PATCH-WORLd
Research Phase Results
6.10.08
Karvia - Finland
Project 2nd Meeting
“About a decade ago, some kind of movies and
cartoons such as Star Trek or The Jetsons presented
us with a vision of family life that seemed light years
away to us: who could imagine a life in outer space,
filled with electronic gadgets like holograms,
electronic diaries and alien furry household pets?
Merely ten years later, this is not so unimaginable
anymore: Cell phones, PDA’s, electronic pets, the
internet,… all seem to be quickly incorporated in
families’ everyday lives”
(Livingstone & Bovill, 2001; Van Rompaey, 2002;
Mackay & Ivey, 2004).
ICT, Communication and the Families
General ICT incorporation and development in Italy
ICT, Communication and the Families
Research methodology
1) Analysis and review of the literature (existing researches, studies, reports)
Review of the web – existing cross-national, national and regional researches, projects,
initiatives, good practices, etc.;
Review of the ISTAT statistics studies
2) Interviews with experts in the field of ICT researches and in the educational sphere
-
with:
Mr. Mario Rotta _ expert on ICT, e-learning and on-line learning environments
Ms. Rita Minello_ pedagogues expert in learning processes and training
methodologies, in room and on-line,
Mr. Antonio Fini_Expert in e-learning platforms and in particular of cooperative and
collaborative systems.
3) Survey on 20 families from different Italian regions and with different educational and
professional backgrounds – all having a child or children aged between 11,18 and
over.
ICT, Communication and the Families
Italian access to ICT (ISTAT report)
In Italy the access to ICT at home is growing rapidly, especially in families with at least one child.
Following the ISTAT survey the main technological tools used by the Italian families are:
ICT, Communication and the Families
Owners of DVD players, digital decoders, mobile phones, parabolic
aerials and PCs have increased in number since 2005.
Increased access to Internet: improves the quality of home connection,
decreases, in fact, the number of narrowband connections (through
traditional telephone line or IDSN) and increases the number of families
using the broadband (ADSL or other types of broadband connection).
ICT, Communication and the Families
Levels of ICT ownership at home is generally linked to cultural, socio-economic
and generational factors
Families formed only by 60 year old people or over do not, in general, have access
to technological tools: only 6.5% uses a PC and 4.8% has access to Internet.
Broadband connection (2.2%) is practically non-existent.
Furthermore, the ownership on new TV linked technologies by this type of family is
very limited: parabolic aerial (10.6%) and digital decoders (6.4%).
The only technological tools with widespread ownership (besides colour TV) is the
mobile phone (52.2%).
At the other end there are families with at least one child under age: PC and
Internet access (69.7% and 51.8% respectively).
These families have also the highest ratio of broadband connections (21.1%) while
mobile phones have reached the same level as TV sets (96%). Also video recorders
(82.4%) and DVD players (75.1%) are commonly owned.
ICT, Communication and the Families
ICT, Communication and the Families
The most disadvantaged families are those in which the father is a manual
worker or is unemployed.
Between families where the father is a normal worker and those of managers
or professionals there is a gap of about 30% in PC ownership and 37% in
access to Internet.
The difference between these two types of families is less relevant but still
wide, also for cheaper technologies such as DVD players (14%) and is
practically non-existent as regards mobile phones.
ICT, Communication and the Families
For some technological tools the difference between families of professionals and managers and
those of normal workers is increasing: access to broadband Internet for instance goes from 17%
to 21% and the ownership of digital TVs increases from 4% to 8%.
ICT, Communication and the Families
Trend of the Internet use per age
The peak in the use of PCs is between 11 and 19 years of age (more than 75%) and for
Internet from 15 to 24 (more than 67%) and it rapidly decreases with age. The use of the PC in
people between 35 and 44 years of age decreases to 53.8% and the difference in the use of
Internet is more contained (45.7%). Only 16.4% of the people between 60 and 65 uses a PC
and 12.3% uses Internet. For the over 65, the use of these technologies is only a marginal
factor.
ICT, Communication and the Families
Patterns of access to a home computer
The timing is good: PC and internet use is on the rise, with 70% of
young people now using it at home, school or elsewhere.
ICT, Communication and the Families
A deeper overview: our research with the 20 families
A number of factors appeared to have contributed to the high levels of computer
ownership in the families surveyed.
First, many parents stated that they bought computers to support their child’s
education and to provide further educational opportunities for their children
Second, a large number of parents used computers themselves for leisure and work
purposes.
Third, some families suggested that they needed the technology to keep in contact
with distant relatives.
Finally, a number of families regarded computers as an integral part of every
day life in the twenty-first century.
ICT, Communication and the Families
Frequency of use of computers in household in rural/urban areas
Children from urban areas are more likely to use a computer at home
than those in rural areas, especially for game activities.
The use of ICT: How and why
PATTERNS OF USE
Use of a technology is not the same as access. The main use of ICT at home,
according to the families interviewed for the survey, is for the following activities:
Parents
Children
Office software
Using a word processing package to
write
Using spreadsheets for the family
accountancy
Using a word processing package to look
through information concerning work
Using an email program
Using a word processing package to write
Using a spreadsheet for some homework
Finding clip art on the web and pasting into a word
processing document.
Drawing pictures using an art package.
Producing greeting cards
Using an email program to contact friends
FAMILY use of ICT
COMMUNICATION AND
RELATIONSHIPS
Using programmes (e-mail, Skype) to
keep in touch with family members
Using Internet
Using programmes (e-mail, Skype) to keep in touch with
friends
Using Internet; blog and chat
Educational games
Sometime playing computer games with
children
Playing educational games on the Internet, e.g. maths
games, science quizzes, support for writing stories.
Sometimes they play with their parents.
‘Non-educational’ games
Sometimes
Playing simulation computer games
Playing CD-ROM games linked to
television and popular cultural interests.
Often
Playing simulation computer games
Playing CD-ROM games linked to television and popular
cultural interests.
The use of ICT: How and why
The use of ICT: How and why
The parents and children use of the ICT in Italy
.
The use of ICT: How and why
GAME AND RECREATION
The use of computers for reasons different from work or study, in particular as a
playing tools, has a crucial role in the computer culture.
Playing is also a way of learning: it is an activity through which an individual
relationships with the computer can be established and is a way also to understand
one’s level of competence and skills. The results show that certain skills learned via
computer can lead to social enhancement, e.g. problem-solving skills and
communication skills, as well as social development.
Another result is that new technologies can help children to express their skills.
The majority of children and teen-agers interviewed declare to prefer the use of ICT
tools for leisure purposes rather than for school work.
The use of ICT: How and why
The majority of children and young
people interviewed state that they preferred
to use ICT for leisure purposes than for
school work.
Use of the Internet, computer games,
leisure activities recorded in the ICT logs
included the following:
• Surfing web sites related to their
popular cultural interests.
• Playing networked, online games.
• Shopping.
• Finding cheats for computer games.
• Using chat rooms.
•Using instant messaging (sometimes
with webcams).
• Downloading music.
• Downloading photographs.
The use of ICT: How and why
Some children reported pretending to their parents that they were using the home
computer for educational purposes when they were actually using it for ‘fun’.
A minority of parents argued that console games and non-educational
computer games have developed particular skills in their children, such as
making them think, or developing factual information about specific topics.
However, it is hard to identify and measure these ‘gains’ because they are so
embedded in the pupils’ everyday lives.
The use of ICT: How and why
A particular gap in parental knowledge relates to
video games. Children like to play videogames and
sometimes they play with their parents.
There is also a huge possibility for recreation as
television, radio and magazine media increasingly
move to electronic formats.
In general the parents don’t know the games
contents
Only a third of parents who were surveyed said
they play videogames with their children some or
all of the time. Most of those parents are younger
than 40 and part of a generation that grew up
playing video games themselves.
The use of ICT: How and why
EDUCATION - What children say:
 ICT is regarded as making homework less boring because they use computers as:
‘cool’;
 interactive and multimodal texts are more interesting than books;
 ICT save time (e.g. it is easier to write and revise documents on a computer than by
hand) and enhance the presentation of children’s work;
 the Internet is a good source of information (range and depth) and educational
materials (such as revision websites);
 ICT enable multi-tasking and is perceived by children to improve grades
 Internet offers readily available information for children’s school projects and
researches.
 ICT contribute both to making school work more enjoyable and also to pupils’
perceptions of achievement, therefore it is perceived as motivational.
The majority of children and young people believe that ICT competence would
be important for their futures and careers.
The interviewed who use computers at home for school work at least once a
week are also the same subjects who believe that using a computer can
improve their grades and have most home-based electronic resources.
The use of ICT: How and why
EDUCATION - What parents say:
     The majority of parents believe that skills in ICT would be vital for their
children’s future.
    Their comments are often linked to the importance that ICT might play in
children’s future careers.
   The majority (84%) of parents agree with the statement that ‘Using a
computer helps my child to learn useful things’.
  Families buy computers for their educational potential.
 The majority of parents believe that computers help their children to learn useful
skills and gain knowledge
ICT 
 enabling them to find new sources of information;
 enhancing the presentation of their work;
 providing more opportunities for revision/consolidation of learning;
 saving time on mundane tasks such as editing; and increasing their motivation.
The use of ICT: How and why
Parents reported that using ICT raised pupils’ confidence and had motivational
effects.
ICT can be motivational because it
 contributes both to making school work more enjoyable and also to the pupils’
perceptions of achievement;
is interactive and multimodal texts can be more interesting than books
BUT, in their opinions, THERE ARE SOME BARRIERS IN USING ICT for
educational purposes
The use of ICT: How and why
What are the barriers to using ICT for educational purposes?
These include:
 a lack of explicit instruction to do so by teachers;
 a lack confidence on how to use ICT as applicable to specific subjects;
 a lack of interest in particular subjects per se
   This shows clear implications in terms of addressing how schools
deliver out of school ICT opportunities for their pupils in ways that make them
more attractive for children.
The use of ICT: How and why
SECURITY AND SAFETY
Risks
Some parents identified what they felt to be educational
disadvantages in the use of ICT tools. These included the perceived enhanced
ability to plagiarise by cutting and pasting from the Internet, the possible negative
effects on handwriting and the potential for distraction by non-educational
uses of ICT.
Parents want, but sometimes they don’t have the right competences
-to talk to children about the dangers of ICT tools and Internet,
-to encourage children to look critically at the information they find on the web
-To have the basic computer security systems in place
-To track and monitor their children’s online activity and movements
The use of ICT: How and why
Parents
While allowing them to use ICT tools generally supports an atmosphere of exploration,
there are some more specific things which many parents could do.
These might include:
1. ensuring that appropriate filtering software has been installed and that children
know the rules of Internet safety
2. occasionally joining in, sharing or talking to their children about their use of the
Internet
3. encouraging enjoyable, relaxed, independent use of the Internet
4. providing a context for informal learning through ICT as informal learning
becomes more significant, ensuring children have alternative sources of information
(e.g. an encyclopaedia) rather than assume the Internet suffices.
The use of ICT: How and why
Examples & Good Practices
Examples & Good Practices
The culture of videogames:
the world of the young and the world of the adults compared.
(Istituto IARD under the sponsorship of the Ministero per le Politiche Giovanili)
A new study about videogames indicated they have become "an increasingly social
activity" particularly among parents and children.
Setting stereotypes aside, the study revealed gaming to be very much a social activity.
The project aims to develop informal skills through online games both for parents
and children, making them play together.
After the first experimentation the majority of the parents who performed the games
with their children now see them as a positive activity for their kids: 73% believe that
videogames teach their children about technology and 68% feel that they them with
some “school skills”.
They value the skills kids learn through interactive games and can see the benefits
both socially and educationally.
Examples & Good Practices
Project EDUCANDO – Marche Region
WWW.PROGETTOEDUCANDO.COM
The Project Educando is an extra curricular activity for young girls and boys.
It consists in carrying out computer and Internet related activities with the
help of teachers and families (drawing, writing stories, games and animation,
photography, acting etc).
The games favour “free creativity” in children and are also a way to
communicate and to establish social relations with other children of the same
age, with teachers and educators in a protected online environment.
Children and parents, guided by experts, produce Internet pages
explaining the activities carried out.
Examples & Good Practices
Project EDUCANDO – SOME ACTIVITIES
DRAWINGS
The drawings were photographed and published on the project’s website in a Picture
gallery in which the children added a story referring to the drawings.
INVENT THE ENDING
The children were read the beginning of a story and were invited to invent the end of it.
The project’s website has a gallery of images representing the beginning of the story
and the children have published with the help of their parents and teachers the end they
invented.
COMMUNICATE WITH INTERNET:
BLOG: THE ONLINE DIARY
The children have been given the opportunity to write on Internet as if it were their own
diary, free to express their thoughts on the day’s events.
FORUM: COMMUNICATE WITH INTERNET
Parents can use a Forum to exchange opinions over the project and communicate
among themselves.
Examples & Good Practices
I CARE: how to learn, communicate and act in an
Educational network.
An Internet Guide for parents providing them key information
in a wide variety of ways
-How to use Internet
-How are the main risks
-How to prevent them
Project ReMida21
(Italian network for XXI century didactics
and learning)
One-O-Five Live - Cultura
How to reduce the generation gap between parents
and children in the use of computer and mobile
phones: ISTRUCTION FOR THE USE
Cybermondo ... The important information for parents
and children on the Internet. Risks for children: it is
possible to keep the use of the computer under
control…
Examples & Good Practices
Ministero delle Comunicazioni
FAMILY SPACE  Stories that parents and children
want to write together on the web.
TI SEI CONNESSO 
How to use Internet
How are the main risks
How to prevent them
Examples & Good Practices
EASY Project for a safe and critical use of new technologies
The project is promoted by Save the Children – Italy and Adiconsum (Consumers
Association) and is financed by the European Commission
EASY is a nationwide awareness project for a safe and critical use of new
technologies.
The starting point is the recognition of the exploitation of the competences and
experiences of young people in defining and influencing new online technologies.
EASY focus on the present and potential risks represented by new technologies
promoting at the same time their critical and proper use.
The project has a wide section of the public:
 young people under age
 IT operators
the government
 local authorities and institutions
media and parents
www.easy4.it
Examples & Good Practices
•
•
WEAGREE  For parents to learn more about the video games their
children play.
This is a web interface allowing parents and children to keep contact
with each other when physically distant.
•
The designers’ idea was to give children the freedom of space and
exploration knowing that their parents would be always available. It could be
defined as a protected space in which young people can experiment
beyond the skills because, although virtual, adult assistance is given
by supports figures and not by substitutes.
•
The use of this program helps also to keep in contact with each other,
therefore, should they be occupied in their activities, there is always a
trusted network catering for their needs.
•
This is an interface program full of psychological implications: from the
development of children's competences to the conception of a social
network in-between reality and virtuality.
Examples & Good Practices
Internet and minors: Little Tom Thumb in the web
Developed by the 'International Crime Analysis Association-Italy”, to make parents and
children aware of a safe Internet use
Sponsored by the Ministry of Communication, the Polizia Postale and the UNICEF
The project focuses on the assessment of children's’ behaviour outlining the molestation and
enticement risks in chat rooms (i.e. contacts with paedophiles) and the dysfunctional behaviour
of the adults (parents and teachers) who are in charge of control and prevention.
The project has developed the Little Tom Thumb in the Web to make parents and children
aware of the norms for a safe navigation and to offer recommendations for a proper use of
the web.
The project includes a guide to safety and to a proper use of technologies which will be used
during the year as a support for a series of activities on the territory addressed to parents and
teachers and supplying concrete elements of support for a safe Internet navigation for children.
Thank you for your kind attention!
6.10.08
Karvia - Finland
Project 2nd Meeting