Computer Anxiety of Rural Middle and Secondary School Students

Abstract

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of sex and school level on the computer anxiety of rural middle school and secondary students when home availability and school use of computers are controlled. A total of 1,067 students in middle and secondary grades in six rural school districts participated in the study. The instrument used was the Computer Anxiety Scale with Cronbach's reliability coefficients ranging from .83 to .91, depending on the school level of the students. Sex and school level differences were found in home availability, but not in school use of computers. The findings suggest computer anxiety is not affected by sex or school level when home availability and school use of a computer is statistically controlled.