Investigating Children's Emerging Digital Literacies

Abstract

Departing from the view that the digital divide is a technical issue, the EDC Center for Children and Technology (CCT) and Computers for Youth (CFY) have completed a -year comparative study of children's use of computers in low-and middle-income homes.To assess emerging digital literacy skills at home, we define digital literacy as a set of habits through which children use computer technology for learning, work, socializing, and fun.Our findings indicate that both groups of children used the computer to do schoolwork.Many children with leisure time at home also spent 2 to 3 hours a day communicating with peers, playing games, and pursuing creative hobbies.When solving technical problems, the children from low-income homes relied more on formal help providers such as CFY and schoolteachers, while the children from middle-income homes turned to themselves, their families, and their peers.All the children developed basic literacy with word processing, email, and the Web.Not surprisingly, those children who spent considerably more time online developed more robust skills in online communication and authoring.