Computers for young children in India

Childhood Education, 2003 by Thirumurthy, Vidya, Sundaram, Nithya

The introduction of computers in remote villages kindled a fire in the minds of young children and, perhaps, changed their lives. Their attitudes about learning and the world have been greatly affected in only a short time. In a tiny village in Maharashtra, seven girls, each under 10 years of age, typed in their names in English and saved their files using their initials (Noronha, 2002). This anecdote represents a success story, as it dispels stereotypes about girls' facility with technology.

Parent Enthusiasm

In reality, computer literacy is a privilege of a few. The growing middle class sees computer-related jobs as opportunities to climb up the economic ladder. The international market for individuals with computer skills reinforces this perception. In the year 2000, nearly 43 percent of visas issued for high-tech jobs in the United States went to computer professionals from India (Watson, 2001).

Parents often exhibit a great enthusiasm for computer studies in school. The parents of a kindergarten girl (both of them physicians) in Bharathi Vidya Bhavan School, Erode, a city in southern India, aspire for a career in computers for their daughter:

We want her to be a computer scientist. Mathematics is an important subject for computers and she must score 100% in maths [math]. We help her with her homework. We play lots of math games, like counting the number of fruits, and dividing them and guessing how many chocolates [are] in a box. We have a computer at home and lots of educational games. She is very good at them. (Thirumurthy & Seng-Hoon, 1999)

These parents have assumed the responsibility for giving their daughter the necessary exposure to stimulate her interest and give her a head start in operating computers. Many middle-class families own a computer because it has become a status symbol. Thus, their children have an opportunity to try their hand at the computer, and many of them surprise their parents with their ability to navigate their way through the operating system. Indeed, they outperform their parents. A father of a 7-year-old, with unconcealed exhilaration, remarked, "My son changes the wallpaper and rearranges the icons every day, and I have difficulty locating my files. I have to call him to fix [my] operational problems." This was a common experience of many parents.

Parents of two 13-year-olds in Cochin, Kerala, enthusiastically encourage their children to browse the Internet for school-related projects. Since it is customary for parents to be intensively involved in their children's homework, one of the parents marveled at the benefits of the new technology: "With the Internet, we gather information in one evening. Think of how much time and effort it saves us!" Working together with their children also enables parents to guide them in selecting appropriate research material.

The missing human factor in computer-related activities is a concern of a few parents and teachers. Parents want to enjoy the benefits of technology, but believe that human contact must not be forgotten. They realize human development is nested in relationships. As one parent reflected, "At some point, face to face contact is necessary. It can't all be done with computers." While the reservations of these parents are legitimate, technology in schools is far from such a predicament.