Used children's drawings and interviews to examine the impact of age, gender, and school setting on elementary children's thinking about computers. Found that younger children drew computers much larger than themselves and set computers in home or school settings, whereas older children drew computers in proportion to themselves and placed…

A total of 475 kindergarten through fifth-grade students, 231 parents, and 34 teachers at a Texas elementary school were surveyed about their attitudes toward computers in the classroom in 1991 and again 1 year later. Attitudes toward computers among the student population were very positive, and levels of computer anxiety declined significantly…

Surveyed 112 early childhood teachers, administrators, college faculty, curriculum specialists, business representatives, and students on the current status of computer integration in early childhood classrooms. Found that 79% of the respondents used computers with children aged 3-5 years and that the majority stressed that computer software for…

Examined the impact of a commercially prepared geography adventure computer game on 109 fifth and sixth graders' recall of geography facts and on their attitudes toward studying geography. Found no significant difference in recall between students using the computer game "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego" and students using…

Videotaped four- to eight-year olds as they interacted with computer software at different levels of developmental appropriateness. Facial expressions and other affective behaviors were analyzed as a function of age, presence of a peer, and appropriateness of software. Found that responses were mediated more by age, gender, and social condition…

Investigated the changes in attitudes toward computers in 803 Japanese first and second graders who were exposed to computers in school. Found that children who used computers tended to like them more than children who did not use computers. The findings failed to provide evidence that computer use improved intellectual activities such as…

Describes a study of the multimedia constructions of children 8-10 years of age, composed of both acoustic and visual elements. Suggested that arts provide a great deal of interest to children in the acquisition of computer literacy and that links need to be made between existing curricula and corresponding computer applications. (AA)

Investigated the efficacy of a computer program approach to help 260 at-risk fourth graders model, practice, and internalize narrative writing skills. Found that the at-risk students responded positively to the use of technology incorporated with instructional strategies for developing higher order thinking and literacy skills. The teachers also…

Compared the effects of computer-based word processing and writing by hand on 14 third and fourth graders' attitudes and performance in the writing process. Found that third graders tended to make more revisions and edits when using a word processor, whereas fourth graders made more changes in their handwritten drafts. (MDM)

Examined computer attitudes of elementary education students over a 10-year period. Found that the more recent elementary education majors had more prior computer experience and lower computer anxiety than those entering a program earlier in the 10-year period; and that male elementary education majors had higher computer anxiety than female ones.…

Explored responses to interactive multimedia by 3- to 5-year-olds through examination of verbal and facial expressions, use of mouse, body movement, attitudes toward multimedia, and teacher comments. Found great interest in using the technology and little difficulty in adjusting to developmentally appropriate materials, which has implications for…

Evaluated effectiveness of a multiage learning project in terms of an assessment of classroom quality, and teacher concerns about multiage grouping and computer use in the classroom. Found that participating teachers modified their classrooms to make them more developmentally appropriate, and they increased their use of computers for their own…