary. I am allowed to share my password with [Mary] because, like, my parents 164

180 allow her to do that stuff, cause [they] know she won t do anything bad. Like, she knows my password to Yahoo [and] password to my [account on my] dad s computer. Joyce s Connections Referring to Judy Moody, the website shown to her by the school librarian, Joyce said, I like that website so much that I put on my dad s computer cause we can save stuff that we like to use from school. She also had other school websites saved there. When I specifically asked about her use of IXL Math at home she said not often; Raz-Kids was used more often because her mother makes her. Her mother was aware of several of the websites used at school. On the home visit, Joyce pointed out that Google Earth was on the desktop computer she used; the program had just been used in class that day for a virtual field trip to Washington, DC and recency may have precipitated the connection she made. The Google search engine was a tool that Joyce used indiscriminately at both school and home. When asked about how computers help her learn, she said, [Google] can help you search on stuff. I normally use that one when I need help with some questions on when I have history homework. Joyce also reeled off a listed of school projects that she had done at home for school: Cheyenne Indians, how to do something (which she typed and printed), and an anecdote (she picked her trip to California). Her ability to recall specific projects on which she had used computers at home seemed much greater than that of the other participants. Joyce s close connection with family had enhanced her technology connection between school and home. She said, [W]hen my brother [has] News Thursday [I] help him find something for the news on the computer, referring to one of the ways she used Google to search information. While not being the only student to indicate sibling support, Joyce was the only student to point to a specific assignment on which she had used her skills at home to help her brother. Joyce s mother also mentioned this ongoing assignment as something that the family had done together. On several occasions, Joyce said she had used Google to find information in collaboration with her mother or brother. Joyce learned computer skills at home and enhanced the ones she learned in school. For example, she said My mom would show me a little bit better to type not looking at it, when we were discussing her creating an to send a family member in the States; teaching students to keyboard properly is part of the third grade curriculum. 165

181 Joyce also learned skills from her close personal friend, Mary. Despite the fact that Mary went to another school and lived in another location, Mary s name came up often in both of Joyce s interviews and the home visit. Joyce attributed a lot of what she learned and her awareness of certain websites to Mary. Joyce even said that Mary knew how to make websites and was going to teach her. Their relationship seemed like that of family; Joyce s family was to have moved in with Mary s for 10 days before they headed to the States instead of going to a hotel. Joyce did point out at least one difference in her and Mary s computer usage: Mary was allowed to have a computer in her room, an allowance that seemed to cause some envy. Joyce s mother brought up a novel use of computers at home that related to work done in school. When asked about connections, Joyce s mom said: Yes, yes. Cause like she even comes home sometimes and [what's] nice is, like, she ll see something at school and then she'll wanna come home and show it to us. Like, oh look what I saw today, and then or we re reading about this book and she ll bring it up on the computer. This is the book and this is what it s about. [It s] like she wants to involves us on what she is doing at school. And she can do that because she has something here that she can show us with it, and show us from the computer what she is doing at school. She has that ability. In this application, the family was using technology at home to make connections to nontechnology related activities at school. This was the only mention of such a use by participants in the study. To examine connections from another angle, Joyce was asked if she used a game console in school. She responded with a big long No. She also said that her parents do not allow her to bring her ipod to school. Despite the fact that she liked using her , Joyce did not use it in school. She said, No, cause [the librarian] won t let us and Ms. Barr will get mean, you ll get in trouble. This was a clear indication that a lack of connection between school and home skills was sometimes a fault of the school. When asked for final words in the first interview, Joyce said, Ah my favorite thing about computers is for my projects, that s my favorite thing. Like look up the pictures, to type the stuff down. And I love doing the games, that s my favorite cause there is like this game I use it at school called ABCya. I mean A B C Y A, that s a healthy game it helps me. The statement does not differentiate between the projects she did right in school and the projects that she did at home for school. And despite naming a game that she specifically used in school, Joyce often talked about games she played in school and those she played at home. 166

182 Karen (S11) Karen was a jovial child with a big smile and an infectious laugh. She was a well-spoken participant of the study who addressed all items appropriately and with good detail, although sometimes a giggle served as her response. She was in constant motion during both interviews, spinning around in and climbing all over the chair; she was observed as more controlled in the classroom. Still, she said that fairies in a computer game she played were feisty but the term could easily be applied to her. Another characteristic, highlighted by her mother, was selfmotivation. Karen lived with her parents, 13-year old sister, 10-year old brother, and 3-year old baby sister in a local village. Her mother ran her own catering business, was the director of a church choir, a substitute at the schools, and the president of the school s Parent Teacher Organization (PTO); she was prior military and held a bachelor s degree. Her father was a government civilian employee (GS-15); he was also prior military and held a master s. Karen s mother rated her own comfort level with technology as a 4 (on a scale of 0 to 5) but rated her husband, who held a job as a network engineer, as a 5. Karen was to remain in the area the following school year but had planned on visiting family in Montgomery, a city in which she once lived, and other parts of the Southeastern United States over the intervening summer. When asked about her hobbies, Karen proclaimed cooking first. She also said listening to music and playing games on the computers were her hobbies. Interestingly, and in line with her character, she said being a friend was a hobby. Her sports interests included soccer, kickball, volleyball, table tennis, basketball, football, baseball, and almost all of them. She communicated that she had played on a soccer team. Karen reported that she has accessibility to computers and the Internet, knew how to search for information she needs online, but rated herself in the neutral (3 on a scale from 1 to 5) in her computer skill level (see Table 21). Karen s interest level in working with technology and computers was high (5) and she felt the computer and Internet are important to her. While she strongly agreed (5) that computers helped her learn, she was less consistent and agreed less (3.5) that the Internet helped her learn. Karen did not trust everything on the Internet and strongly agreed (5) that some websites are not good for children. 167

183 Ability 168 Attitude 2. I am very skilled with computers I am interested in working with technology and computers I know how to search for 5 4. Computers are important to me. information I need online Computers help me learn better. 5 Accessibility 8. Internet is important to me My parents allow me to use computers. 6. My parents allow me to use the Internet Internet helps me learn better I trust everything on the Internet Some websites are not good for children. Table 21. Average ability, accessibility, and attitude scale self-reports for Karen. All items on a scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree); 3 is neutral. Bolded items were rated exactly the same in both interviews. Italicized items marked with a * differed by more than 1 in the two interviews. Karen s Computer Use in School In school I use computers for, ah, um, you know, reading on Raz-Kids and Reading Counts, and I use it for projects with Ms. Barr and Math IXL, said Karen. She added Type to Learn. Karen was observed on one occasion using IXL Math to reinforce her knowledge of line plots; when asked what she was doing she said, what you taught me, making a connection between a non-tech classroom lesson and her individual use of the program. Karen reported spending less than 30 minutes a day on the computer in school. Karen s Computer Use at Home Karen said, I have been using computers at home for watching movies, um, playing games, and listening to music, getting information for my projects with Ms. Barr, yes, and I ve been using it for, um, stuff like, ah, there is these websites, and stuff like that. She noted that she watched movies from the subscription service Netflix and that she listened to music from YouTube. One of the games Karen mentioned playing, Pixie Hollow, was also an example of her usage: she had entered her address into her Pixie Hollow account so they could send her messages. She also ed immediate family members and friends. Karen reported spending about minutes on the computer at home every day but then about 3-4 hours overall on the computer; the summation seemed inconsistent but other comments suggest a high amount of home usage. She did say, After I do my homework I'm like 5

184 a techie person on the computer. And her mother verified her use by saying, Cause when she goes [home] immediately she goes to [the] computer and she gets on[line]. Karen chose every usage of computers from a list of eight except create websites, adding I have my own blog, and she chose all ten usages for the Internet at home from the list. One of the uses for home Internet on the list was reading news ; it was unusual for a student to claim this item and Karen s mother said She wouldn t care less, about Karen s interest in the news but Karen said, Um, like, this I use the Internet, I click the Internet box the E, and then it shows me news, and I have an MSN website that s how I get to other websites. Karen was the only student who said she spend the most time on the Internet downloading music, pictures, movies, etc. Towards the end of the first interview she said, I go on, um, like 5 sites a day. When asked if she could list them she said they were not specific sites, just things she found. Karen s mother said that technology was imperative to her in running her business, directing the choir, and presiding over the school s PTO. When asked about her feelings about her children using technology, she said: I think it s great. I mean because, I mean, that s just the way times are going. I mean, there is no sense of us not embracing technology and the advance thereof because, ah, that s just the way the times are going. I mean, we just of course have to be a little guarded with what our children have access to, but I think there ve been things put in place to, ah, assist parents in, ah, helping us, ah, guard where our children go. She repeated the philosophy that children had to keep up with the times and that despite safeguards they sometimes run into inappropriate content, on several occasions in the interview. About Karen s ability, her mother said, So she just has an apt for getting around and being able to navigate on her own. Be it computer, be it, ah you know, some kind of network as far as TV is concerned, Netflix and all that. Karen s house was full of technology. Her mother said they had five desktops, three laptops, two ipads, four smartphones, and an ipod; she claimed her husband was a technology junkie who could not pass up a good deal. Karen said there were six TV s. Karen also said she has used all of the technologies in the home but the computer she claimed to use the most belonged to her little sister, a three-year old, which she said is obviously not fair, but she never really uses it so. She also reported using an ipad at home for math and Google and stuff. Karen disclosed that she had her own cell phone for emergency only. Asked about game 169

185 consoles, Karen said, I have the Wii, the Xbox, the GameStation 1, the PlayStation 2, and the PlayStation 3. Asked if she had any computer rules at home, Karen said Ah, I don t know. She did go on to say that she wasn t to be loud when her dad had a meeting, but didn t seem to have any other specific rules. She said that most of her computer use was in her dad s office, a shared space; she did not have a computer in her room. Her mother stated that she wanted to protect Karen and did not want her watching certain movies or viewing certain things on the Internet but she did not list hardened rules by which Karen was to abide. Karen s Connections Karen said that she played cooking games on the computer because I want to be a chef when I grow up. She is the only student who made an explicit connection between a current computer activity and a possible future career. Karen also reported that she went to a math website at home that was fun and educational as well. Karen even connected her movie watching to learning, saying that the film Dear American had shown her some things about the Civil War, an era she studied in school. Karen said, [Y]ou know how our school has a website, right? She went on to say how she used the school eportal, an Internet site that contained information and links to resources used at school, to access sites like IXL Math, Mathletics, and BrainPOP. She demonstrated her ability to use BrainPOP by repeating from memory the school s login information for the site, the only student to so readily prove the ability to access a school resource at home. Her mother affirmed Karen s use of this resource, saying Well I know that she likes to do BrainPOP quite a bit and she got that from [the school], that s for sure. Karen appeared willing to use other resources from school at home, saying she didn t use envisionmath at home because I don't know the website. She did say she used Raz-Kids sometimes at home. At times when Karen had been entertaining herself on the computer for too long, her mother stated, I ll say okay you need to do something constructive. You ve Netflixed enough. At these times she said Karen would turn to BrainPOP or Raz-Kids or the like. Her mother also reported that Karen was a book worm and liked to read. Karen said she used the computer at home to type up projects for school. She also said that the computer helped her learn by providing her a way to get information. As an example, she cited a journal entry she was making at home on the civil war and said I didn t have my book 170

186 with me, so searched up on the computer and then I search up Civil War Kids and it gave me a lot of information. Karen again cited the news as information that can be found on the Internet, one of only a couple students to exclaim current events as relevant information. Regarding the news, Karen connected a homework assignment that her brother did as a way computers help one to learn, saying, Like my brother he had ah had to do a news report, and he has this website and it s called CNN News. While Karen chose every home use for the Internet from a list of ten items, she only chose half as many school uses from the same list. She made a clear differentiation between what is done at home and school. She also pointed out that there was a certain time when she did things at school: she surfed online for fun sometimes when it s lunch. Along that line, asked if she used a game console in school she said, No. I would get in trouble. Leslie (S13) Leslie was an articulate student who, by her own admission, was a very organized person. She showed her ipod folder structure as an example of her organizational prowess. Leslie was observed on several occasions making insightful comments which showed higher-order thinking skills; her achievement level put her among a group of students from the class who worked with the gifted teacher. Leslie was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas, but like a number of students in the class, is part of a bi-cultural family: her father is American and her mother is British. Leslie lived with her parents, her 13-year old brother, and her 19-year old dog in a large house set in a hilly village about 30 minutes from the school. Her 38-year old father was a Department of the Army Civilian; before that he did 11 years in the Army. Leslie s 42-year old mother was, at the time she answered the interview prompts in writing, not working but she was well known around the school for making wonderful cakes on order. The father had a bachelor s degree and the mother was a high school graduate. Leslie s mother rated her comfort level with technology as a 3 (on a scale from 0 to 5) and her husband s as a 5. For hobbies, Leslie said she liked to play Littlest Play Shop, both the toys and the computer game, watch movies, and play computer games. She had a trampoline in the back of the house which she enjoyed using and a fallen tree in the yard which she liked to play on. She said that she went to a local recreation center on a regular basis to do indoor rock climbing. 171

187 Leslie rated her accessibility to computers inconsistently, during the first interview she said 3 (see Table 22), adding Cause, um, I ask to go on the Toughbook to watch movies [and] my dad is like no I m about to use it, so I m like okay. In her perspective here, her parents allowing her to use the computer was not a holistic measure but on a case-by-case basis. During the second interview she rated this same item a 5. Leslie rated her ability to search information she needed online high but her assessment of I am very skilled with computers was low. Leslie felt that computers and the Internet were important to her and helped her learn. Interestingly, she said, I think the Internet is important to everybody. She went on to say, Yeah, like you won t be able to go on Facebook [or] . We would have to, like, [call someone and say] meet here I need to tell you something. She did say that some websites were not good for children, stating as a rationale that on a particular game site you talk to a bunch of strangers. Ability 172 Attitude 2. I am very skilled with computers. 2* 3. I am interested in working with technology and computers I know how to search for Computers are important to me. information I need online Computers help me learn better. 4 Accessibility 8. Internet is important to me My parents allow me to use computers. 6. My parents allow me to use the Internet. 4* 9. Internet helps me learn better I trust everything on the Internet Some websites are not good for children. Table 22. Average ability, accessibility, and attitude scale self-reports for Leslie. All items on a scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree); 3 is neutral. Bolded items were rated exactly the same in both interviews. Italicized items marked with a * differed by more than 1 in the two interviews. Leslie s Computer Use in School Leslie listed IXL Math, Reading Counts, Raz-Kids, Type to Learn, and Typing Web as ways she used computers in school. She went on to detail how she had used Ben s Guide to History, an online site, to learn about the geography of the United States; recent usage of the program had most likely made it a vivid recollection of how computers were used in school. Leslie placed herself in the minute range of time spent on the computer in school. 4*

188 When asked during the second interview if she used PowerPoint in school, Leslie said I used to do that last year [in my 2 nd grade teacher s] class. She was one of several study participants who had this particular teacher and remembered using PowerPoint in that teacher s class. Leslie s Computer Use at Home Leslie had a desktop computer in her room at home (see Figure 45), the only study participant visited to have such a setup. The large screen and pink keyboard sat on a nightstand right next to her bed. She used this computer to watch movies and play a few games which her father had helped her load on the machine. The computer was not networked because, said Leslie, My computer doesn t have Internet cause it s upstairs and the Internet is [downstairs]. Figure 45. Leslie s computer next to her bed in her room The family had a desktop computer in the office (see Figure 46). That computer was connected to their home network and if Leslie wished to use the Internet she usually did so from there; there was a DSL connection but Leslie said, We have really bad Internet and repeated this sentiment on several occasions. Also, her Nancy Drew game was loaded on that computer and she showed it during the home visit. Leslie also had an ipod, of which she said, I use my ipod just to entertain myself. She reported spending a lot of time on it. She had purchased games and music on the device and had 173

189 used it for taking photos. Asked how much time she spent on the computer at home every day, she said Probably 1 to 2 hours on my ipod. To the follow-up question of how much time is spent on computers overall everyday she said, I don t go on the computer though actual computer at home much. Like, I m mainly on my ipod. Um, so maybe about, um, I think about, ah, 4 to 5 hours combined. Cause if my ipod is like fully charged I ll just be on, and [it s] hard for me to get off of it. Leslie used her Figure 46. Leslie s family s home computer in the office ipod all around the house, listening to music, playing games, and accessing the Internet. (During the member check in spring 2014, Leslie s mother wrote, [M]aybe [L] doesn t spend quite as much time on her I pod [sic] as she d said (it goes for days and days without being charged). ) A quirky habit of Leslie s was to change the wallpaper on the ipod (and her home computer) often, sometimes several times a day. Also in Leslie s house, she reported, was an ipad used by her mother incessantly for communication, especially over Facebook. Leslie confessed that she got to borrow this ipad occasionally to play games and post on her dog s Facebook page. She did not have her own Facebook account at the time, she thought she was too young, but said, I think once I get my own Facebook page I am going to be on that most of the time. Additional devices included her 174

190 mom s iphone, her brother s ipod-like device, her dad s tablet and Toughbook. There was also an Xbox and Wii in the house. We have a lot, Leslie said. Leslie s mother wrote, [S]o much information! It s great for reading, playing games and getting information for projects etc. but there is sooo [sic] much out there we use. She reported that she and her husband used the Internet on a daily basis, writing I use the Internet daily hourly!! and from various locations but that her daughter used it less often. Leslie reported having assistance available at home with her homework and on the computer. She said, Um, if it s for a project my dad will probably work until it s time for bed. She also frequently mentioned getting her father s help and being taught by him to use her computer. More frequently she mentioned the dumb things her brother did on the computer, highlighting a typical sibling rivalry. Asked about the computer rules at home, Leslie detailed a number of rules she said were for her brother. My rules are don t go on anything that you don t know what it is and make sure that it is something that you really, really wanna know, curiosity and that stuff. But I can t be on it too long. She did say she needed permission to go on things like YouTube. As part of the same conversation, Leslie pointed out a misconception on her part, saying I don t want to make my parents pay extra. So I don t go on many Internet games. I don t do much Internet stuff. Leslie s Connections Leslie reported using the computer at home for doing school projects. Google was used to find information, the information was typed into the computer, and a draft printed. She gave an example of a state project on Georgia that she had been assigned around the time of the interview. Upon further prompting, she also said, I do IXL sometimes only whenever I have time and admitted to doing Raz-Kids at home sometimes and even said I use it at home as well in reference to BrainPOP. While she did enumerate a lot of users for her home computers, Leslie s school/home connections seemed among the hardest to establish. While she only chose 3 of 10 items from a list searching information for school, playing games, and educational sites as tasks she used the Internet for in school, she added 4 to that as tasks she used the Internet for at home. On another occasion she reported using Google to look up information for fun; she said, Sometimes I m just curious of stuff. She recounted a search for Pikachu pony as an example of one of the few searches she did this year; she said in 2 nd grade she did more searching since she was more curious cause [she] was younger. As with the 175

191 majority of her classmates, Leslie said she spent the most time playing games on the Internet but searching information for school was a close second. (During the home visit, the games Leslie showed were mainly standalone games that had been loaded from disks and apps that had been downloaded onto her ipod. She, like others, could have mistaken the item to mean that activity which she did most on computers.) Leslie loved using her ipod and did so for hours a day at home. When asked if she used an ipod or an ipad in school, she said No, cause my mom doesn t let me bring them. Summary This chapter described each of the twelve study participants in a different section. Within each section computer usage in the school microsystem, home microsystem, and the mesosystem between these two was give. The objective within this chapter was to highlight areas which differed among the participants therefore the school usage sections were understandably shorter than the home usage sections. The previous chapter, Chapter 4, described the class as one entity, using averages and similarities among the study participants. The next chapter, Chapter 6, discusses the major themes which have arisen in this study, compares them to the literature, draws conclusions, and proffers implications for elementary classrooms. 176

192 CHAPTER 6. CHILDREN & COMPUTERS Children & Computers is a fascinating topic. A plethora of opportunities to witness the interactions of man and machine exist in our technological society, the macrosystem of not only our digital native children (Prensky, 2001) but also that of their teachers and parents. The military community and the military-connected school system, the most salient exosystems for the participants of this study, supported the use of technology as a quality-of-life issue and an educational necessity. The classroom in a military-connected school and the homes of those serving our country, the fundamental microsystems of the third grade participants, were perceived as technology rich environs by those who operated within them. The connections between these two settings, the mesosystem, embodied conditions which were conducive to the application of technologies in learning. The purpose of this embedded case study was to describe and explore the use of computers by third grades students in one class at a military-connected United States public school. While it can be said that the U.S. society wants schools to turn out students with technology skills pertinent to the 21 st Century (Casner-Lotto & Barrington, 2006) for the greater good, it was found within this study that the teacher and parents of twelve students wanted to prepare them for their individual futures. The snapshot produced by examining this one third grade class at this one point in time provides a picture both for educators and policy makers showing how children, their parents, and their teacher perceived computers. Furthermore, the snapshot shows an interrelationship between school and home computer environs that impacts the conditions for applying technologies in children s learning. Snapshot implies a quick informal picture. Within the scope of a rapidly advancing technological society, snapshot is an apropos term for the data found herein. Yet the collection of seventy-two data points (see Appendix D for a complete listing), mostly during one semester (Spring 2013) and through various means (interviews, observations, home visits, and document reviews), was both arduous and rigorous. Moreover, the use of both qualitative and quantitative data to portray both the class as a whole and the individual students who make it up, the embedded case study model defined by Yin (2009), created not only a valid picture of the subject class but also individual pictures of twelve children. 177

193 This snapshot was taken within the school and home environments in which the students operated. By examining children s development with and through computer usage within the natural contexts in which they occurred, an ecological model as proposed by Bronfenbrenner (1979, 1999) served as the conceptual framework for this study. In addition to providing a schema of nested settings macrosystem, exosystem, microsystem, and mesosystem Bronfenbrenner s ecological model also provided other key concepts that framed this study: roles, relations, activities, and transitions. Furthermore, six concepts which arose from the data software applications, doing projects, researching, playing games, communicating, and watching movies, TV, or videos (see Table 5 on page 66) served to provide structure to this report. The graphical representation of the ecological model used in this study, the foundation of which was constructed in Chapter 2, was completed in Chapter 4 with the addition of microsystem and mesosystem elements that arose from the data. Figure 47 shows a four-panel collage of the detailed diagrams for each of the four elemental categories: applications & hardware, activities, roles, and transitions. Chapter 4 examined the class as one unit of study, amalgamating student characteristics into one case. Chapter 5 treated each child as an embedded individual mini-case. The current chapter builds theories from the case study research, grounding these theories in the findings from the previous two chapters (Creswell, 2007; Eisenhardt, 1989; Glaser & Strauss, 1967). The following six conjectures, five of which are stated as actions, are detailed in this chapter: (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. 178

194 Figure 47. Ecological model from Children & Computers study; includes micro- and mesosystem elements The purposeful sampling used in this study is more suited to understanding the phenomenon of computer usage by third graders in a military-connected school than leading to generalizability, as noted by Creswell (2007). The conjectures presented here are not proffered as generalized theories. Still, the data from this study taken in conjunction with the previous research detailed in Chapter 2 make the statements at the very least valid for this class and, with a degree of logical certainty, recommendable ideas for other classrooms. This chapter ends with those recommendations for school educators, educational policy makers, and researchers of the future. Children s Computer Use Fits an Ecological Model It is commonly held that the goal of the field of educational technology to use the power of modern technology to advance the education of the human race. We seek the development of humankind through their interaction with digital devices and media. Development so implemented, like all development, is situational and best studied in context. An ecological 179

195 model was used successfully to frame this case study, as it had been in earlier educational technology studies (G. M. Johnson, 2010; Lei et al., 2008; Takeuchi, 2011a, 2011b), because it accounts for settings, roles, relations, activities, and transitions. Bronfenbrenner (1979), the architect of the ecological model used herein, said, In ecological research, the properties of the person and of the environment, the structure of environmental settings, and the process taking place within and between them must be viewed as interdependent and analyzed in systems terms (p 41). Children s computer use fits an ecological model. Children & Computers analyzed a system which included: (1) the settings of school and home, (2) a teacher, her students, their parents, and the devices they used, (3) the relations among the previous individuals, (4) activities performed involving the devices, and (5) transitions. This study was limited to these five system inputs. The output was a rich description of the system with an eye towards finding how the interrelationship between the school and home technology environs impacted the conditions for applying technologies in learning. Five conjectures were output and are explained in the next five sections of this chapter. The nested settings of the ecological model took into account the forces which acted upon the children including those in which they directly operated, the microsystem, those outside their immediate realm, the exosystem, and those of the overarching society, the macrosystem. The mesosystem, the model s embodiment of the interactions between microsystems, was a harder entity to describe. Being able to pinpoint direct connections between children s computer use at school and children s computer use at home was more complicated than allowed for by the simple interviews and observations of this study. So too, the number of confounding variables not accounted for as system inputs (i.e. other settings, people, relations, activities, and transitions) made the mesosystem an even fuzzier creature. This lends support to the artificial nature of the boundaries among home, school, and leisure technology use reported in Furlong and Davies (2011). Still, educational technologists will endeavor to solidify these connections, and the whole of the ecological model, in order to find best practices that improve student achievement through technology use. The ecological model treats the computer as an individual with a distinct role and some of the same characteristics as the people in the system. In describing proximal processes, Bronfenbrenner (1999) clearly allowed for the relationship between a person and a computer leading to development. In this project, aspects of the role that a computer plays in a child s 180

196 development, his relationship with the devices present in his environs, and the activities that he and his technology do together have been studied. The personification of computers is a strength of the ecological model. As a participating parent said, It can be either, um, a useful tool, or an evil tool depending on what you choose to do with it. What a child does with a computer is sometimes her choice and sometimes done under the direction of her teacher in school or by the allowance of her parents at home. The child s relationship with technology is shaped by the people in her environment, as previously stated by Takeuchi (2011b). The interactions among the child and the other people in her environment lead to learning about and through technology, a manifestation of social learning theory oft attributed to Vygotsky (referenced in Powell & Kalina, 2009). The interrelationships among the child, the teacher, the parents, and the technology, the individual entities examined in this study, were keys to the discovery of conditions for applying technology to learning. The ecological model situates these interrelationships in context. Relationships are based on actions. In school the teacher delivered lessons to the children on the SMART Board. At home the parents allowed their children to play online games. In school, students worked in groups with their peers using computers to do research for projects. At home, children assisted their siblings with homework. Working with software applications, doing projects, researching, playing games, communicating, and watching multimedia were the main activities investigated in this study because they were the activities performed by the participants. And because they were ongoing behaviors with significance to the people who perform them, they rose to the importance of a molar activities, as defined by (Bronfenbrenner, 1979), and had the potential to effect development. The ecological model places activities within context. Furthermore, variables like content, time allocation, and delivery method, dimensions of computer use which were adopted from studies on TV viewing by Fiorini (2010), could be assumed into a more complex ecological model. Transitions are changes. They occur when children change their setting or role. Transitions relocations, family separations for example are a way of life for militaryconnected families because of the commitments made by the member (Bowen & Orthner, 1989). Seven participants in this study were involved in PCS moves during the Spring 2013 semester. The effect of their transitions on their computer use was not a specific target of this study nor did it appear to play a big part. Transitions are a part of the ecological model. 181

197 Bronfenbrenner (1979) wrote a number of definitions, propositions, and hypothesizes about the ecology of human development. Certain of these have been chosen to create the ecological model which framed this study. They are all Appendix A and, with certain modifications, most can be applied to children and computers. For example, Definition 9 states, To demonstrate that human development has occurred, it is necessary to establish that a change produced in the person s conceptions and/or activities carries over to other settings and other times. Such demonstration is referred to as developmental validity (Bronfenbrenner, 1979, p. 35). Validating the development regarding the use of computers from the school microsystem to the home microsystem, or visa-versa, would be a fitting extension of this study. Choosing more variables as defined, proposed, or hypothesized by Bronfenbrenner, or another source, could increase the ecological model in complexity and account for more variations then this Children & Computers product. Assume Children Have Access to Computers Outside of School This paper started with the sentence American children today have a lot of stuff available to them! The intervening pages have lent credence to that statement. All the children in this study were provided technology devices that were available to them nearly 24/7, albeit with access controlled by adults. They had better access to computers in their school microsystem than that of their average U.S. elementary school peers. And they had access to computers plus an array of other technology devices in their home microsystem. The teacher s apprehension about unequal home access shaped a homework policy that did not depend upon the use of computers. She was reticent to require computer usage at home for fear that some student would be lacking. Assuming that children have access to computers outside of school will enable a better home-school technology connection within the mesosystem. The teacher in this study answered in 2013 the same items from a questionnaire answered by a representative sample of her U.S. elementary school teacher peers in Her classroom exceeded the national norms, as compiled from responses to that questionnaire and reported in Gray et al. (2010b). The 1.1 to 1 ratio of students to computers in her classroom bested the 1.7 to 1 elementary school national average, nearly qualifying the classroom as 1:1 according to the definition by Bebell and O'Dwyer (2010); in-and-of itself this increased technology use in the study classroom, as those authors had noted happened earlier in other classrooms. The 182

198 participating teacher s responses of often to how frequently computers were used during instructional time in her classroom and in other locations in the school matched her with the top 44% and 31%, respectively, of her peers in these regards. The reported often use of a SMART interactive whiteboard in her classroom put her among the less than one third of her peers (31%) who used that technology on a regular basis; projector and digital camera use was equaled by about half of her peers (55% and 43%), while document camera and ipod use was matched by only a small percentage of her elementary school peers (25% and 6%). (See Figure 48 in Appendix D for a full comparison of national and study data.) The teacher, in her role as provider, made technology available and put to use in the classroom. One hundred percent (100%) of the households in this study had computers with Internet access; all eight participating parents indicated a broadband connection and the other four homes appeared to have the same. This exceeds the 86% of households with at least one child between the ages of 6 and 18 who were reported by the Economics and Statistics Administration and National Telecommunications Information Administration (2011) to have had a computer in 2010; 78% of those had a broadband connection. The average of nearly four home computers reported by the eight participating parents, and no less than two in any household, was double the 2.0 average reported by Rideout et al. (2010) in their study of 8- to 18-year-olds. Mobile devices tablets/ipads, smartphones, ipods also abounded. All except one student reported spending time on the computer every day minutes was the median reported and even that child gave evidence indicating use. Activities requiring Internet access were the tasks most frequently engaged in by the students; games topped the list. Parents, in their role as providers, made technology available in their homes and it was put to use. Still the teacher was hesitant to assign tasks which required the use of a computer at home. She saw it as an equity issue but did not specifically attribute it to demographic or socioeconomic lines, as has been reported by some researchers (see for example DeBell & Chapman, 2006; Vigdor & Ladd, 2010). She pointed to PCS moves as a reason that a militaryconnected student may be without a computer. One of the students in this study gave just that reason for not working on that computer during the end of his time in country; several talked about packing out their household goods, including computes, as they prepared to transition to new duty stations. 183

199 Since the military-connected school system has been held up as a model for addressing the needs of children from military families (Esqueda et al., 2012), supporting the home technology needs of a student in transition would be an appropriate action on the part of the system. A computer could be lent to the student by the school, if needed, upon enrollment or disenrollment. The needs of those students who do not have access to any computer at home even when situated, a number that appears to be low based on this very small sample and national averages, could be taken care of by the school to avoid a digital divide among military-connected children. Or the military community, which offers a wide range of support services anyways (Bowen & Orthner, 1989), could lend PCS ing families a computer just as they lend them other items like furniture and dishware during times of transition. Yet even without a take home loan, public computers are provided by the community in libraries, community centers, cafés, and on-base hotels. Assuming children have access to computers at home is reasonable based on both this study and national averages. Taking an inventory of what they do have at home would bolster that assumption, increase the relationship between school and home, and, as advocated by the National Association of the Education of Young Children, base educational decisions on a knowledge of individual children and their families (Bredekamp & Copple, 1997). Taking care of those that do not would be a prudent use of resources by those who lead the school and community. The teacher in this study made such an assumption in School Year During a follow-up interview that year she said that she has given all students their login information for the online component of the math series she used; assigning them both online homework and online quizzes to be done at home. She reported monitoring these through an embedded tracking system and seeing mixed results. She further said that it had always been her intent to roll out the technology portions of the math series over a three year period. Acting as a co-researcher on this study, visiting the homes of some students to glimpse their technology use there, had propelled her forward in this regard. She was even getting ready for an even more tech saturated school environment than she had already created. She said, [I]t s happening more and more where they re like, oh, [can] I bring [a mobile device] to school. I mean, and if you say no they re just looking at you like, why not, cause it s just their world. That s what they know. And I just think this year it s gonna be coming in more and more. 184

200 Apply Computer Abilities Children Possess Towards Higher Levels of Learning The majority of children in this study were observed at school and at home to be adept at basic computer navigation. The average self-reported rating for I am very skilled with computers was about 3.5 (3 being neutral on a scale of 1 to 5; see Table 6 on page 75) with no student consistently rating themselves below 3. The students had the ability to engage in computer activities they chose or were directed to complete. The source of these abilities was not specifically under study here but they seemed a mash-up of skills acquired in school microsystems, home microsystems, and other microsystems in which the students operated. Computer abilities were applied when using software applications, doing projects, researching, playing games, communicating, and consuming multimedia. The essence of these computer abilities can be applied to higher levels of learning. Comparing the classroom in this study, as reported by the teacher, to a representative sample of U.S. elementary schools, as reported in Gray et al. (2010b) by those in the same role, the use often of technology in this military-connected classroom to learn or practice basic skills and conduct research was matched by 56% and 62%, respectively, of classrooms in the nation. The use sometimes to conduct experiments or perform measurements and develop and present multimedia presentations was matched by a third or less of the nation s classrooms (23% and 35%). On the other hand, the use rarely of computers in the study classroom to prepare written reports and create or use graphics or visual displays were bested by a third or more of the nation s classrooms (43% and 33%). The lack of the use of computers in this military-connected classroom for students to solve problems, analyze data, or perform calculations was bested by 66% of the nation s classrooms and correspond with other was trounced by 99% of the nation! (See Figure 48 in Appendix D for a full comparison of national and study data.) The teacher, in her role as provider, planned for and implemented certain activities which used technology in the classroom and thus built computer skills. The eight parents in this study answered in 2013 the same items from a United States Census Bureau (2003) questionnaire that was used with a representative sample of the U.S. population in 2003, the last year to specifically address a large number of items towards computer usage by children. One hundred percent (100%) of the participating parents reported 185

201 their third grade child used a computer and the Internet at home versus 64% and 34%, respectively, of students in Grades 1-5 in 2003 as reported by DeBell and Chapman (2006); in 2011, 83% of children ages 3-17 lived in a home with a computer and 55% of these had an Internet connection (File, 2013). Similarly, Internet access from any location rose from 45% in 2003 to 60% in 2011 for these age groups but encompassed 100% of study participants. Eightyeight percent (88%) of study parents reported their third grade child used a computer to complete school assignments and do word processing/desktop publishing at home ; 35% and 19% of parents reported children in a similar age group performed these activities the decade earlier. One hundred percent (100%) of participants used the computer and Internet to play games versus 56% for games and 32% for Internet games in More ing (37% vs. 16%), searching for products (50% vs. 9%), listen[ing] to the radio or view[ing] TV or movies (75% vs. 6%), and making telephone calls (88% vs. 1%) were reported by study participant parents than were reported a decade earlier. (See Figure 49 in Appendix D for a full comparison of national and study data.) The parents perception of the child s technology use mostly matched that of the children s, unlike the disparity between the two which had been reported by other military-connected parents (Department of Defense Education Activity, 2010a). The study parents relied upon computers themselves and placed educational value on them as a vehicle for their child s learning and future success, echoing the parents perceptions reported by Ortiz et al. (2011), although they did also acknowledge a great entertainment value presented by technology. Parents, in their role as provider, allowed a number of technology-related endeavors at home, they engaged in a lot themselves, and they collaborated on several with their children. Participating students unanimously visited educational sites, searched for information to complete their school work, and played games on the computer. A majority had used productivity software, completed homework using a computer, and searched online unrelated to schoolwork. Furthermore, students carried out communications via Internet telephony, , text messaging, and video calling. They also watched movies, TV, and videos through their computer on DVD and both subscribed and free services. All of these activities provided a computer know-how that could be ported to academic endeavors. Regarding educational sites, the teacher used two programs that were advocated by school leaders for school-wide use: one for increasing reading ability and the other for increasing math skills. This was appropriate since reading and math typically receive a significant amount 186

202 of instructional time in elementary school (Benavot, 2007) and the betterment of achievement in these areas were school-wide goals. Furthermore, these programs were adopted into the teacher s classroom in a manner that fit her teaching style; for example, being used during individual seatwork time or as part of small group rotations. Yet while research has shown that such programs do not produce nearly the effect size as a change in teaching methods (Robert E Slavin & Lake, 2007; Robert E. Slavin et al., 2010), this study has shown that as programs recommended for use outside of the classroom these educational programs did not transition from the school microsystem to the home microsystem well. Their use in school was part of a day s scheduled activities or sometimes a choice among other academic activities. Their use at home was not required by the teacher and while most students said they did use the online reading and math programs at home their affirmative responses were qualified with phrases like sometimes, not that much, and when my mom makes me. Voluntary home use of keyboarding software, too, was minimal even though the skill was practiced in school on a regular basis. On the other hand, doing projects was an activity that occurred both in school and at home on a regular basis. One type of in-class project involved the extension of content from reading groups into the self-selection of a related topic, research on that topic, creation of a product, and presentation to the class. These projects were often done in groups, called for the evaluation of obtained information, allowed for greater latitude of work products, and were shown to the class during discussions on the carpet. Productivity software was observed being used to formulate these projects, in addition to non-tech skills like cutting and gluing. Google was a favored research tool of the class but it was augmented with an online encyclopedia, online dictionary, and websites that the teacher suggested. In-class projects involved skills touted by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills (2008): information literacy, ICT literacy, communication, collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking. These higher level skills contrast to the skills and practice gained by the use of the aforementioned reading and math applications, which were completed individually man-on-machine. Moreover, projects completed at home addressed many of the abilities as projects done in school. The topics were usually more directed a particular U.S. state or Native American tribe, for example but research, product creation and presentation to the class were required. Use of a computer was not required but it appeared to play a part in every student s project. Parents, too, 187

203 mentioned doing projects as an activity their child did at home on the computer; research and typing up information using productivity software were two project activities oft cited by parents. Parents supported these endeavors and reported collaborating with their child on the completion of projects. The acquisition and use of digital multimedia content were activities the participating students did at home and often in conjunction with other family members. Movies were downloaded from commercial sites, TV content streamed from the web, and videos watched on YouTube. Living overseas limited English-language TV choice and made procurement of video from other means more necessary; TV content often came through other devices, as noted by Rideout (2011). Music was also obtained by students through the Internet. Video gaming was a favored activity by the majority of students. (The use of computer games is detailed in a separate section of this chapter.) As was true in a survey of parents by Takeuchi (2011a), the parents in this study viewed digital media as entertainment more than education. Still, the ability to obtain multimedia content is a skill which could be applied to academics but did not make the transition from this study s home microsystem to school microsystem well. YouTube was blocked for students and the teacher worried about inappropriate content on the site. No occasion was observed for students to seek music on their own. Images were sought for projects and to graphically inform students of the meaning of a word or topic but even those searches were made with care and a certain degree of teacher trepidation in school. The communication technologies that students used at home certainly did not make it to this school microsystem. was not used in school despite half the students having a private account at home and the military-connected school system providing accounts for the students to use; one student voiced the position that she would get in trouble using her at school. Students were not seen in possession of mobile devices at school; texting was out. Chatting was not observed either, probably due to the lack of software to facilitate it. Video conferencing was observed on a couple occasions when the class met with an art expert from Washington, DC. Both the teacher and her students enjoyed this activity, the students being engaged in the endeavor and not feeling it at all out of the ordinary to communicate via video link since a large number of them did so with family members in the States through free video calling programs. Communication skills from the home microsystems did not make it into the classroom because, as Marquis (2009) also found, school restraints hindered the ability of students to demonstrate 188

204 proficiency with technology they had learned at home. In the case of communication abilities, they could be used for higher levels of learning as had been seen in the art video conference. This and children s other computer abilities, wherever they are acquired, can be applied towards higher levels of learning. Make Connections between School and Home Computer Uses Explicit for Children & Their Parents The children in this study knew that they had two online applications they could use at home to work on their reading and math skills. They regularly used these software applications in school, as did most of the student body, to increase reading and math skills. The children in this study knew that they could use Google and productivity software at home to research and type up their projects. They regularly used the search engine in class and occasionally productivity software in school. Furthermore, their parents knew about the school s skillbuilding programs, used Google to find information themselves, and talked about how their child had done school projects on the computer at home with productivity software. Yet the reading and math software were used only sporadically at home. Projects, while occurring more regularly, were compartmentalized. And the fruits of other technology-related school activities even more rarely evidenced in homes. Making connections between school and home computer uses explicit will provide children extended learning opportunities. Firstly, it must be stated that students seemed unaware sometimes that they were using technology. For example, an interactive white board held a prominent position in the room and was used on a regular basis but received no unsolicited mentions in student interviews. The two art video conferences that were held also did not receive mention by students. This could be because: these technologies were less hands-on for the students; the phrasing of the interview prompts did not stimulate students to consider these technologies; or, since they were so used to having them, students considered them, as Kay said in the sentence that began this paper, just stuff and not technologies. Whatever the cause, the connection was not made between using some computer hardware and performing an educational activity in school. Explicitly connecting the two would create a basis for coupling use of similar hardware at home to learning in the student s mind. Furthermore, since it is the context that creates learning opportunities and not the 189

205 location (Sefton-Green, 2004), explicitly linking formal and informal learning opportunities would strengthen mesosystem ties between school and home microsystems. Regarding software, the school used an online reading application as part of a reading incentive program to promote reading as a lifetime activity. Students earned points from the online program towards a gold, silver, or bronze medal award. The awards did not incentivize the program to a point where the students wanted to use the online reading program at home. The teacher did not require its use at home so, as stated in the previous section, home usage waned. Likewise, the online math application, which was not associated with an incentive program or a teacher requirement, dwindled in home usage. The mere recommendation to use these skillbuilding programs at home was not enough to sustain their use. This home-school mesosystem link was weak. The school also used a server-based assessment program which allowed students to earn reading incentive points by taking a test about a traditional print book they had read. The test had to be taken in school but the book could be read at home. While the students did not mention this application nearly as much as they did the previous two during interviews, some were observed taking the tests. The home-school link here was to use technology in school to assess a nontechnical educational activity that was completed outside the school. The reading and math applications used by the school were specific websites on which the students had accounts. To make the connection between school and home usage more explicit the teacher would have to tout usage of these programs through increased communications to parents or a requirement of their usage. The reading assessment software was also specific and it could only be used in school. One way to make the connection between school and home more explicit for this program would be to better publicize the books on which the students could take tests. On the other hand, researching and doing projects did not require specific software and were activities that were very familiar to parents. Performing an Internet search on a topic, gathering information on that topic, printing up the information, and creating a nicely decorated poster that included the information and graphics is a scenario that occurred, at least in part, in school as well as in all of the homes in this study. Projects with assigned topics completed at home are examples of what Sefton-Green (2004) would say is a formal learning activity taking place in an informal setting. Projects were specific school assignments and were linked by all 190

206 the teacher, students, and parents to googling. Yet sometimes other, shorter daily assignments would benefit from an Internet search. Math problem seem unsolvable; Google similar problems. Want more than the social studies book shows; Google that historic era. Forgot the textbook; Google the info. Some students and parents reported that they searched information online to complete homework assignments. The teacher lamented that others would have been able to complete their assignment if they had just done the same in their homes. Impromptu googling of information in the classroom was done often. All the students reported that they knew how to search for information online; the mean self-reported rating for I know how to search for information I need online was about 4.5 (on a scale of 1 to 5; see Table 6 on page 75) with only one student consistently rating himself 3 or below. Knowing when to apply that skill in informal home situations would benefit from an explicit connection between the need to know and the finding out as they are done in the formal school setting. Multimedia was a technology frequently used both at school and home. Educational videos on tape, disk, and the Internet were shown in class regularly; entertainment videos, some with an educational backstory, were also prevalent. Music on cassette, CD, and the teacher s ipod were used on an almost daily basis to lead the students in educational songs. In the home, multimedia was consumed in every form and on every type of device, typical of the M 2 generation portrayed in Rideout et al. (2010). The potential for explicit connections of multimedia content were numerous. For example, the teacher used videos from a subscribed kidfriendly site to explain about literally a hundred diverse topics throughout the year. The students could view these and the rest of the site s related content at home but little evidence existed that more than one of the study participants did so routinely. Selected YouTube videos watched in class had an even better potential since they didn t require a login. The digital music used in class would be an excellent addition to the students ipod playlists; they certainly enjoyed the songs in the classroom. Explicitly publicizing multimedia content used in school for use at home would connect the two microsystems through free (or school-provided) educational resources. Enlisting the parent s collaboration to make any of these school-home connections would be essential. According to Epstein (1986), parents consider it a strength of teachers when they are engaged by the teacher in learning activities at home. The Hoover-Dempsey & Sandler Model of the Parental Involvement Process ((Hoover-Dempsey & Sandler, 1995, 1997, 2005); see Figure 11 on page 40 for a diagram of the model from the Parent Institute (2012)) is a worthy 191

207 structure in which to discuss the findings of this study regarding school-home connections. At Level 1, the parents were: found to have the role of technology provider and protector; have a comfort level with technology sufficient to help their children; have the skills to help their children use technology; and, to varying degrees, created a culture within their home that valued the use of technology. The teacher invited parents to class activities and constantly communicated with them about their individual children; she informed them of some of the technology available for home use. Parents were often seen in the classroom and three were at the school almost daily. Valid information on classifications in higher levels of the model would require more specific data than was obtained in this study. Nonetheless, making connections between school and home computer use explicit for the children and their parents would make the encouragement, modeling, reinforcement, and instruction at Level 2 of the model more focused with regard to educational technology use. Primarily it s entertainment, said a participating parent, speaking of the usage of computers at home by her son but summarizing the usage by all participating students. This finding echoes those from a decade ago: computer use at home is more geared towards entertainment than education (Kerawalla & Crook, 2002). Still, making connections between school and home computer use could add additional learning. As a third grade student participant said, "all fun and educational, pretty much win/win." Purpose Children s Affinity for Computer Games towards Academics The children in this study all played games on the computer and the majority said that was the activity they spent the most time on the Internet doing. Their parents were aware of their game playing and a majority of them also played computer games. But game playing was an activity for home and outside the classroom; the teacher did not incorporate actual video games within the academic curriculum. Purposing children s affinity for computer games towards learning will lead to increased motivation. The two applications most used by the class, reading and math skill development and practice software, incorporated some game features for motivational effect. These features were not sufficient motivation to gain the momentum necessary to make using the applications at home, when not directed to do so, an activity selected by the students. They chose actual games over these drill and practice programs. Sometimes the games they chose had educational value 192

208 but mostly they were purely entertainment in nature. As such, their use could be a distraction, taking away from the student s school performance (Fuchs & Woessmann, 2004). Computer games were allowed as a free time activity but not used by the teacher for an educational purpose within her classroom. She did not play video games herself and the nature of having students involved in a virtual world, interacting with and through technology, did not fit with her more directed pedagogical style. This mirrors the arguments of Shaffer et al. (2005) who pointed out the potential in video gaming for education met a roadblock with educators. Too bad because the virtual world opens up a new microsystem for students, one in which they could take on new roles, develop new relations, perform new activities, and experience new transitions without leaving their current school and home microsystems. Still, there was no evidence that a powerful learning game had been offered for use to the teacher. She generally depended up the school system or specialists to provide software applications. She integrated them into her classroom in a structured way, first getting to know them and then adding them piece-by-piece. While game-based learning is a technology to watch for in the near future (L. Johnson et al., 2011), there has not been a wide circulation of higherlevel learning games (Shaffer et al., 2005), and none were readily available to this teacher. The teacher used the drill and practice programs that were used school-wide for increasing reading and math skills. They were adopted into her classroom in a manner that fit with her teaching style. Research has shown that such programs do not produce nearly the effect size as a change in teaching methods (Robert E Slavin & Lake, 2007; Robert E. Slavin et al., 2010). Incorporation of computer games into the curriculum would represent such a change in methods for the teacher of this study, providing motivation for students as an activity they enjoy is subsumed for educational purposes. Ensure the Protection of Children While They Are Using Computers The fear of what students could encounter online was an unanticipated finding because of its prevalence. It was expected that the teacher would seek to protect children from what could be seen online but not that it would run through so many of her interview responses. It was expected that parents would be more concerned about what their children could encounter online than on TV, usage concerns about content have been voiced to other researchers (Takeuchi, 2011a), but not to the extent that it guided their philosophy of computer use. Protection from the 193

209 evils of the Internet rose to the status of a theme; protector was a role which the teacher and parents embraced. So, ensuring the protection of children while they are using computer in any microsystem will assuage a fear that encumbers use. The U.S. government has repeatedly attempted to legislate macrosystem-level protection through the passage of such laws at the Children s Online Protection Act of 1998; a law which has been struck down on First Amendment grounds (American Libraries, 2009). The school system delivered exosystem-level protection through filtering of Internet traffic. School microsystem protection was controlled by the teacher as she reviewed websites, pictures, and videos before use, even when use was spur-of-the-moment. Home microsystem protection was controlled by the parents at various levels of stringency. But even with protections in place at different setting levels, the possibility of children seeing inappropriate material existed and was acknowledged by the adults who cared for them. The students agreed that some websites were not good for them and they further knew not to trust everything on the Internet. Digital citizenship lessons both at home and school had taught these third graders that much and had given them strategies, i.e. X out, to deal with adult material. They, their teacher, and their parents had built a relationship of trust regarding this matter that at their age seemed not to have been violated; an expectation of a future transition to less self-monitoring was expressed by some parents. Still, reasonable fears about what could be seen online, and other concerns about computer usage such as the time online taking away from other activities or being overly unproductive, did not greatly curtail classroom activities involving the Internet or end educational access at any home. Rules and protections were in place firmer in some homes but more often set on a case-by-case basis, as also seen by (Takeuchi, 2011a) to make the activities safer. Ensuring the protection of children is a universal theme that also applies to their use of computers. It must be addressed. Limitations This study only looked at school and home uses of computers. Technology was available in the public places and other private homes visited by the participants of this study. And those places too offered the possibility of educational usage of technology. The graphical representation of this ecology, shown in Figure 47 (page 179), could have many more 194

210 interconnected microsystems than those of school and home. Other microsystems could, and probably did, contribute to the technological development of the children. Likewise, more exosystems influenced their environment then were highlighted here. For time and simplicity sake these parts of the ecology were not included in the study. Their omission is a limitation of the study. The school at which the study was performed is an American school. Its students are American (with a few exceptions), its teachers American, and its curriculum, guided by common state standards, is American. But the school is not located in America. It resides on a United States military base overseas. Some variables of interest to this study, Internet access and phone service for example, are controlled by host nation companies. This is a First World country. These services are as hearty and well-penetrated here as they are in America but they do not work exactly the same (for example, mobile phone calls are free to the receiver with the total cost borne by the caller.) As with most qualitative studies, the design of this research study does not allow for generalization of results. The purposeful sampling included only self-selected members of the class, all of whom came from a working middle class home. Rather the study gives a snapshot of one third grade class in one United States public school. The findings from this study may inform others seeking to better understand the interrelation of school and home use of computers by elementary children. These findings, however, cannot be automatically transferred to a school across the country; they may not even be valid for a classroom across the hall from where the study was conducted. So too, the conjectures are reasonable based on the case but counterexamples may prove them not so in other locales. Furthermore, the snapshot produced will fade quickly. The picture of today s technology is quickly relegated to the archives as new technologies create new pictures. Finally, it must be emphasized that this study reports on perspectives of school and home use of computers from one third grade class. Third graders have unique characteristics such as the increased influence of peers (Howe, 1993; Anderson, 2011; see Figures 7, 8, and 9 on pages 31-32) which set them apart from younger primary school students. I found them easy-going and all willing participants in this study. I could see that each wanted to provide the information asked of them but some could not recall details or provide accurate time-on-task estimates and some responses seemed a bit exaggerated. Nonetheless, each third grade student provided their 195

211 perspective on their computer use. The findings should be evaluated in the context of third graders, not substantially younger or older students. Recommendations for Children & Computers Teachers, educational technologists, policy makers, and researchers all seek to provide children with the best environments in which to develop. Each has a say as to how that environment is shaped. And each knows that computers will play a role within most of the environs in which a child develops. This section offers recommendations for teachers, policy makers, and future researchers. These recommendations flow logically from the conjectures detailed within this chapter. Teachers main sphere of influence is the classroom microsystem. Still, a strong connection to the home microsystems of their students is a benefit they should cultivate. Teachers should assume children have access to computers outside of school but take inventory to bolster this assumption and provide support to the greatest degree possible for those who do not. Teachers should use children s abilities with computers for higher levels of learning, going beyond drill and practice to activities which engender 21 st Century Skills. Teachers should make connections between school and home computer uses explicit for children and their parents through communication methods (for example a class website) and the assignment of home activities which require computer usage. Teachers should purpose children s affinity for computer games towards academics by integrating age-appropriate games that meet their academic objectives into the curriculum. Teachers should ensure the protection of children while the children are using computers through both the management of the technology and digital citizenship education. And teachers should, as they always have, remain aware of influences from other environments that also shape the development of the students in their care. Educational technologists influence the school microsystems by working directly with teachers and, to some extent, exosystems by working above the classroom level of education. Educational technologists should work with teachers and other educational professionals to establish educationally sound uses of computers outside of school and help secure access for all students. Educational technologists should advocate the use of technology for higher levels of learning; communication, collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking should be infused into activities involving computers. Educational technologists should support teachers efforts to 196

212 make connections between school and home computer uses. Educational technologists should identify computer games which meet academic goals and train teachers to assimilate them into classroom activities. Educational technologists should play a part in ensuring the protection of children while using computers by maintaining technology tools which filter inappropriate material and promoting the teaching of digital citizenship. Advocating the integration of technology into teaching and learning is the role of an educational technologist and these recommendations fall fittingly within the job description. Policy makers, to include both governmental and those leading non-governmental organizations, have influence over children s exosystems and, to some extent, their macrosystem. Policy makers should ensure that the assumption children have access to computers outside of school is correct by supporting programs like 1-to-1 and B.Y.O.D. Policy makers should push for the use of children s abilities with computers to be used for higher levels of learning; curriculum, assessment, and professional development should be aligned to this goal. Policy makers should foster the school-home connections, including those involving children s use of computers. Policy makes should support the research and development of computer games which address children s academic goals. Policy makes should continue to ensure the protection of children while they are using computers, as the U.S. Congress has tried to do with CIPA. And policy makers should remain aware that, as former First Lady Clinton (1996) wrote it takes a village to raise a child. Researchers have influence, although mostly indirectly, over all aspects of educational technology. The research presented herein has moved understanding of educational technology forward in a miniscule way. It has, perhaps, sparked more questions than answers; these are the basis for future research. Researchers should continue to examine existing ways, 1-to-1 and B.Y.O.D., and look for new ways to get a 24/7 computer into the hands of every child. Researchers should look at best practices and avenues for moving children s interactions with computers to higher levels of learning both in school and at home. Researchers should try to nail down the fuzzy connections between children s school and home use of computers; learning is learning no matter where it takes place but the mechanism should by the object of study. Researchers should continue to investigate ways to purpose the computer games children love towards academic objectives. Researchers should explore measures that assuage teachers and parents fears of inappropriate material while maintaining a least-restrictive technology 197

213 environment. And finally, future researchers should apply an even more complex ecological model to children s use of computers to better understand how settings, roles, interactions, activities, transitions, and proximal processes effect child development and learning through technology. All of the recommendations listed here flow from the six conjectures of this study which are themselves based on study data. Moreover, the conjectures have a basis in earlier research and policy decisions which lend additional credence to their validity. For example, an assumption that children have access to computers outside of school is supported by U.S. national data showing that a majority (86%) of households with children had computers (Economics and Statistics Administration and National Telecommunications Information Administration, 2011) and governmental initiatives which sought to ensure 24/7 access to 1:1 computing resources (see, for example, Lemke & Martin, 2003). The recommendations here and the conjectures on which they are based serve as a significant listing of actions for teachers, educational technologists, policy makers, and researchers to facilitate the goal of using computers to educate children. Furthermore, this qualitative study in which they are grounded gives concrete illustrations on the perspectives of school and home use of computers by one third grade class. Conclusion of Children & Computers 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 highestreferenced codes that were discovered among the data. Six conjectures, five of which are stated as actions, were derived, explained, and used to form recommendations: (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 198

214 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. Figure 47 (page 179) is the final revisal of the graphical representation of the macro-, exo-, micro-, and mesosystems for this Children & Computers study, complete with the micro- and mesosystem elements. Yet it provides only a portion of the elements of an ecological system through which children learn using computers. 199

215 APPENDIX A. DEFINITIONS, PROPOSITIONS, AND HYPOTHESIZES FROM THE ECOLOGY OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT: EXPERIMENTS BY NATURE AND DESIGN Definition 1. The ecology of human development involves the scientific study of the progressive, mutual accommodation between an active, growing human being and the changing properties of the immediate settings in which the developing person lives, as this process is affected by relations between these settings, and by the larger contexts in which the settings are embedded. (p 21) Definition 2. A microsystem is a pattern of activities, roles, and interpersonal relations experienced by the developing person in a given setting with particular physical and material characteristics. (p 22) Definition 3. A mesosystem comprises the interrelations among two or more settings in which the developing person actively participates (such as, for a child, the relations among home, school, and neighborhood peer group; for an adult, among family, work, and social life). (p 25) Definition 4. An exosystem refers to one or more settings that do not involve the developing person as an active participant, but in which events occur that affect, or are affected by, what happens in the setting containing the developing person. (p 25) Definition 5. The macrosystem refers to consistencies, in the form and content of lowerorder systems (micro-, meso-, and exo-) that exist, or could exist, at the level of the subculture or the culture as a whole, along with any belief systems or ideology underlying such consistencies. (p 26) Definition 6. An ecological transition occurs whenever a person s position in the ecological environment is altered as the result of a change in role, setting, or both. (p 26) Definition 7. Human development is the process through which the growing person acquires a more extended differentiated, and valid conception of the ecological environment, and becomes motivated and able to engage in activities that reveal the properties of, sustain, or restructure that environment at levels of similar or greater complexity in form and content. (p 27) 200

216 Definition 8. Ecological validity refers to the extent to which the environment experienced by the subjects in a scientific investigation has the properties it is supposed or assumed to have by the investigator. (p 29) Definition 9. To demonstrate that human development has occurred, it is necessary to establish that a change produced in the person s conceptions and/or activities carries over to other settings and other times. Such demonstration is referred to as developmental validity. (p 35) Definition 10. An ecological experiment is an effort to investigate the progressive accommodation between the growing human organism and its environment through a systematic contrast between two or more environmental systems or their structural components, with a careful attempt to control other sources of influence either by random assignment (planned experiment) or by matching (natural experiment). (p 36) Definition 11. A transforming experiment involves the systematic alteration and restructuring of existing ecological systems in ways that challenge the forms of social organization, belief systems, and lifestyles prevailing in a particular culture or subculture. (p 41) Proposition A. In ecological research, the properties of the person and of the environment, the structure of environmental settings, and the process taking place within and between them must be viewed as interdependent and analyzed in systems terms. (p 41) Definition 12. A molar activity is an ongoing behavior possessing a momentum of its own and perceived as having meaning or intent by the participants in the setting. (p 45) Proposition B. The developmental status of the individual is reflected in the substantive variety and structural complexity of the molar activities which she initiates and maintains in the absence of instigation or direction by others. (p 55) Hypothesis 1. The development of the person is a function of the substantive variety and structural complexity of the molar activities engaged in by others who become part of the person s psychological field either by involving her in joint participation or by attracting her attention. (p 55) Definition 13. A relation obtains whenever one person in a setting pays attention to or participates in the activities of another. (p 56) 201

217 Hypothesis 2. Once two persons begin to pay attention to one another s activities, they are more likely to become jointly engaged in those activities. Hence observational dyads tend to become transformed into joint activity dyads. (p 59) Hypothesis 3.Once two persons participate in a joint activity, they are likely to develop more differentiated and enduring feelings toward one another. Hence joint activity dyads tend to become transformed into primary dyads. (p 59) Hypothesis 4. The developmental impact of a dyad increases as a direct function of the level of reciprocity, mutuality of positive feeling, and a gradual shift of balance of power in favor of the developing person. (p 59) Hypothesis 5. Observational learning is facilitated when the observer and the person being observed regard themselves as doing something together. Thus the developmental impact of an observational dyad tends to be greater when it takes place in the context of a joint activity dyad (a child is more likely to learn from watching a parent cook a meal when the activity is structured so that the two area acting together). (p 59) Hypothesis 6. The developmental impact of both observational learning and joint activity will be enhanced if either takes place in the context of a primary dyad characterized by mutuality of positive feeling (one learns more from a teacher with whom one has a close relationship). Conversely, mutual antagonism occurring in the context of a primary dyad is especially disruptive of joint activity and interferes with observational learning. (p 60) Hypothesis 7. Learning and development are facilitated by the participation of the developing person in progressively more complex patterns of reciprocal activity with someone with whom that person has developed a strong and enduring emotional attachment and when the balance of power gradually shifts in favor of the developing person. (p 60) Proposition C. If one member of a dyad undergoes developmental change, the other is also likely to do so. (p 65) Proposition D. An analysis of the microsystem must take into account the full interpersonal system operating in a given setting. This system will typically include all the participants present (not excluding the investigator) and involve reciprocal relations between them. (p 66) 202

218 Proposition E. In a research setting containing more than two persons, the analytic model must take into account the indirect influence of third parties on the interaction between members of a dyad. This phenomenon is called a second-order effect. (p 68) Hypothesis 8. The capacity of a dyad to function effectively as a context of development depends on the existence and nature of other dyadic relationships with third parties. The developmental potential of the original dyad is enhanced to the extent that each of these external dyads involves mutually positive feelings and the third parties are supportive of the developmental activities carried on in the original dyad. Conversely, the developmental potential of the dyad is impaired to the extent that each of the external dyads involves mutual antagonism or the third parties discourage or interfere with the developmental activities carried on in the original dyad. (p 77) Definition 14. A role is a set of activities and relations expected of a person occupying a particular position in society, and of others in relation to that person. (p 85) Hypothesis 9. The placement of a person in a role tends to evoke perceptions, activities, and patterns of interpersonal relation consistent with expectations associated with that role as they pertain to the behavior both of the person occupying the role and of others with respect to that person. (p 92) Hypothesis 10. The tendency to evoke perceptions, activities, and patterns of interpersonal relation consistent with role expectations is enhanced when the role is well established in the institutional structure of the society and there exists a broad consensus in the culture or subculture about these expectations as they pertain to the behavior both of the person occupying the role and of others with respect to that person. (p 92) Hypothesis 11. The greater the degree of power socially sanctioned for a given role, the greater the tendency for the role occupant to exercise and exploit the power and for those in a subordinate position to respond by increased submission, dependency, and lack of initiative. (p 92) Hypothesis 12. The tendency to evoke behavior in accord with expectations for a given role is a function of the existence of other roles in the setting that invite or inhibit behavior associated with the given role. (p 94) 203

219 Hypothesis 13. The placement of persons in social roles in which they are expected to act competitively or cooperatively tends to elicit and intensify activities and interpersonal relations that are compatible with the given expectations. (p 101) Hypothesis 14. Human development is facilitated through interaction with persons who occupy a variety of roles and through participation in an ever-broadening role repertoire. (p 104) Proposition F. Different kinds of setting give rise to distinctive patterns of role, activity, and relation for persons who become participants in these settings. (p 109) Proposition G. The significance of the laboratory as an ecological setting employed for research on human behavior is determined by how the laboratory situation is perceived by the subjects, and by the roles, activities, and relations activated by those perceptions. Hence the laboratory becomes an ecologically valid setting for human studies only when the two following conditions are met: the psychological and social meaning of the laboratory experience to the subject is investigated and becomes known to the researcher, and the subjective meaning of the laboratory situation corresponds to the environmental experience to which the investigator wishes to generalize. (p 122) Proposition G. A setting becomes ecologically valid for research on human behavior and development only when the following two conditions are met: the psychological and social meaning of the subject s experience in the setting is investigated and becomes known to the researcher, and the subjective meaning of the research situation corresponds to the environmental experience to which the investigator wishes to generalize. (p 125) Hypothesis 15. An institutional environment is most likely to be damaging to the development of the child under the following combination of circumstances: the environment offers few possibilities for child-caretaker interaction in a variety of activities, and the physical setting restricts opportunities for locomotion and contains few objects that the child can utilize in spontaneous activity. (p 143) Hypothesis 16. The immediate disruptive impact of an impoverished institutional environment tends to be greatest for children who, upon entry into the institution, are separated from the mother or other parent figure in the second half year of life, when the infant s attachment to and dependence on the primary caretaker typically reaches its greatest intensity. Immediate reactions to institutionalization before or after that period tend to be less intense. (p 143) 204

220 Hypothesis 17. The developmentally retarding effects of institutionalization can be averted or reversed by placing the child in an environment that includes the following features: a physical setting that offers opportunities for locomotion and contains objects that the child can utilize in spontaneous activity, the availability of caretakers who interact with the child in a variety of activities, and the availability of a parent figure with whom the child can develop a close attachment. (p 144) Hypothesis 18. The long-rang deleterious effects of a physically and socially impoverished institutional environment decrease with the age of the child upon entry. The later the child is admitted to the institution, the greater the probability of recovery from any developmental disturbance after release. The more severe and enduring effects are most likely to occur among infants institutionalized during the first six months of life, before the child is capable of developing a strong emotional attachment to a parent or other caregiver. (p 150) Hypothesis 19. The developmental potential of a setting is enhanced to the extent that the physical and social environment found in the setting enables and motivates the developing person to engages in progressively more complex molar activities, patterns of reciprocal interaction, and primary dyadic relationships with others in the setting. (p 163) Proposition H. If different settings have different developmental effects, then these effects should reflect the major ecological differences between the settings, as revealed by contrasting patterns of activities, roles, and relations. (p 183) Hypothesis 20. The immediate and long-range effects of exposure to group settings in early childhood will be reflected not primarily in scores on intelligence, achievement tests, or interaction processes but in the nature and variety of the molar activities engaged in by the child and in the changed character of his behavior and relations toward adults and peers. (p 201) Hypothesis 21. The capacity of group settings for young children to enhance development of intellectual and educational competence depends on the extent to which caregivers and preschool personnel, in their interactions with children, engage in behaviors that stimulate, sustain, and encourage task-oriented activities on the part of the child. Examples of such adult behaviors include questioning, instructing, responding, praising, and comforting. The more often adults exhibit behaviors of this kind, the more the children become capable of task-oriented and cooperative activities (such as persisting in tasks, thinking, contributing ideas, giving opinions, and working together). (p 202) 205

221 Hypothesis 22. The ability of caregivers or preschool teachers to engage in activities that facilitate the children s development is a function of setting properties that vary with the age of the child. In settings for infants under three years, where group sizes are relatively small, adultchild ratio becomes a critical factor in influencing the ability of caretakers to engage in the kind of reciprocal, one-to-one interaction that appears to be more effective in meeting the needs and facilitating the development of the very young child. In setting for children between three and five, where the number if children under care is large, the size of the class-more specifically of the functional group-becomes a major determiner of both caretaker and child activities. Larger groups not only reduce the frequency of developmentally effective activity on the part of the adults but also increase the possibility of children s remaining uninvolved or becoming disengaged, or caught up in tangential or counterproductive diversions with their age-mates. (p 202) Hypothesis 23. Children who from an early age are cared for in group settings for most of the day are more likely to engage in egocentric, aggressive, and antisocial behavior both during the preschool years and through later childhood into adolescence. The observed effect is particularly marked for boys. It is mediated through the children s peer group and is most likely to occur in societies that encourage the expression of individualism, aggression, and independence in children s group, especially by boys. (p 203) Hypothesis 24. The variety and complexity of the molar activities available to and engaged in by the child in a day care or preschool setting affects her development as manifested by the variety and complexity of the molar activities exhibited by the child in other settings, such as the home and, subsequently, the school. (p 203) Hypothesis 25. The nature and complexity of the interpersonal structures available to and engaged in by the child in a day care or preschool setting affects her development as manifested by the nature and complexity of the interpersonal structures initiated or entered into by the child in other settings, such as the home and, subsequently, the school. (p 204) Hypothesis 26. The developmental potential of a day care or preschool setting depends on the extent to which supervising adults create and maintain opportunities for the involvement of children in a variety of progressively more complex molar activities and interpersonal structures that are commensurate with the child s evolving capacities and allow her sufficient balance of power to introduce innovations of her own. (p 204) 206

222 Hypothesis 27. The developmental potential of a setting in a mesosystem is enhanced if the person s initial transition into that setting is not made alone, that is, if he enters the new setting in the company of one or more persons with whom he has participated in prior settings (for example, the mother accompanies the child to school). (p 211) Hypothesis 28. The developmental potential of settings in a mesosystem is enhanced if the role demands in the different settings are compatible and if the roles, activities, and dyads in which the developing person engages encourage the development of mutual trust, a positive orientation, goal consensus between settings, and an evolving balance of power in favor of the developing person. (p 212) Hypothesis 29. Development is enhanced as a direct function of the number of structurally different settings in which the developing person participates in a variety of joint activities and primary dyads with others, particularly when these others are more mature or experienced. (p 212) Hypothesis 30. The positive developmental effects of participation in multiple settings are enhanced when the settings occur in cultural or subcultural contexts that are different from each other, in terms of ethnicity, social class, religion, age group, or other background factors. (p 213) Hypothesis 31. The capacity of the person to profit from a developmental experience will vary directly as a function of the number of transcontextual dyads, across a variety of settings, in which she has participated prior to that experience. (p 214) Hypothesis 32. Children from cultural backgrounds that encourage the formation and maintenance of transcontextual dyads are more likely to profit from new developmental experiences. (p 214) Hypothesis 33. Development is enhanced by providing experiences that allow for the formation and maintenance of transcontextual dyads across a variety of settings. (p 214) Hypothesis 34. The developmental potential of settings in a mesosystem is enhanced if the roles, activities, and dyads in which the linking person engages in the two settings encourage the growth of mutual trust, positive orientation, goal consensus between settings and an evolving balance of power responsive to action in behalf of the developing person. A supplementary link that meets these conditions is referred to as a supportive link. (p 214) Hypothesis 35. The developmental potential of a setting is increased as a function of the number of supportive links existing between that setting and other settings (such as home and 207

223 family). Thus the least favorable condition for development is one is which supplementary links are either nonsupportive or completely absent-when the mesosystem is weakly linked. (p 215) Hypothesis 36. The developmental potential of a setting is enhanced when the supportive links consist of others with whom the developing person has developed a primary dyad (the child s father visits the day care center) and who engage in joint activity and primary dyads with members of the new setting (the child s mother and teacher are bridge partners). (p 215) Hypothesis 37. The relationships posited in hypotheses 34 through 36 vary inversely with the developing person s prior experience and sense of competence in the settings involved. Thus the positive impact of linkage would be maximal for young children, minorities (especially in a majority milieu), the sick, the aged, and so on. Conversely, as experience and self-confidence increase, the postulated relationship would decrease in magnitude to a point at which they reverse direction, such that for a maturing person who is at home in her own culture, development may be further enhanced by entry into new settings that have no prior links with the setting of origin or in which the balance of power is weighted against the developing person and those operating in her behalf. (p 215) Hypothesis 38. The developmental potential of a mesosystem is enhanced to the extent that there exist indirect linkages between setting that encourage the growth of mutual trust, positive orientation, goal consensus, and a balance of power responsive to action in behalf of the developing person. (p 216) Hypothesis 39. The developmental potential of participation in multiple settings will vary directly with the ease and extent of two way communication between those settings. Of key importance in this regard is the inclusion of the family in the communications network (for example, the child s development in both family and school is facilitated by the existence of open channels of communication in both directions). (p 216) Hypothesis 40. The developmental potential of settings is enhanced to the extent that the mode of communication between them is personal (thus in descending order: face-to-face, personal letter or note, phone, business letter, announcement). (p 217) Hypothesis 41. Development is enhanced to the extent that, prior to each entry into a new setting (for instance, enrolling in day care or school being promoted, going to camp, taking a job, moving, or retiring), the person and members of both settings involved are provided with information, advice, and experience relevant to the impending transition. (p 217) 208

224 Hypothesis 42. Upon entering a new setting, the person s development is enhanced to the extent that valid information, advice, and experience relevant to one setting are made available, on a continuing basis, to the other. (p 217) Hypothesis 43. The developmental potential of a mesosystem is enhanced when the persons involved in joint activity or primary dyads in different settings from a closed activity network, that is, when every member of the system engages in joint activities with every other member. This pattern becomes optimal if each party interacts with every other in each setting and is subject to the qualification that the balance of power gradually shift in favor of the developing person and those primarily responsible for his well-being. (p 223); Hypothesis 44. The developmental potential of a setting is enhanced to the extent that there exist direct and indirect links to power settings through which participants in the original setting can influence allocation of resources and the making of decisions that are responsive to the needs of the developing person and the efforts of those who act in his behalf. (p 256) Hypothesis 45. The developmental potential of a setting varies inversely with the number of intermediate links in the network chain connecting that setting to settings of power. (p 256) Hypothesis 46. The development of the child is enhanced through her increased involvement, from childhood on, in responsible, task-oriented activities outside the home that bring her into contact with adults other than her parents. (p 282) Hypothesis 47. The developmental potential of a setting is a function of the extent to which the roles, activities, and relations occurring in that setting serve, over a period of time, to set in motion and sustain patterns of motivation and activity in the developing person that then acquire a momentum of their own. As a result, when the person enters a new setting, the pattern is carried over and, in the absence of counterforces, becomes magnified in scope and intensity. Microsystems that exhibit these properties and effects are referred to as primary settings, and the persisting patterns of motivation and activity that they induce in the individual are called developmental trajectories. (p 284) Hypothesis 48. Developmental effects are not likely to be manifested until the person moves from his present primary setting into another, potential primary setting, that is, from a setting that has instigated of functioning to another setting requiring the person to take initiative to find new sources of stimulation and support. Such transition between two primary settings is called a primary transition. Sleeper effects of earlier primary settings are most likely to be 209

225 observed after primary transitions have taken place, since these are usually separated in time by months or years. (p 286) Hypothesis 49. The direction and degree of psychological growth are governed by the extent to which opportunities to enter settings conducive to development in various domains are open or closed to the developing person. (p 288) Hypothesis 50. The developmental effect of a transition from one primary setting to another is a function of the match between the developmental trajectory generated in the old setting and the balance between challenge and support presented both by the new setting and its interconnections with the old. The nature of this balance is defined by previous hypotheses specifying the conditions of micro-, meso-, and exosystems conductive to psychological growth, with due regard to the person s stage of development, physical heath, and degree of integration with as opposed to alienation from the existing social order. (p 288) 210

226 APPENDIX B. IRB APPROVAL AND CONSENT FORMS 1. Initial IRB Approval 2. Extensions of IRB Approval 3. DoDEA Approval 4. Teacher's Consent to Participate in Research Project 5. Parental/Guardian's Consent for Child to Participate in Research Project 6. Parental/Guardian's Consent to Participate in Research Project 7. Student's Assent to Participate in Research Project 8. Consent to Publish Picture 211

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234 University of Hawai'i Teacher's Consent to Participate in Research Project: Children & Computers: Where Are We? A Case Study My name is Michael Herrick. I am the Educational Technologist at Sembach Elementary School. I also am a graduate student at the University of Hawai i at Manoa (UH) in the Department of Educational Technology. One requirement for earning my doctoral degree is to do a research project. The purpose of my research project is to describe the use of computers, both at school and at home, by third grade students. Because you are a third grade teacher at Sembach Elementary School, I am asking you to participate in this project. Project Description - Activities and Time Commitment: Third grade students at Sembach Elementary School, their parents/guardians, and their teachers are being asked to participate in this project. If you participate: I will interview you twice during the school year. The interviews will last for about 60 minutes. With your permission, I will record the interviews using a digital audiorecorder. I wish to record the interview so I can later type a transcript a written record of what we talked about during the interview - and analyze the information from the interview. (You may decline the recording but still participate in the project.) One example of the type of question I will ask is, How are computers in your classroom typically used? The interviews will be partially structured and partially open-ended. I would be glad to supply you with a list of interview questions/topics at your request. (Estimate of your time commitment: 120 minutes to be interviewed.) I will observe you and student study participants at work in your classroom, the computer labs, and using technology around the school. These observations will occur during normal classroom activities; there will be approximately 20 observations over the course of a semester, each lasting no more than 30 minutes. You may ask that observations be scheduled or not occur during certain times/activities. (Estimate of your time commitment: none.) I will also observe the location of computers in your classroom and take digital pictures of the setup. (Estimate of your time commitment: none.) I will review documents related to your usage of computers in the classroom including lesson plans and work samples. (Estimate of your time commitment: 90 minutes to provide documents.) I will ask you to document computer usage over a two week period using a computer log book. (Estimate of your time commitment: 60 minutes to log activity.) I may you during the school year to follow-up on our interviews. (Estimate of your time commitment: 60 minutes to respond to .) I will ask you to review a draft of my research write-up for accuracy. (Estimate of your time commitment: 90 minutes to review draft.) Benefits and Risks: I believe there are no direct benefits to you for participating in my research project. However, the results of this project might help me, other teachers, and researchers learn more about how technology is used by elementary school children. I believe there is little or no risk to you in participating in this project. If, however you become uncomfortable answering any 219

235 of the interview questions, we will skip the question, take a break, stop the interview, or withdraw you from the project altogether. Likewise, if the classroom observations become a problem for you or your students, we can cut them short, reschedule, or cancel them all together. Confidentiality and Privacy: During this research project, I will keep all data from the interviews, observations, document reviews, and s in a secure location. Only my University of Hawaii advisor, my research assistant, and I will have access to this data, although legally authorized agencies, including the University of Hawai'i Committee on Human Studies, have the right to review research records. When I report the results of my research project, I will not use your name or any other personally identifying information. Instead, I will use a pseudonym (fake name) for you. If you would like a summary or copy of my final report, I will gladly provide you with one. After I complete the final report, most data notes, audio recordings, transcripts, copies of documents, photographs, logs, etc. will be destroyed. As an exception, some photographs may be included in reports of this research but your explicit permission for publication will be sough before pictures of your home computer setup are included. Voluntary Participation: Participation in this research project is voluntary. You can choose freely to participate or not to participate. In addition, at any point during this project, you can withdraw your permission, and stop participating without any penalty of loss of benefits. I recognize that I am the researcher in this project and, at the same time, a colleague at Sembach Elementary School. Thus, I will ensure that participation or non-participation in my research project does not impact our professional relationship. Questions: If you have any questions about this project then please contact me, Michael Herrick, via (michael.herrick@eu.dodea.edu or mherrick@hawaii.edu) or phone ( ). You can also contact my advisor at the University of Hawaii, Dr. Ellen Hoffman, at ehoffman@hawaii.edu or l. If you have any questions about your rights, or the rights of your child as a research participant, you can contact the University of Hawai i, Committee on Human Studies (CHS), by at uhirb@hawaii.edu or by phone at Please keep the prior portion of this consent form for your records. If you consent to participate in this project, please sign the signature portion of this consent form on the following page and return it to Michael Herrick. 220

236 Signature(s) for Consent: University of Hawai'i Teacher s Consent to Participate in Research Project: Children & Computers: Where Are We? A Case Study I consent to participate in the above named research project. I understand that I can change my mind about participation, at any time, by notifying the researcher of my decision to end participation in this project. Name of Teacher: Teacher s Signature: Date: Permission to Audio Record Interview: Permission to Take Pictures of Computers/Technology (Note: No picture will be published without additional explicit permission.) Yes Yes No No 221

237 University of Hawai'i Parental/Guardian's Consent for Child to Participate in Research Project: Children & Computers: Where Are We? A Case Study My name is Michael Herrick. I am the Educational Technologist at Sembach Elementary School. I also am a graduate student at the University of Hawai i at Manoa (UH) in the Department of Educational Technology. One requirement for earning my doctoral degree is to do a research project. The purpose of my research project is to describe the use of computers, both at school and at home, by third grade students. I am asking your permission for your child to participate in this project. Project Description - Activities and Time Commitment: Third grade students at Sembach Elementary School, their parents/guardians, and their teachers are being asked to participate in this project. If your child participates: I will interview your child twice during the school year. The interviews will not occur during instructional time and will last for about 30 minutes. With your child s and your permission, I will record the interviews using a digital audio-recorder. I wish to record the interview so I can later type a transcript a written record of what we talked about during the interview and analyze the information from the interview. (You may decline the recording but still allow your child to participate in the project.) One example of the type of question I will ask is, How often do you use a computer at home? The interviews will be partially structured and partially open-ended. I would be glad to supply you with a list of interview questions/topics at your request. (Estimate of your child s time commitment: 60 minutes to be interviewed.) I will visit your child once during the school year at your home. The visit will be scheduled at your convenience and last about 1 hour. During the visit I will ask your child to show me the computer(s) they use. I will observe the type of hardware and software available to your child I will also observe the location of the computer(s) and, with your permission, take digital pictures of the setup. During the visit I will ask your child questions about their use of technology at home. You or an adult member of your family must be present during the visit. (You may decline the visit but still allow your child to participate in the project. Estimate of your child s time commitment: 60 minutes to be visited at home.) I will observe your child at work in their classroom, the computer labs, and as they uses technology around the school. These observations will occur as your child takes part in normal classroom activities; there will be approximately 20 observations over the course of a semester, each lasting no more than 30 minutes. (Estimate of your child s time commitment: none.) I will review documents related to your child s achievements in school including work products and test scores. (Estimate of your child s time commitment: none.) I will ask your child to document their computer usage over a two week period using a computer log book. (Estimate of your child s time commitment: 60 minutes to log activity.) I will also discuss with your child s teacher class activities in which they take part. These discussions will be mostly about the teacher s lesson and whole group performance but 222

238 may involve a discussion of your child s class participation and work. (Estimate of your child s time commitment: none.) Benefits and Risks: I believe there are no direct benefits to your child for participating in my research project. However, the results of this project might help me, other teachers, and researchers learn more about how technology is used by elementary school children. I believe there is little or no risk to your child in participating in this project. If, however, your child becomes uncomfortable or stressed by answering any of the interview questions, we will skip the question, take a break, stop the interview, or withdraw them from the project altogether. Likewise, if the home visit becomes a problem for your child or your family, we can cut it short, reschedule, or cancel it all together. Confidentiality and Privacy: During this research project, I will keep all data from the interviews, home visit, observations, documents review, and student usage in a secure location. Only my University of Hawaii advisor, my research assistant, and I will have access to this data, although legally authorized agencies, including the University of Hawai'i Committee on Human Studies, have the right to review research records. When I report the results of my research project, I will not use your child's name or any other personally identifying information. Instead, I will use a pseudonym (fake name) for your child. If you would like a summary or copy of my final report, I will gladly provide you with one. After I complete the final report, most data notes, audio recordings, transcripts, photographs, logs, etc. will be destroyed. As an exception, some photographs may be included in reports of this research but your explicit permission for publication will be sough before pictures of your home computer setup are included. Voluntary Participation: Participation in this research project is voluntary. Your child (and you) can choose freely to participate or not to participate. In addition, at any point during this project, you can withdraw your permission and your child can stop participating without any penalty of loss of benefits. I recognize that I am the researcher in this project and, at the same time, a teacher at your child's school. Thus, I will ensure that your childs s participation or nonparticipation in my research project does not impact our teacher-to-student relationship at Sembach Elementary School. Questions: If you have any questions about this project then please contact me, Michael Herrick, via (michael.herrick@eu.dodea.edu or mherrick@hawaii.edu) or phone ( ). You can also contact my advisor at the University of Hawaii, Dr. Ellen Hoffman, at ehoffman@hawaii.edu or l. If you have any questions about your rights, or the rights of your child as a research participant, you can contact the University of Hawai i, Committee on Human Studies (CHS), by at uhirb@hawaii.edu or by phone at Please keep the prior portion of this consent form for your records. If you consent for your child to participate in this project, please sign the signature portion of this consent form on the following page and return it to Michael Herrick. 223

239 University of Hawai'i Parental/Guardian's Consent for Child to Participate in Research Project: Children & Computers: Where Are We? A Case Study Signature(s) for Consent: I give permission for my child to participate in the above named research. I understand that in order to participate in this project, my child must also agree to participate. I understand that my child and/or I can change our minds about participation, at any time, by notifying the researcher of our decision to end participation in this project. Name of Child Name of Parent/Guardian Parent/Guardian's Signature Date Permission to Audio Record Interview Permission to Arrange Home Visit Permission to Take Pictures of Computers/Technology (Note: No picture will be published without additional explicit permission.) Yes Yes Yes No No No 224

240 University of Hawai'i Parental/Guardian's Consent to Participate in Research Project: Children & Computers: Where Are We? A Case Study My name is Michael Herrick. I am the Educational Technologist at Sembach Elementary School. I also am a graduate student at the University of Hawai i at Manoa (UH) in the Department of Educational Technology. One requirement for earning my doctoral degree is to do a research project. The purpose of my research project is to describe the use of computers, both at school and at home, by third grade students. Because your child is a third grade student at Sembach Elementary School, I am asking you to participate in this project. Project Description - Activities and Time Commitment: Third grade students at Sembach Elementary School, their parents/guardians, and their teachers are being asked to participate in this project. If you participate: I will interview you once during the school year. The interview will last for about 60 minutes. With your permission, I will record the interviews using a digital audiorecorder. I wish to record the interview so I can later type a transcript a written record of what we talked about during the interview - and analyze the information from the interview. (You may decline the recording but still participate in the project.) One example of the type of question I will ask is, How are computers in your home typically used? The interview will be partially structured and partially open-ended. I would be glad to supply you with a list of interview questions/topics at your request. (Estimate of your time commitment: 60 minutes to be interviewed.) I will visit you once during the school year at your home. The visit will be scheduled at your convenience and last about 1 hour. During the visit I will ask your 3 rd grade child to show me the computer(s) they use. I will observe the type of hardware and software available to your child. I will also observe the location of the computer(s) and, with your permission, take digital pictures of the setup. During the visit I will ask your child questions about their use of technology at home. You or an adult member of your family must be present during the visit. (You may decline the visit but still have your child participate in the project. Estimate of your time commitment: 60 minutes to be visited at home.) I may you during the school year to follow-up on our initial interview. (Estimate of your time commitment: 60 minutes to respond to .) Benefits and Risks: I believe there are no direct benefits to you for participating in my research project. However, the results of this project might help me, other teachers, and researchers learn more about how technology is used by elementary school children. I believe there is little or no risk to you in participating in this project. If, however you become uncomfortable answering any of the interview questions, we will skip the question, take a break, stop the interview, or withdraw you from the project altogether. Likewise, if the home visit becomes a problem for you or your family, we can cut it short, reschedule, or cancel it all together. Confidentiality and Privacy: During this research project, I will keep all data from the interview, home visit, and in a secure location. Only my University of Hawaii advisor, my research assistant, and I will have access to this data, although legally authorized agencies, 225

241 including the University of Hawai'i Committee on Human Studies, have the right to review research records. When I report the results of my research project, I will not use your name or any other personally identifying information. Instead, I will use a pseudonym (fake name) for you. If you would like a summary or copy of my final report, I will gladly provide you with one. After I complete the final report, most data notes, audio recordings, transcripts, photographs, etc. will be destroyed. As an exception, some photographs may be included in reports of this research but your explicit permission for publication will be sough before pictures of your home computer setup are included. Voluntary Participation: Participation in this research project is voluntary. You can choose freely to participate or not to participate. In addition, at any point during this project, you can withdraw your permission, and stop participating without any penalty of loss of benefits. I recognize that I am the researcher in this project and, at the same time, a teacher at your child s school. Thus, I will ensure that participation or non-participation in my research project does not impact our teacher-to-student relationship at Sembach Elementary School. Questions: If you have any questions about this project then please contact me, Michael Herrick, via (michael.herrick@eu.dodea.edu or mherrick@hawaii.edu) or phone ( ). You can also contact my advisor at the University of Hawaii, Dr. Ellen Hoffman, at ehoffman@hawaii.edu or l. If you have any questions about your rights, or the rights of your child as a research participant, you can contact the University of Hawai i, Committee on Human Studies (CHS), by at uhirb@hawaii.edu or by phone at Please keep the prior portion of this consent form for your records. If you consent to participate in this project, please sign the signature portion of this consent form on the following page and return it to Michael Herrick. 226

242 Signature(s) for Consent: University of Hawai'i Parental/Guardian's Consent to Participate in Research Project: Children & Computers: Where Are We? A Case Study I consent to participate in the above named research project. I understand that my child and/or I can change our minds about participation, at any time, by notifying the researcher of our decision to end participation in this project. Name of Child Name of Parent/Guardian Parent/Guardian's Signature Date Permission to Audio Record Interview Permission to Arrange Home Visit Permission to Take Pictures of Computers/Technology (Note: No picture will be published without additional explicit permission.) Yes Yes Yes No No No 227

243 University of Hawai'i Student's Assent to Participate in Research Project: Children & Computers: Where Are We? A Case Study Script (to be read to student): My name is Mr. Herrick. I am a teacher at Sembach Elementary School. I also am a student at the University of Hawai i. I am doing a research project. My project is to describe the use of computers, both at school and at home, by third grade students. Because you are a third grade student at Sembach Elementary School, I am asking you to participate in this project. I am also asking your parents if they think it is OK for you to participate in this project. If you participate I will: Ask you questions about how you use computers at home and in school. We call this kind of questioning an interview. I m also going to use this device [show digital recorder] to record our voices during the interview, if it s okay with you. (Estimate of your time: 60 minutes to be interviewed.) Visit you at home to see the computer(s) you use there. When I m at your house we will talk about your computer(s). I might take some pictures of your computer(s), too. (Estimate of your time: 60 minutes to be visited at home.) Observe (watch) as you do some of your work in school. (Estimate of your time: none since I will only observe the work you already do for class.) Look over some of the work you do and documents you make at school or bring to school from home. (Estimate of your time: none since I will look at the work you already do for class.) Ask you to keep a log/journal of your computer activities for two weeks. (Estimate of your time: 60 minutes to log activity.) It s up to you whether or not you want to participate in this project. Participating or not participating will have nothing to do with your school grades. During the project, you can change your mind and stop participating if you want, with no problems. If you do not want to participate any more just tell me or your teacher. I you become uncomfortable during the project activities then you can take a break, skip an activity, or stop participating. 228

244 I agree to participate in Mr. Herrick s research project about how third graders use computes at home and school. Yes No I agree to have our interview recorded. Yes No Name of Student Student s Signature Date 229

245 University of Hawai'i Consent to Publish Picture: Children & Computers: Where Are We? A Case Study INSERT PICTURE HERE Signature(s) for Consent: I give permission for the picture shown above to be published in conjunction with reports of the research project Children & Computers: Where Are We? A Case Study. I understand that no name or other personally identifying information will be associated with the picture. Instead, a pseudonym (fake name) may be used. Name of Teacher/Parent/Guardian Teacher/Parent/Guardian's Signature Date 230

246 APPENDIX C. INSTRUMENTS 1. Teacher Interview 1 Prompts 2. Student Interview 1 Prompts 3. Likert Scale for Students 4. Student Interview 2 Prompts 5. Parent Interview 1 Prompts 6. Classroom Observation Record 7. Home Visit Record 231

247 Teacher Interview 1 Prompts: Children & Computers: Where Are We? A Case Study Teacher Interview Date Interview Location Consent Date 1. Purpose 1. The purpose of this study is to describe the use of computers by third grade students both at home and in school. 2. The purpose of this interview is to gather some initial data about availability and use of computers in your classroom. 232

248 2. Philosophy of Teaching 3. Philosophy of Computer Usage for Teaching 233

249 4. Specific Questions (from Teachers Use of Educational Technology in U.S. Public Schools 1 ) 1 Gray, L., Thomas, N., & Lewis, L. (2010). Teachers use of educational technology in US public schools: (NCES ). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. 234

250 235

251 236

252 5. Further Explanation of Answers to Specific Questions 6. Demographics 1. BA/BS University, Major, & Year 2. MA/MS University, Major, & Year 3. Other University, Major, & Year 4. Years Teaching & Areas 5. Certificate Areas 6. Other Job Experiences 7. Gender, Race, & Age 237

253 7. Anything Else 238

254 Student Interview 1 Prompts: Children & Computers: Where Are We? A Case Study Student Parent/Guardian Interview Date Interview Location Consent Date 1. Purpose 3. The purpose of this study is to describe the use of computers by third grade students both at home and in school. 4. The purpose of this interview is to gather some data about your use of computers. 239

255 2. Computer Usage in School Tell me about your computer usage in school. 3. Computer Usage at Home Tell me about your computer usage at home. 240

256 3A. Specific Questions (based on Technology Use Survey for Students 2 ) 1. How much time do you spend on computers in school every day? (1)none (2)less than 30 minutes (3)about mins (4)about 1-2 hrs (5)about 2-3 hrs (6)more than 3 hrs 2. How much time do you spend on computers at home every day? (1)none (2)less than 30 minutes (3)about mins (4)about 1-2 hrs (5)about 2-3 hrs (6)more than 3 hrs 3. Overall, how much time do you spend on computers everyday (including in school, at home, and anywhere else)? (1)none (2)less than 1 hr (3)about 1-2 hrs (4)about 2-3 hrs (5)about 3-4 hrs (6)about 4-5 hours (7)more than 5 hrs 4. What do you use the computer for? (multiple responses) (1)homework (2)search info for school work (3)surf online for fun (4)play computer games (5) (6)chat (7)software (exp Word, PPT) (8)create websites (9)other: 5. How much time to you parents spend on working with you on your schoolwork every day? (1)none (2)less than 30 minutes (3)about mins (4)about 1-2 hrs (5)about 2-3 hrs (6)more than 3 hrs 6. How much time do your parents spend on working with you on computers every day? (1)none (2)less than 30 minutes (3)about mins (4)about 1-2 hrs (5)about 2-3 hrs (6)more than 3 hrs 7, At home, what do you use the Internet for? (multiple responses) (1)searching information for school (2)searching information for other purposes (3)reading news (4) (5)playing games (6)chatting (7)surfing online for fun (8)downloading music, pictures, movies, etc (9)blogs, discussion boards, etc (10)educational sites (i.e. Raz-Kidz, Mathletics, IXL) (11)other: 8. In school, what do you use the Internet for? (multiple responses) (1)searching information for school (2)searching information for other purposes (3)reading news (4) (5)playing games (6)chatting (7)surfing online for fun (8)downloading music, pictures, movies, etc (9)blogs, discussion boards, etc (10)educational sites (i.e. Raz-Kidz, Mathletics, IXL) (11)other: 2 Lei, J. (2010). Technology use survey for students (modified). 241

257 9. Overall, on which task do you spend most time on using the Internet? (1)searching information for school (2)searching information for other purposes (3)reading news (4) (5)playing games (6)chatting (7)surfing online for fun (8)downloading music, pictures, movies, etc (9)blogs, discussion boards, etc (10)educational sites (i.e. Raz-Kidz, Mathletics, IXL) (11)other: 10. How often do you have homework that needs you to use your computer in order to finish? (1)everyday (2)2-3 times a week (3)once a week (4)2-3 times a month (5)never 11. How often do you have homework that needs you to go on the Internet in order to finish? (1)everyday (2)2-3 times a week (3)once a week (4)2-3 times a month (5)never 3B. Additional Specific Questions Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree 1. My parents allow me to use computers I am very skilled with computers I am interested in working with technology/computers Computers are important to me Computers help me learn better My parents allow me to use the Internet I know how to search for information I need online Internet is important to me Internet helps me learn better

258 Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree 10. I trust everything on the Internet Some websites are not good for children Further Explanation of Answers to Specific Questions 5. Demographics Gender M F DoB 243

259 6. Anything Else 244

260 Likert Scale for Students: Children & Computers: Where Are We? A Case Study Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree