Playing with computing technologies in the home

Since the 1980s there have been a number of studies that investigate the use of computers in homes. Many of these focused on the adults or adolescents in the family. Few studies have focused on children, particularly those between the ages of five and twelve. If children of these ages were included in a study they were usually situated within a study of the family and its dynamics, and often their experiences were viewed through the eyes of the adults in the family. The study described in this paper is unique in that the children's perceptions, beliefs and practices were the major focus and the children themselves were the informants. The study investigated children's computer experiences within their homes and their perceptions and beliefs about a range of issues associated with these experiences. The focus in this paper is on the range of computer activities in which children engaged. The major finding was that children's activities, whether game playing, other leisure-related activities or work-related activities, involved 'playful' interactions with the computer which led to exploratory approaches to learning about both the computer and the task itself. © 1999 IFIP, published by Kluwer Academic Publishers.