What children ask about computers, the Internet, robots, mobiles, games etc.

Reviewer: Michael G. Murphy

The questions children in elementary school have about computers and such is the motivation for this short and interesting, but dated, paper. The idea is that children's interests can guide teachers in supporting and augmenting the learning process. The process and planning was broad-based and is a worthy research topic, especially with the increasing pervasiveness of technology that touches children in one way or another. The paper is effectively organized into six sections plus references. The focus is on the children's questions to include classroom questions in general, collection of questions for analysis, analysis of the questions, the results, and a discussion of the implications for classroom teachers. The technique used for analysis is called inductive category formation, and it lends itself well to this research. The categories that emerged were computers, robots, mobile phones, the Internet and Internet-based services, multimedia, and both game consoles and games. Key questions for each category are also displayed in tables. The authors determined five subcategories into which each key question can be further classified, and this is also indicated in the tables. Although there is much food for thought and potential for affecting the instruction of young children, my biggest concern is that the data was gathered in 2010 and 2011 with no indication of longitudinal data gathering that could demonstrate trends. Given the rapid evolution of technology and its impact on children, both for learning and for recreation, I can't understand the lengthy delay in reporting and no stated plans for ongoing research. Online Computing Reviews Service