Everyday Laptop Use by Children in a Southern Country: A Mixed-Method Approach

Abstract

Information and communication technology (ICT) use among children in low-income countries remains understudied. The purpose of this study is to describe laptop usage among children in the context of the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) project 4 years after the laptops were first introduced in a community in Madagascar. The study was conducted using a mixed-method approach combining analysis of ICT use history, empirical observations, and interviews with children and parents. In class, activities involving laptops—including educational games, information research, and the creation of texts and storyboards—were found to be aligned with existing classroom activities. Outside school, computers were found to be used in individual, group, or family settings to listen to music and watch videos, play games, share content, and do homework. The study also found that computers play a major role in everyday routines, opening up new possibilities in photography and video-making. The findings also indicate that computer usage encourages children to learn new literacies in which image plays a central role and new forms of self-expression if they are accompanied and supported by their family.

Keywords:

• ICT
• children
• everyday use
• developing countries
• formal and informal learning
• One Laptop Per Child

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to the Region île de France for funding the PICRI UOPO project and thank the OLPC France and “We work, it works” associations, without which this research would not have been possible. We thank the associations “We work, it works” and Gducoeur, which hosted us in the village. The quantitative data were collected with the support of OLPC France members and analyzed in collaboration with Abdallah Abarda (statistician). We thank Françoise Decortis, Anne Bationo-Tillon, and the research group C3U (Conception, Creation, Competence, Usage–Paragraph Lab), who provided helpful advice and commentaries about the qualitative research method and the results of this study. We are grateful to Georges-Louis Baron, who provided positive support to our work, as well as to the two anonymous reviewers and the editorial board, who provided helpful comments on the content and the form of this article. We are also very grateful to teachers, parents, and children who agreed to participate to this study.Received: 8 August 2017Revised: 27 September 2017Accepted: 2 October 2017

Author Notes

Sandra Nogry is Associate Professor in Educational Psychology. Her current research projects focus on learners experience and technology use in education. Please address correspondence regarding this article to Sandra Nogry, Laboratoire Paragraphe, Université de Cergy-Pontoise, Site universitaire de Gennevilliers, ZA des Barbanniers, 92230 Gennevilliers Cedex, France. E-mail: [email protected]

Pierre Varly is Independent Consultant; he conducts evaluations of educational programs for non-governmental organizations.