Holy Lemons! Learning from children's uses of the Internet in out‐of‐school contexts

Abstract

The Internet offers new possibilities for engaging with information and is associated with a wide range of literacy practices. National guidance in the United Kingdom on ‘reading the web’, however, has focused largely on the different skills children may need to learn in school to navigate web‐based texts successfully. Here it is argued that much can be learned both about the potential of the web and of the kinds of reading associated with it by examining children's use of the Internet outside school. This article therefore begins with an overview of particular features of on‐screen reading and the different practices and orientations towards knowledge associated with this. It then reports on the use of the Internet out of school by a group of Year 6 children. It explores the purposes for which these children access the Internet, the attitudes and orientations they demonstrate in their approach to web‐based texts, and their own perceptions of what has enabled them to develop as Internet users. This exploration highlights the way that children may experiment and innovate in their use of the Internet out of school, and in doing so demonstrate considerable autonomy. These findings are used to make suggestions for framing and supporting children's Internet use in school.

Tool, toy, telephone, territory, trade, or treasure of information: a cross-sectional study of Taiwanese students' attitudes toward the Internet

“…This result is consistent not only with a result from Chou et al (2009Chou et al ( , 2011, in which fifth graders weighted these two factors as the principal two in terms of Internet-related attitudes, but also supports the general conclusion that the Internet plays a significant role in students' leisure-time entertainment (e.g., Attewell et al, 2003;Burnett & Wilkinson, 2005;Mumtaz, 2001;Sjoberg, 1999). The result of the current study further demonstrates that not only elementary school students and college students, but also junior high school students and senior high school students may consider the Internet a powerful tool and a major source of entertainment.…”

“…According to research findings relevant to elementary school students' time allocation for online activities (e.g., Attewell, Suazo-Garcia, & Battle, 2003;Burnett & Wilkinson, 2005;Mumtaz, 2001;Sjo¨berg, 1999;Valcke, Schellens, van Keer, & Gerarts, 2007), children engage in varied online activities such as gathering schoolrelated information, gathering personal-interest information, chatting, emailing, and online gaming. Whereas most parents and teachers expect children to spend most of their time using the Internet as a tool for school-related learning, children prefer entertaining online activities; namely, gathering personal-interest information, 204 Chien Chou et al…”

“…chatting, emailing, and online gaming (Attewell et al, 2003;Burnett & Wilkinson, 2005;Mumtaz, 2001;Sjo¨berg, 1999).…”

Challenging the Boundaries Between Standard and Popular Language Situated in Historical Contexts: The Communicative Practices of High-School Brazilian Students Crafting Hybrid Multi-Modal Ways With Words

“…Students may be able to make good use of all these resources to achieve their goals of communication without feeling trapped or marginalised by arbitrary social conventions that end up invalidating their language uses and their uses of multi-modalities as informed by their cultural practices. Schools need to embrace students multiple perspectives and reject socially constructed language use stereotypes at the risk of falling behind students' potential and genuine capabilities (Burnett & Wilkinson, 2005;Lankshear & Knobel, 2003;Seiter, 2005;Snyder et al, 2002).…”

Mothers’ Perception Regarding the Influence of Interactive Media on Children’s Cognitive, Social, Moral Development in Pakistan

“…Children tend to form stronger, more complex relationships, particularly with peers of the same sex, and grow in their desire to be liked and accepted by friends. Researchers have found there is a correlation between the hours spends on interactive media and its gruesome effect on children is terrifying [6][7][8][9][10][11][12]. According to the cultivation theory of mass media, there is a difference regarding the effects of media with reference to heavy users and light users.…”