Technology and school change: New lamps for old?

Childhood Education, 1995 by Clements, Douglas H, Swaminathan, Sudha

Graphics programs like Kid Pix(R)2 encourage combinations of artistic and linguistic skills. Suriyan, a 4-year-old, carefully chose the letters to form his name and then added an image of the sun, proudly declaring, "I wrote my name in two ways!" In his native tongue, "suriyan" means sun (see Figure 3). (Figure 3 omitted)

Using another graphics program, young children combined the three primary colors to create secondary colors (Wright, 1994). Such complex combinatorial abilities are often considered to be beyond young children's conceptual grasp. Computer experience prodded the children toward further explorations that were beyond their previous boundaries.

Interactional Patterns in the Classroom

Contrary to some adults' fears, computers do not isolate children. Rather, they serve as potential catalysts for social interaction. Children working at a computer spend nine times as much time talking to peers than while doing puzzles (Muller & Perlmutter, 1985). Furthermore, researchers observe that 95 percent of children's talking during Logo is related to their work (Genishi, McCollum & Strand, 1985).

Children often prefer to work with a friend rather than alone. Computer work can foster new friendships, as it encourages greater and more spontaneous peer teaching and helping (Clements & Nastasi, 1992).

Children's interactions at the computer can vary depending upon the specific software. For example, open-ended programs like Logo foster collaborative group work, characterized by goal-setting, planning, negotiation and conflict resolution. Drill-and-practice software, on the other hand, can encourage turn-taking but also can engender a competitive spirit, as can video games with aggressive content. The same game presented through a computer simulation, however, elicits less anti-social behavior (Clements & Nastasi, 1992).

The computer may instigate collaborative work (Clements, 1994). One 3rd-grade teacher gave students the choice of working alone or with a partner. Half the class chose to work alone. Midway through their game, the children who were playing by themselves started to join others. Some even abandoned their games to both offer and receive help from their peers. Computers have evoked similar positive results in children with special needs (Villarruel, 1990).

The nature of children's interactions appears to follow a developmental trend. Initially, their social exchange has an egocentric focus on turn-taking. Gradually becoming more peer-oriented, they offer to help and eventually are able to work collaboratively without adult intervention (Clements, 1993).

Preschoolers may have trouble understanding their partner's perspective, balancing the cognitive demands of the tasks or managing the social relation. Such developmental limitations do not necessarily have to preclude collaborative work for very young children, if teachers provide additional support and help (Clements, 1991).

The computers' physical arrangement in the classroom can enhance their social use (Davidson & Wright, 1994). Putting two seats in front of the computer and one at the side for the teacher can encourage positive social interaction. Placing computers close to each other can facilitate sharing of ideas. Computers that are centrally located in the classroom invite other children to pause and participate. Such an arrangement also helps the teacher remain near enough to provide supervision and assistance, but not so close as to inhibit the children (Clements, 1991).