Ruth Furlong

ScreenPlay: Children and Computing in the Home

Section 1. Introduction 1. The ScreenPlay project 2. Setting the scene: Patterns of computer use in the home Section 2. The domestic context 3. Computer histories, computer roles in the home 4. The computer in family life Section 3. Young peoples computer use in the home 5. The digital landscape: Games and information navigation 6. Writing, designing and making on the computer in the home Section 4. Digital cultures 7. Computers, consumption and identity 8. Computers, gender and class 9. Digital childhood Section 5. Learning with the computer 10. Learning with the computer at home 11. Learning with computers at school 12. Conclusion

A new environment for education? The computer in the home

Abstract This paper derives from an interdisciplinary research project which is studying the engagement of young people with different aspects of techno-popular culture. The focus is on the young person and the significance of digital technologies in their lives as a whole. Drawing on cultural studies research we are investigating the ways in which the contexts for computer use are structured by the different discourses present within the family, and the ways in which these discourses may provide a framing context for children’s interactions with digital technology. Drawing on socio-cultural research we take the view that learning is learning to do something with a cultural or cognitive tool. Our analysis of data from case studies of 16 families shows that the context of home computer use amongst young people is far from a simple and uniform phenomenon and is structured by the different discourses present within the family. What young people learn through interaction with computers is thus as much framed by the context of use as by the affordance of the technology.