Computer experience and attitudes of 12-year-old students: implications for the UK National Curriculum

Abstract The computer experience of 12-year-old students who had just started their secondary education was investigated. Data was collected on home and school computer use, attitudes towards computers, academic ability, gender and socio-economic group. The results highlight the widely varying and often inadequate computer experience that students have received in their primary education. The computer experience of the majority of students was a long way from being sufficient to fulfil the requirements of the UK National Curriculum. For most students, home computer use formed the major part of their IT experience. Home computer use was found to have the strongest effect on attitudes towards computers. Several significant differences in attitude were apparent between boys and girls. Analysis of academic ability and socio-economic group showed that these factors related to boys and girls in very different ways. All these factors need to be considered when implementing the computer content of the UK National Curriculum.     

Computer attitudes of primary and secondary students in South Africa

This study investigated computer attitudes of 240 students from eight primary and secondary schools in South Africa. The student population of six of the eight schools that participated in the study can be characterised as middle or upper class. Two schools were from South African townships. All eight schools used computers for educational purposes, although the availability and use of the computers differed. The research question of the study was whether differences in computer attitude could be found between boys and girls, and to what extent these differences could be explained by student, school, and environment characteristics. In contrast to most studies on gender differences and computer attitudes, no gender differences in computer attitudes were found. However, this study showed differences in computer attitudes between students from the upper/middle class schools and students from the township schools. The latter showed a less positive attitude towards computers, but more interest in computer-related careers compared with the students in the upper/middle class schools. The study found that computer access and experience, which was significantly lower in the township schools, was also related to computer attitude.     

Technology and young children: How 4–7 year olds perceive their own use of computers

This study examined young children’s access, perceptions and use of technology within and outside of school settings. One hundred sixty seven children from varied ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds participated in the study. Regardless of gender, socio-economic status or ethnic group, most children had access to computers in and outside of schools. In both settings, pre-K through grade 2 children report that they primarily use computers to play games. Children’s attitudes toward computers are positive. Older children tend to use the computer more often, are better able to operate the computer and their attitudes towards computers are more positive. Boys’ attitudes towards computers are more positive than the attitudes of girls, but no gender differences were found for computer use nor ability level. While no significant differences were found between the attitudes of Dutch and immigrant children, the latter group indicated more frequent use. Also, children from a lower socio-economic neighborhood had more positive attitudes towards computers and used computers slightly more often than middle class children. The findings of this study inform the debate on the desirability of young children’s exposure to computers at home as well as in educational settings. Further, these findings may help educators and parents to both critically assess their current practices (e.g. the relative value of the most frequently used applications – games), and strive to integrate developmentally appropriate uses of technology at home and in classrooms.     

Gender issues in technology use: Perceived social support,computer self-efficacy and value beliefs,and computer use beyond school

In this study, we examined relations between outside school computer experiences, perceived social support for using computers, and self-efficacy and value beliefs about computer learning for 340 Greek elementary school boys and girls. Participants responded to a questionnaire about their access to computer use outside school (e.g. frequency of use and nature of activities), perceived parental and peer support, and computer self-efficacy and value beliefs. Although almost all students used computers outside school, there were significant gender differences in frequency and type of computer use. Also, boys reported more perceived support from their parents and peers to use computers and more positive computer self-efficacy and value beliefs than girls. Parental support and, to a lesser extent, peer support were the factors more strongly associated with boys’ and girls’ computer self-efficacy and value beliefs, while home computer access was not related to students’ motivation. Our findings highlight the role of socialization in the gender gap in computing and the need for research and educational interventions that focus on the social practices that communicate gendered expectations to young boys and girls.     

Gender differences in adolescents' perceptions of the best and worst aspects of computing at school

This study examined gender differences in perceptions of school computing by asking girls and boys at early and late stages in secondary education what they liked best and least about using computers at school. Overall age differences were very marked and reflected the different skill levels of the pupils and the increase in the sophistication of their computer use at the later stage of the curriculum. Gender differences were found in both age groups. These included a greater work orientation and liking for e-mail apparent in girls' responses. Boys showed a greater affinity with computer games and mentioned limitations upon their access to machines more. These gender differences are a further demonstration that girls approach computers as tools for accomplishing tasks, while boys approach them as technology for play and mastery. Such differences are important for understanding how computers are approached in educational settings.     

Gender differences in computer attitudes and the choice of technology-related occupations in a sample of secondary students in Spain

The dearth of women in technology and ICT-related fields continues to be a topic of interest for both the scientific community and decision-makers. Research on attitudes towards computers proves that women display more negative computer attitudes than men and also make less intense use of technology and computers than their male counterparts. For this reason, the main aims of this study are threefold. Firstly, to analyze the existence of gender differences in three dimensions of computer attitudes in a group of 550 secondary students in Spain (mean of age = 15 years old; SD = 1.73). Secondly, to study the moderating influence of a group of contextual variables on those gender differences in computer attitudes. And thirdly, to examine the predictive role of computer attitudes on the intention to pursue technology-related occupations. Some of the analyses of variance carried out show more positive computer attitudes in boys than in girls. These differences are more salient among students coming from rural areas and the upper social class, who are also enrolled in the domain of technology in secondary education, and whose mothers have no occupation outside the home. Finally, simple logistic regressions were carried out in order to prove that all dimensions of computer attitudes predict the enrollment intentions to pursue technology-related occupations. Nonetheless, gender only moderates the relationship between the cognitive dimension of computer attitudes and the enrollment intentions to pursue technology-related occupations.     

Gender differences in computer-related attitudes and behavior: A meta-analysis

A meta-analysis of studies of gender differences in computer-related attitudes and behavior using US and Canadian participants found that men and boys exhibited greater sex-role stereotyping of computers, higher computer self-efficacy, and more positive affect about computers than did women and girls. These effect sizes varied as a function of study population — adult, college, high school, and grammar school — with the largest differences generally found for high school students. Gender differences in beliefs about computers approached zero and did not vary by study population. Gender differences in computer-related behaviors were small and did not differ as a function of study population. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

The digital divide: the special case of gender

Abstract This paper examines the evidence for the digital divide based on gender. An overview of research published in the last 20 years draws to the conclusion that females are at a disadvantage relative to men when learning about computers or learning other material with the aid of computer-assisted software. The evidence shows that the digital divide affects people of all ages and across international boundaries. We suggest that the digital divide is fundamentally a problem of computer anxiety whose roots are deep in socialization patterns of boys and girls and that interact with the stereotype of computers as toys for boys. A model of the digital divide is presented that examines gender stereotypes, attribution patterns, and stereotype threat as antecedents of computer anxiety. Computer anxiety in turn leads to differences in computer attitudes and computer performance. A number of suggestions are offered to reduce the impact of the digital divide.     

A cross-cultural comparison of gender differences in computer attitudes and anxieties: the United Kingdom and Hong Kong

This study examined the computer attitudes and anxieties of 207 United Kingdom nationals and 286 Hong Kong nationals to determine the factorial structure for each sample and any gender differences. Both samples share a comparable educational environment and level of technological sophistication. The United Kingdom sample, however, reported more computer-related experience, less anxiety and more positive attitudes. There was a large degree of overlap between the factorial structure for computer anxiety and attitudes between the two samples which is consistent with previous research. For the United Kingdom sample, there were no gender differences in computer anxiety but males held more positive attitudes than females. For the Hong Kong sample, there were no gender differences in computer attitudes but males reported greater computer anxiety than females. This is the first sample in which males have been found to be more computer anxious than females, despite Hong Kong males reporting more computer experience than females. An item-by-item analysis identifies Hong Kong males are more anxious when anticipating using computers (rather than when actually using computers).     

Gender and cultural differences in Internet use: A study of China and the UK

This study investigates differences in use of, and attitudes toward the Internet and computers generally for Chinese and British students, and gender differences in this cross-cultural context. Two hundred and twenty Chinese and 245 British students’ responses to a self-report survey questionnaire are discussed. Significant differences were found in Internet experience, attitudes, usage, and self-confidence between Chinese and British students. British students were more likely to use computers for study purposes than Chinese students, but Chinese students were more self-confident about their advanced computer skills. Significant gender differences were also found in both national groups. Men in both countries were more likely than women to use email or ‘chat’ rooms. Men played more computer games than women; Chinese men being the most active games players. Men in both countries were more self-confident about their computer skills than women, and were more likely to express the opinion that using computers was a male activity and skill than were women. Gender differences were higher in the British group than the Chinese group. The present study illustrates the continued significance of gender in students’ attitudes towards, and use of computers, within different cultural contexts.     

Gender differences and similarities in attitudes toward computers

Gender differences among university students in attitudes toward and involvement with computers were examined. Males were found to have taken more computer science courses, to be more knowledgeable about computer languages, to be more likely to want to major in computer science, and to have played video games more than females. There were no gender differences in reported nonvideo-game computer use or in exposure to computers in noncomputer science courses. Males and females did not differ on their reported personal interest in and enjoyment of computers. Consistent with previous research, however, males reported more comfort and confidence with computers and more positive attitudes toward mathematics than did females. Women believed more strongly than men that females should learn and are as capable of learning about computers and science as are males. It appears that these university women were as intrigued by computers as the men were. However, they were apparently somewhat inhibited from the pursuit of specialized training and careers in computer science. This inhibition may be linked to their anxiety about their own skills and to the communication, by male peers, of the attitude that women are less capable than men of learning about computers.     

Gender,Internet and computer attitudes and experiences

It is widely assumed that participation by females on the Internet is hampered by their attitudes towards computers, which in turn is reflective of their attitudes towards new technology. Research generally supports that females have less overall experience with computers and are more likely than males to have negative attitudes towards computers. Although limited, research on Internet experiences and attitudes has found parallel gender differences, with females reporting lower levels of experience and more negative attitudes. This paper explores whether Internet and computer experiences, skills and attitudes are related, using evidence from two studies of incoming college students, in 1989/90 and 1997. There were significant gender differences in many computer experiences and attitudes of incoming students in 1989/90. Males were more experienced with computers, more likely to have taken high school courses requiring computer use, and reported higher skill levels in applications such as programming, games and graphics than females. By 1997, incoming students were more experienced with using a computer than the earlier students. However, gender differences in computer experience and skill levels had diminished in some areas. The 1997 survey also assessed Internet experiences, skills, competence and comfort. Students had more exposure to computers than to the Internet. Males were more experienced and reported higher skill levels with the Internet than females, with the exception of e-mail. The overall competency and comfort level for students in 1997 was significantly higher for computers than for the Internet; 19% of the students did not feel competent and/or comfortable with the computer compared to 36% with the Internet, with females reporting higher levels of incompetence and discomfort for both. Competence and comfort levels with the Internet and computers were highly intercorrelated, and both predicted Internet skills and experiences.     

Gender and digital usage inequality among adolescents: A comparative study of 39 countries

The paper investigates how gender exerts its influence on contemporary adolescents with respect to their access to the Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). The focus here is on the so-called usage access. The paper's empirical basis is that of information on the ICTs usage collected for 39 countries in the framework of the 2006 wave of the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) study. Ordinal regression modelling is used as a method for data investigation. The analysis points to the persistence of gender inequality seemingly in favour of boys. In all countries under investigation, boys report using computers and the Internet for educational purposes more often than girls. Controlling for the 2006 value of the national GDP per capita, the level of a country's gender inequality measured by the Gender Gap Index does not have any statistically significant effect on gender gap in educational use of ICTs. A sign of the gender coefficient suggest, however, that the increase in society's gender-neutrality is associated with the increase in boys' advantage over girls as regards the frequency of ICT/Internet educational use. The possibility that this advantage of boys is in fact a sign of their educational underperformance is discussed. Another possibility is also discussed, namely, that girls' decreased (in comparison with boys) frequency of using computers and the Internet for playing computer games might, counterintuitively, be the source of girls' disadvantage in the future.     

Slovak high school students’ attitudes to ICT using in biology lesson

The impact of information and communication technologies and computers on our daily lives has been steadily increasing. This fact influences the change of attitudes toward information and communication technologies. In our contribution we focused on finding the differences between gender and age according to computer attitudes. A questionnaire with 33 Likert type items was used in our research. The sample consists of 518 students from 9 high schools. Students attended the all of grades (first, second, third and fourth). They were 15- to 19-years old. Data were evaluated with factor analysis and the ANOVA. The results of the questionnaire were divided into five dimensions in the concrete. (1) The positive influence of ICT; (2) the negative influence of ICT; (3) advantages of ICT; (4) ICT used in biology lesson; (5) disadvantages of ICT. Totally, boys have more positive attitudes than girls and the younger students had more positive attitudes toward information and communication technologies using in biology lesson in comparison with the older students.     

Home-PC usage and achievement in English

This article investigates the relation between home computer use and performance in English at school. The sample consists of 656 tenth-class students (age 15–16) in upper-secondary schools in Bergen, Norway. Data collection took place in the spring of 2002 and was administrated by the county education office. After correcting for gender, subject interest, reading disabilities and different PC activity categories, it was still possible to predict performance in English on a significant level from the total time spent in front of the PC-screen. Both boys and girls who seldom used home computers achieved low scores in English. However, of those students who spent two or more hours per day in front of the screen, girls performed very well in English while boys failed to show similar performance gains. Moreover, youths who were classified as poor readers benefited more from using home computers than those who were more competent readers.     

Home-PC usage and achievement in English

This article investigates the relation between home computer use and performance in English at school. The sample consists of 656 tenth-class students (age 15–16) in upper-secondary schools in Bergen, Norway. Data collection took place in the spring of 2002 and was administrated by the county education office. After correcting for gender, subject interest, reading disabilities and different PC activity categories, it was still possible to predict performance in English on a significant level from the total time spent in front of the PC-screen. Both boys and girls who seldom used home computers achieved low scores in English. However, of those students who spent two or more hours per day in front of the screen, girls performed very well in English while boys failed to show similar performance gains. Moreover, youths who were classified as poor readers benefited more from using home computers than those who were more competent readers.     

A survey of attitudes to,knowledge about and experience of computers

There is some concern that relatively few students in the U.K. elect to study computing and that this number is declining despite the high pay levels of computer staff and emphasis on computing in education. Variables known to be associated with the extent to which an individual is likely to make use of computers are background discipline, attitude to computers and IT, attitude to technology in general, experience of computers and gender. The present study investigates the relationships between these variables for 928 students at an institution of higher education. Subjects had been selected to fall into four discipline areas: COMP (computer/electronic studies), SCIENCE (science courses), HI-IT (non-science courses making heavy use of IT) and LOW-IT (non-science courses making relatively low use of IT). Results indicated that on entry to college, students in the COMP category had more experience with computers than students in other categories and that across all categories, except HI-IT, males had more experience with computers on entry than females. Students in the COMP category also had significantly more knowledge about computers than other students and across all categories males had more knowledge than females on entry. There were relatively minor differences in attitudes to computers and IT with COMP students being slightly more positive than students in the other categories, and there were no differences in attitudes to technology in general across the four categories. There were no consistent gender differences on the attitude variables. Results were discussed with relation to vocational choice and it was concluded that females on computer courses may, in general, be rather less interested in computers per se than their male peers.     

Attitudes towards end-user computing: a structural equation model

Success with End-User Computing (EUC) is dependent on the voluntary behaviour of individuals, which is regulated by their attitudes. Even where proven opportunities exist for beneficial deployment of EUC, adverse attitudes can inhibit use. Structural equation modelling was used to analyse survey data relating to the processes by which individuals form their attitudes towards computers. The results provide support for hypothesized influences on attitudes from personality, product involvement, task characteristics, and computer anxiety. Additional analyses reveal the effects of demographic factors. Attitudes towards computers provide a potentially more enduring measure of EUC success than do previous measures. Mechanisms for promoting positive attitudes towards computers are critical for full appreciation of the benefits of EUC.     

Junior high school students’ Internet usage and self-efficacy: A re-examination of the gender gap

This paper investigated the gender differences in junior high school students’ Internet self-efficacy and their use of the Internet. A total of 1080 eighth graders were randomly selected from all junior high school students in Taiwan. The Internet Self-Efficacy Scale (ISES) was developed and used to examine students’ Internet self-efficacy in two dimensions: online exploration (explorative ISE) and online communication (communicative ISE). A survey including the ISES instrument was administered to all the subjects and finally 936 valid questionnaires (from 466 males and 470 females) were returned for data analyses. No significant gender difference was found in students’ total ISE and explorative ISE; however, a significant gender difference was found in students’ communicative ISE. Surprisingly, the girls had significant higher communicative ISE than had the boys. In addition, there was no significant gender difference in students’ Internet using experience and computer ownerships; however, there were significant gender differences in their Internet using purpose and intensity. In spite of the boys showed a significantly higher Internet use intensity than did the girls, the boys were more exploration-oriented Internet users and the girls were more communication-oriented Internet users. And this orientation played a significant role in their Internet self-efficacy. These results suggested that the gender gap may no longer exist in young students’ confidence in using the Internet. However, boys and girls used the Internet for significantly different purposes suggesting that the Internet played different roles for boys and girls in Taiwan. With a large scale examination by using a valid and reliable instrument, this study provided representative results for further related studies.