This report describes a survey that explored the attitudes and experiences of young people aged 5-18 and their parents, in relation to the use of information and communications technology (ICT) at home and at schoo

Alty, Carys

Hayward, Bruce

Martin, Chris

Pearson, Stephen

English

Digital Education Resource Archive

Young People and ICT 2002Findings from a survey conducted in Autumn 2002 SummaryIn July 2002 the Department for Education and Skills commissioned NFO System Three toundertake the second Young People and ICT survey, which updates the baseline YoungPeople and ICT survey conducted in autumn 2001. The survey explored the attitudes andexperiences of young people aged 5-18 and their parents, in relation to the use of informationand communications technology (ICT) by young people at home and at school. Parents of 3-4-year-olds were also interviewed.This leaflet presents headline findings from the research, which was carried out in September andOctober 2002. Full results have been published as part of the ICT in Schools Research andEvaluation series. The full report is available on the Becta Research web site atwww.becta.org.uk/research/youngpeopleict. Other publications in the ICT in Schools Research and Evaluation series are also available on theBecta Research web site. FindingsThe main findings reported in this summary arebased on 5-18-year-olds and their parents. Findingsrelating to parents of 3-4-year-olds are reported in aseparate section at the end of the summary.Access to ICT at homeHousehold access to most forms of ICT equipmenthas increased since 2001 (see Figure 1). 81% of households had access to a personal orlaptop computer in the home, compared with 78% in2001. There was a strong relationship betweenaccess to ICT in the home and social grade of thehousehold’s chief income earner, with ownershiplevels higher for a majority of items among those inhigher social grades. Parents aged 35+ in socialclass AB were the group most likely to have acomputer at home (96%). Those aged under 35, insocial class DE and with no educational qualifications were the least likely (33% overall). Access to a homecomputer increased with key stage, from 68% ofthose in Key Stage 1 to 87% of those in Key Stage 4and post-16s.928876 71234336 332382 521n/a7713 1679Figure 1 All figures as a percentageAccess to ICT at homePC2001LaptopMobilephoneGamesconsoleDVDplayerIDTVDigitalcameraWAP/3GphonePalmtop2002Base: All households with children aged 5-18 (1,804)A report to the DfES by Bruce Hayward, Carys Alty, Stephen Pearson and Chris Martin,  NFO System Three Social Research68% of households had access to the Internet athome, compared with 64% in 2001. Like access to a computer, Internet access at homeincreased in line with social grade, educationalqualifications of the parents and key stage, risingfrom 56% of those in Key Stage 1 to 76% of post-16s. 92% of AB households, compared with 78% ofC1, 64% of C2 and 43% of DE households, hadaccess to the Internet.82% of households with Internet access at homeaccessed the Internet via a telephone line using amodem, although the proportion usingADSL/broadband increased from 6% in 2001 to10% in 2002.Financial barriers, mentioned by 63% ofrespondents, remained the overriding factor thatprevented parents who did not have a computer athome from buying one.Presence of a computer at home, and in particular,a computer that had Internet access, enhanced achild’s perception of their computing skills.Young people’s use of computersAlmost all young people aged 5-18 (98%) usedcomputers at home, at school or elsewhere andthere was no evidence of change in patterns of usesince 2001. 92% of young people used computers at schooland 75% used them at home. 49% of young peopleused computers in a location other than at home orat school. 22% of 5-18-year-olds used computers at schoolbut not at home. On average, young people in Key Stage 3 andabove spent around 10 hours using computers inthe week prior to the survey. Of these, 6 hours werespent using computers at home, 3 hours usingthem at school and 1 hour using them elsewhere.About a third of the time was accounted for bygames playing.The amount of time spent using computersincreased with key stage, ranging from 7.6 hours inthe week prior to the survey among those in KeyStage 3 to 12.8 hours among post-16s. Boys spentmore time than girls using computers at all keystages, although much of this difference wasaccounted for by boys spending more time thangirls playing games.Young people’s use of the Internet84% of young people used the Internet at home, atschool or elsewhere, compared with 73% in 2001.The proportion of young people using the Internethas increased since 2001, both at home, from 45%to 56%, and at school, from 56% to 71% (seeFigure 2).26% of young people used the Internet at schoolbut not at home. The proportion of young people that used theInternet generally increased with age, from 42% ofthose at Key Stage 1, to 84% at Key Stage 2, 94%at Key Stage 3, 97% at Key Stage 4 and 96%among post-16s.Use of computers for schoolworkIn 2002, young people of all ages undertook awider range of computer activities at home than in2001. Among children in Key Stage 2 who used a computer at home, 40% – compared with7% in 2001 – said that they did homework on the computer.4556Figure 2 All figures as a percentageUse of the Internet in different locations2001 2002Base: All children aged 5-18 (1,804)5671 738426 26At home At school Anywhere School,not homeAmong those in Key Stage 3 and above who useda computer at home, 90% used it for schoolwork.The subjects in which this group was most likely todo homework on a computer were English,science, history and ICT.Among children in Key Stage 2 who used computersat school, 56% said that teachers used computers inEnglish lessons, with science lessons mentioned by43% and mathematics lessons by 41%.At Key Stage 3 and above, computers were mostwidely used in ICT lessons, mentioned by 87% ofrespondents who took this subject. Computerswere also widely used in English (52%), design andtechnology (49%), science (47%) and mathematicslessons (43%).As in 2001, the main factors that prevented greateruse of computers at school among those in KeyStage 3 and above were lack of time, mentioned by36% of respondents, and the limited number ofcomputers, mentioned by 25%.Attitudes towards computers and the InternetAs in 2001, the attitudes of both parents andchildren towards computers were generally positive.54% of parents without a computer at home feltthat their child would achieve better results atschool if they had access to a computer at home.Among parents with access to a computer athome, 41% felt that this helped their child achievebetter results at school. Among both groups, only1% thought that access to a computer led to, orwould lead to, their children achieving worse resultsat school.76% of children in Key Stages 1 and 2 said thatusing computers made schoolwork more fun and89% of those in Key Stage 3 and above said thatthey enjoyed using computers.87% of children in Key Stage 3 and above felt thatcomputers would be at least ‘quite important’ intheir future working lives.57% of parents said that they thought their childknew how to use the Internet safely. This proportionwas lowest among parents of children in Key Stage1 (15%) and highest among parents of children inKey Stage 4 (88%).82% of young people in Key Stage 3 and abovewho were aware of Internet safety issues agreed that it was very important to be aware ofthese issues.Early years and ICTAmong parents of 3-4-year-olds, 64% had apersonal or laptop computer at home.84% of parents of 3-4-year-olds with a computer athome (45% of all parents of 3-4s) said that theirchild used a computer at home.56% of parents of 3-4-year-olds had Internetaccess at home.70% of parents of 3-4-year-olds who attended anearly years setting said that their child usedcomputers in at least one of the settings that they attended.MethodologyThe survey was conducted using in-home face-to-face paired interviews with young people inEngland aged between 5 and 18 in full-timeeducation and one of their parents. Young peoplestudying away from home and those in tertiaryeducation were excluded. In addition, interviewswere undertaken with a sample of parents of 3-4-year-olds. The research was undertaken using computer-assisted personal interviewing (CAPI), between 4thSeptember and 21st October 2002. 2,073interviews were completed in 262 sampling points.A random location sample design was used, withquotas set on gender and key stage of the childand on the parents’ working status.Figure 3 shows the relationship between age,school year and key stage.The summary report makes references to socialgrade, which is based on the chief income earnerin the household – that is, the person with thelargest income, whether from employment,pensions, state benefits, investments or any othersource. Figure 4 provides definitions of the socialgrade groups.British Educational Communications and Technology AgencyMillburn Hill Road, Science Park, Coventry, CV4 7JJTelephone: 024 7641 6994, Fax: 024 7641 1418, E-mail: becta@becta.org.uk, URL: http://www.becta.org.uk  © Becta 200312/2002-03/137/a/PC/10KFigure 4: Definition of social gradeSocial Social Status Chief Income Earner’sGrade OccupationA Upper Middle Class Higher managerial, administrative or professionalB Middle Class Intermediate managerial, administrative or professionalC1 Lower Middle Class Supervisory or clerical, and junior managerial, administrative or professionalC2 Skilled Working Class Skilled manual workersD Working Class Semi and unskilled manual workersE Those at lowest level of State pensioners or widows (no othersubsistence earner), casual or lowest grade workersFigure 3: Relationship between age, school year andkey stageDate of birth Age School year Key Stage1/9/97 – 31/8/99 3-5 Early years Foundation1/9/95 – 31/8/97 5-7 1-2 11/9/91 – 31/8/95 7-11 3-6 21/9/88 – 31/8/91 11-14 7-9 31/9/86 – 31/8/88 14-16 10-11 41/9/84 – 31/8/86 16-18 12-13 Post-16

Young people and ICT 2002: findings from a survey conducted in Autumn 2002

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