What factors impact on primary students' online engagement for learning and entertainment at home

Abstract

Informed by the difference of children’s Internet use in formal and informal contexts, this study aims to move away from studying children’s more predictable Internet use in school settings to learning how children use the Internet at home, and what factors impact their online behavior in such contexts. Students from grade 3 to 6 from a school in a medium sized city in China participated in the study. The data reveals that children use the Internet for both entertainment and learning purposes and these two factors are correlated. However, factors influencing Internet use for the two purposes are to some extent different. The study suggests that there is a need to zoom in and analyze children’s Internet use in informal contexts, rather than assume that learning at home is just an extension of learning at school. Policy makers and educators may use information about how children use the internet at home to improve pedagogy to bridge the gap between school and home.