Media-rich nation
According to the Australian Communications and Media Authority, a recent survey undertaken has indicated that almost all Australian families with children have a computer, nine out of ten of which also have access to the internet. This is not surprising to me, since having been out on prac thus being able to speak with primary school students, I noticed that many of them are very experienced with email and programs such as myspace and msnmessenger. Even more impressive was the fact that the year 2/3 class I had last year were able to write, save and show powerpoint presentations to their classmates as well as email copies of the task to their teacher.
The study stated that the amount of time spent using the internet by students increased as they got older, which was not surprising. Parental attitudes towards children’s internet usage was mostly expressed in terms of educational value, with some citing communication with friends–I personally believe communicating with friends is a big one for upper primary aged children, a few of which asked me for my email address while I was on prac! I think the almost blanket access to the internet of primary school aged children has many implications for the classroom, since by the time I am teaching my own class it will be assumed all students will have access at home as well as school. This opens up a wide range of possibilities for setting online homework or online submission of assignments.
