Kafai, Y. B. & Sutton, S. (1999). Elementary students' home computer and Internet use: Current trends and issues. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 21(3),345-362.
For the past decade, the numbers of computers in the home have been steadily increasing. Yet relatively little is known about how children are actually using computers at home. This paper elaborates on the results of a survey in which 291 parents of an urban elementary school (K-6) participated. Parents reported on their computer equipment at home, the type and frequency of their children's educational software and Internet use, and shared their ideas how better connections between computer use at home and school might be created. The results indicate that most of students' computer use was dedicated to game playing followed by various other software activities. Students' reported more limited Internet activities. While home computer ownership is not necessarily contingent upon gender, some software and Internet use tended to be gender specific activities. Many of the parents' suggestions for connecting school and home focused on the ways in which information about students might be obtained from the school and supported through exchanges with teachers. In our discussion we address in which ways these results replicate earlier observations of children's academic home computing. Furthermore, we discuss problematic issues and potential directions in academic home computing.
Kafai, Y. B., Fishman, B. J., Bruckman, A. S., & Rockman, S. (under review). Educational Computing @ Home: New Frontiers for Research on Technology in Learning.
To date, the major emphasis of educational technology researchers has been on the development and implementation of educational technologies within school settings. Noticeably absent from these developments has been research and considerations that focus on the home as a computer-based learning environment and potential connections between school and home learning. Given the increasing presence of computers in homes, we argue for an explicit research focus on the various ways that computers in homes can be used to create rich learning environments or extend school-based learning environments. To that end, this paper discusses potential frameworks for the study of educational computing in the home, along with critical issues for consideration by researchers who will venture into this emerging area.