Emergent Computer Literacy: A Developmental Perspective

Addressing the question of how children acquire computer literacy, this study explores the strategies parents use to offer their children guidance and access to computers, the language categories and patterns used by parents to assist their children's interactions with computers, what parents consider to be the significance of computers in their children's lives, and what common goals parents have for their children's acquisition of knowledge. The study, approaching the issue from a social-interactionist perspective, emulates earlier literacy acquisition studies by examining how parents interacted with children using computers in the home environment and then exploring implications for school settings. Annotation c2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Helen Mele Robinson is Assistant Professor in the Education Department at CUNY, The College of Staten Island. She has published journal articles in Perspective: The New York Journal of Adult Learning.