Concept-Mapping as a Research Tool: A Study of Primary Children's Representations of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)

Abstract

This paper presents an approach to concept-mapping that was used in an EU-funded project to study ten year old pupils' representations of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). The research task – to draw a concept map of ‘computers in today's world’ – was administered to children in six EU countries twice. In England this took place immediately before and after the introduction of networked PCs in their schools. They were asked to use their maps ‘to communicate their ideas through drawing’ to the researchers and other children who did not all speak the same language as them. The maps were analysed both quantitatively and qualitatively, using phenomenographic methods combined with semiotic interpretation. The maps showed that the children had well-developed mental representations (secondary artifacts) of the role of ICT in today's world, even when they had little or no practical experience of using the Internet. Psychological theories suggest that learning depends to a considerable extent on the development of secondary artifacts of this kind. The extent and variety of knowledge about computers demonstrated by all children in the cohort came as a surprise and suggested that they would be very well prepared to develop sophisticated ICT skills once they had good access to ICT tools. Current approaches to ICT use in primary schools, involving explicit, systematic teaching of ICT skills, may therefore not be making the most cost-effective use of scarce resources. Exploratory use of ICT within open-ended project work, reflecting the kind of use that computer-literate adults make of ICT, might be more likely to provide the context for children's rapid development of a complex range of ICT skills.