Collaborative learning activities at a distance via interactive videoconferencing in elementary...

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Computers & Education 50 (2008) 1527–1539

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Collaborative learning activities at a distance viainteractive videoconferencing in elementary schools: Parents’

attitudes

Panagiotes S. Anastasiades *, Elena Vitalaki, Nikos Gertzakis

Department of Education, University of Crete, GR-74100 Rethymnon, Crete, Greece

Received 13 June 2006; received in revised form 17 February 2007; accepted 18 February 2007

Abstract

As schools are increasingly encouraging students to use the Internet and web-based technology at home and in the class-room, concerns among some parents have increased. Today’s parents have learned about computers as adults and did notreceive guided participation as children either from their parents or from their teachers.

The essence of this paper is twofold: (a) to investigate how parents view their children’s opportunity to acquire neweducational and interpersonal experiences from the introduction of collaborative learning activities by distance via video-conferencing in school settings and (b) to examine the differences in parents’ attitudes to the use of the Internet and webbased technologies by elementary students in the family home as an acknowledgment of their importance in their children’sday-to-day social and educational activities, in two developing but still traditional European countries. Using data fromtwo groups of parents (N = 98) – one from an urban province of Crete (Rethymno) and the other from a rural province ofCyprus (Avgorou), the present paper showed that parents respond to the ‘‘newness’’ of digital collaborative learning andinterpersonal activities of their children according to their level of use and perceived compatibility of the information andcommunication technologies.� 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Videoconference; Distance education; Elementary students; Cooperative/collaborative learning; Interactive learning environ-ments; Parents’ attitudes

1. Introduction

The introduction of Information Communication Technologies (ICT) into education, significantly changesits structure and operation from what it has been until now (Anastasiades, 2000; Govindasamy, 2002; Suss,2001). The basic relationship between educator and learner is reversed as, through networks, the educationalprocess is transferred to the learner’s space, pace and time (Anastasiades, 2002a). The rapid development of

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doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2007.02.003

* Corresponding author. Tel./fax: +30 28310 77615.E-mail address: [email protected] (P.S. Anastasiades).

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1528 P.S. Anastasiades et al. / Computers & Education 50 (2008) 1527–1539

ICT applications (videoconferencing, electronic file transfers, and more), the electronic interconnection oflearning units and the penetration of web educational multimedia into the hard core of the learning process,is establishing the pedagogical challenges for the World Wide Web (Fenderson, 2001) as one of the mostimportant factors of major and radical changes in the learning environment in which advanced learning tech-nologies meet pedagogy (Bullen, 1999) and collaborative learning (Anastasiades, 2002b; Cohen, 1994; Kollias,Mamalougos, Vamvakoussi, Lakkala, & Vosniadou, 2005; Putnam, 1998; Ravenscroft, Buckless, McCombs,& Zuckerman, 1995; Rubens, Emans, Leinonen, Skarmeta, & Simons, 2005; Slavin, 1995).

There are strong links between computers and the cognitive, social, and developmental needs of young chil-dren, (Cordes & Miller, 2000; Fairlie, 2005; Healy, 1998). Children who do not have significant and substantialhome-based access to ICT are disadvantaged (Facer, Furlong, Furlong, & Sutherland, 2003). As children fear-lessly embrace the new possibilities presented by new digital activities, automatically computer use with youngchildren brings up issues and concerns for parents. Some parents feel helpless at the beginning of this new edu-cational era and others wholeheartedly consider it as an important part of their children’s educational anddevelopmental process (Anastasiades & Vitalaki, 2004). Concerns about the effects of the Internet on childrenare similar to those expressed about the television. Furthermore, parents and children use the television set inan equally skilled way while the opposite applies to Internet usage. According to Wang, Bianchi, and Raley(2005), the Pew Internet & American Life Report (2001), found that 64% of online teens knew more about theInternet and web based technologies than their parents, and 66% of parents agreed. These findings are notparochial as international comparisons indicate that we are experiencing a trans-national phenomenon duringwhich costs and benefits of such technologies are not sector specific (Banyard, Underwood, & Twiner, 2006).

Today’s parents have learned about computers as adults and did not receive guided participation as chil-dren either from their parents nor from their teachers. Parents with insufficient knowledge of computers areunable to guide and develop a mutual understanding with children about computers. It is understandable thatdiscomfort and controversy surround the use of ICT with young children, especially when these families comefrom smaller traditional societies. If the computer and the introduction of ICT at school and within familiesare ever to be understood for their potential educational and interacting benefits and drawbacks, rational andsystematic exploration is required.

This paper focuses on the impact of the implementation of a new collaborative learning project at a distancevia videoconferencing in elementary schools on families and investigates the level of parental involvement withtheir children as reflected in shared educational and interpersonal digital activities in the family home betweentwo developing parts of the world-Avgorou (traditional town in Cyprus) and Rethymno (developing city inCrete). As a measure of the parents’ technological grasp of computers and Internet access the researchers drewtheir conclusions from the comparison of both samples since the development in communication technology inboth countries is very fast and there are no particular educational or cultural differences between these twocountries.

2. Children’s access to the ICTs’ applications and parental involvement

2.1. Literature review

Computers today are a part of a child’s natural environment (Selwyn & Bullon, 2000). Most children haveaccess to the Internet at home and in the classroom. According to Demner (2001), the NUA Internet surveyestimated that 401.1 million people were using the Internet in November 2000, almost 20% of which were chil-dren. Additionally, in September 2000, in a survey of 10,000 students from 16 countries, Ipsos-Reid Groupfound that the first two countries with most access to the Internet at home and at school were Sweden andCanada. Quite noteworthy is the fact that 74% of Canadian students were able to go online at school whilealmost 74% of students in both countries had web access at home. Taiwan ranked third with 63%, followedby the UK, US, Netherlands, Australia, South Korea, Mexico, Japan, Italy, Spain, Brazil and Urban China.

As the use of computers in households and in school settings grows globally every year, children are naturallycurious about technological tools and their application in their interpersonal and educational environment.Homes and schools have rapidly been transformed – for better or worse – into sites of a globally connected mul-timedia culture, integrating a wide variety of audiovisual information and telecommunication tools and systems

P.S. Anastasiades et al. / Computers & Education 50 (2008) 1527–1539 1529

that students are expected to use. According to Rogers theory (1983), people who are innovative and quick toadopt new technology are usually younger, better educated and come from higher socio-economic households.However, recent studies suggest that there are no longer differences in the rates of Internet access between thesexes and that the divide between ethnic groups is decreasing (Corbett & Willms, 2002).

An interesting qualitative observational research in India (Mitra & Rana, 2001) about the reactions of chil-dren and adults by a (controlled) change in the environment with the introduction of an Internet kiosk foundthat although children (about 5–16 years old) had little or even no grasp of the English language, in a month’stime they managed to become more adept at using the computer and surfing the Web than their adult com-panions. Also, children invented their own vocabulary to define words on the computer, taught each otherhow to use it and when researchers decided to remove the electronic device, the children were strongly opposedto the idea while parents who claimed that it was very good for their children, felt helpless to compete withyoung users. According to Guernsey (2000) a significant number of parents and educators believe that com-puters are highly important for the education of young children and their later success while those withoutcomputers at home and at school are often viewed as disadvantaged (Facer et al., 2003). Corbett and Willms(2002) claim that students from rural households may have less access to ICT from home because of manydifferent factors, ranging from economic issues to a lack of parental interest in technology. However, studentswhose parents had more prestigious occupations and a higher level of education were more likely to haveaccess to both a computer and the Internet at home.

On the other hand, greater computer/Internet usage raises concerns about the possible negative effects ontheir children’s social interaction (Kraut et al., 1998; Lenhart, Raine, & Lewis, 2001; Subrahmanyam, Green-field, Kraut, & Gross, 2001), consequences for children’s homework interference, lack of sleep and increasedobesity (Graham & Banks, 2000; Sothern, 2004), as well as the risks of exposure to pornography, dangerousstrangers and other unsuitable material online (Valentine & Holloway, 2001). According to a survey con-ducted by the European Opinion Research Group EEIG (Eurobarometer, 2003) on the illegal and harmfulcontent on the Internet a fair share of European Union parents (32%) seems not to be aware of the possiblerisks that their child may encounter on the Internet.

It is not possible (or even desirable) for parents to be with their children constantly and the home is not theonly point of access to ICT. The problem is further complicated by the fact that some parents are not yet com-puter aware. To meet this challenge, the parent’s involvement is critical for successful online usage. Parentsneed to educate their children about online issues, which means that parents themselves must become familiarwith ICT. This may mean exploring Cyberspace alongside their children, and giving worldly guidance and wis-dom screen-by-screen.

The key step for parents to become involved, regardless of their level of technical awareness, is to maintain acontinuing dialogue with their children. Parents should make it clear that the child can safely bring online inci-dents to their parents’ attention, without being blamed or having the computer banned from the home. Withoutthis trust, parents will simply never hear what happens online, whether in the home, at school or in the library.

Although the important initial step of becoming involved requires willingness, not technical knowledge,parents do need opportunities to improve their Internet awareness – not to engage in a battle of Internetknowledge with their children (which they are destined to lose), but to act as better mentors for the decisionstheir children must take. Parents cannot make informed decisions unless they understand the scope of materialavailable online.

3. Context

3.1. General description

The purpose of this study is to elucidate if parents’ familiarization with computer/Internet use according tothe location of each group (rural province of Cyprus and urban province of Crete) is reflected to the extent ofparental involvement with their children in the family home for educational and interpersonal purposes. Weaim to do this from three main perspectives: (a) The detection of any possible differences in the rates of com-puter use and Internet access between the sexes of both groups (parents from Cyprus and Crete), (b) the par-ents’ attitudes to the child when he or she has an option to use ICT at home or not, and (c) the parents’


perspective on the children’s acquisition of new educational and interpersonal abilities from the modernschool environment.

The current research was naturalistic in that it investigated ongoing learning activities at a distance via vid-eoconferencing as a part of the project ‘‘ODYSSEAS’’ (Anastasiades, 2003). The main objective of this projectis to form a cultural and intellectual bridge for schoolchildren from Cyprus, Greece and all around the world.(Anastasiades, 2006). During the school year 2003–2004, the Ministry of Education and Culture of Cyprusand the Department of Primary Education at the University of Crete implemented the first project on distancelearning via videoconferencing technology between elementary schools in Greece and Cyprus, called‘‘ODYSSEAS’’.

Videoconferencing technology (Alexander, Higgison, & Mogey, 1999; Chandler & Hanrahan, 2000; Reed &Woodruff, 1995; Hearnshaw, 1999) allows students at two or more distant locations to see and hear each otherat the same time. ‘‘ODYSSEAS’’ methodology (Anastasiades, 2003) supports effective and educational uses ofvideoconferencing facilities by providing innovative learning strategies about technology and instructionalapplications as well as resources to help students get involved in the new virtual classroom environment(Acker & McCain, 1993; Itamiya et al., 2005) providing online collaborative activities (Dringus, 2000; Ligorio& Veermans, 2005; Pekkola, Robinson, Korhonen, Hujala, & Toivonen, 2000) and promoting multiculturaleducation (Thurston, 2004).

According to ‘‘ODYSSEAS’ methodology the main target of this endeavor was to familiarize students witha step-by-step hybrid-learning environment (Anastasiades, 2005). By ‘‘hybrid’’ we mean a learning environ-ment where an optimal combination of new learning technologies and traditional pedagogic methodologiesis attempted (Anastasiades & Spantidakis, 2006).

The methodology applied will enable the students to become active components of an interactive learningstrategy plan (Kirschner, 2005; Woodard, 2003). The students will come into contact with the new teachingvideoconferencing model progressively, in order for it to become a part of the new learning environment assmoothly as possible. This will be achieved through the implementation of four stages: a preparatory period,distance teaching, virtual class and tele-cooperation.

The elementary schools that participated in the project ‘‘ODYSSEAS’’ were the 2nd Elementary school ofRethymnon (developing city in Crete) and the 2nd Elementary school of Avgorou (traditional town inCyprus). During March and April 2004, the students of the fifth and sixth grades of both schools implementedfour 80-min collaborative learning activities which were connected with the Olympic Games, Athens 2004 bydistance via videoconferences.

Participants in this study were elementary students and their parents (51 mothers and 47 fathers) from thetwo schools in two different countries- one in Crete and the other in Cyprus, concerning their acquisition ofmore expansive educational and interpersonal abilities from the implementation of collaborative learningenvironments in a virtual classroom. At the time of the study, the students’ age ranged from 11 to 12 years old.

3.2. Method

For the needs of this study the researchers designed questions as follows:Is a computer a new tool that creates a period of uncertainty for parents? How do parents react to the child

when he/she has an option to use ICT at home or at school? Are parents willing to cooperate with their chil-dren in order to make the ICT environment a useful educational and interactive part of their lives? Are parentscapable of controlling their children’s educational and interpersonal needs for widening their experiences fromICT applications?

More specifically, the basic concept of this research was based on four main hypotheses, which are thefollowing:

1. The level of the technological profile of the parents (mothers and fathers) could become a significant factorto their level of confidence when supervising children on the computer as well as when both (children andparents) are engaged in other learning activities too.

2. If parents have a general concept of the new educational demands at school and generally in society, thentheir reactions to their children by the ‘‘new way of teaching’’ should be positive.


3. If parents’ reactions to the videoconference is positive then the level of their willingness to engage in inter-active learning with their children with the use of ICT at home and at school should be high too.

4. If the general opinion of parents’ about videoconferencing is positive then they should not be concernedabout any serious effects on their children’s educational and social life.

3.3. Data analysis

This paper is concerned with the statistical and qualitative analysis of the collected data within the frame-work of ODYSSEAS, Videoconference instructional methodology. Data analysis was performed right afterthe questionnaires were filled in by the students and their parents. No specific statistical package was usedto analyse the answers of the above subjects. All statistical analysis of the data was performed using SPSS sta-tistical package (Version 11.0 for Windows) (Howitt & Cramer, 2004).

The parents’ questionnaire consisted of two different answer sheets. The first included general questionsabout the parents’ attitude towards their children’s ability to manipulate computers at home and at schooland the new educational and interpersonal opportunities that are given to children by the introduction ofICT in their educational environment. The electronic data of the questionnaires were blueprinted and a con-tent analysis of the text was conducted. In order to secure the targets of the evaluation, the teachers and theprogram manager needed to give direct and specific orders to the students on how both parents would fill thequestionnaires. Additionally, in order to secure the reliability of the results, five safety valves were introduced.The first included a special mention from the teachers to their students about the importance of the question-naires. The second related to the time allowed for the students to bring the questionnaires back to the teachers.The third safety valve included the personal contact of the program manager by telephone with the parents inorder to give additional explanations about the questionnaires. The fourth provided a very small number ofpilot questions, whose answers were considered given, to a reasonable degree. In the case of a considerabledeviation from these answers, low reliability of results is suggested. Finally, a limited number of questionsrepeated themselves with different wording in order to highlight the answers that were not filled out as care-fully as possible.

The information was analysed and the results are reported in the following section.Research and evaluation of technology innovations linked to school reform have provided few definitive

answers (Herman, 1994). Attempts to answer questions focused on school reform with empirical data haveprovided little verification for policy makers, educators and the public. However, studies in public school set-tings produced evidence showing that increased access to information has positive effects on student learning.In order to measure these effects, evaluation in this study included alternative research and evaluation strat-egies that were qualitative in nature, longitudinal in design and context-centred.

3.4. Variables

Dependent variables. To measure parental attitudes toward their children’s opportunity to acquire new edu-cational and interpersonal experiences from the introduction of collaborative learning activities at a distancevia videoconferencing in school settings three tables are formed on the basis of parents’ answers: (a) Table 1

Table 1The Technological Gap

NT skills Town N Mean SD Significance

Do you know how to use a computer? Avgoroy 62 4.16 1.059 0.000Rethymno 46 3.15 1.349

Do you know the basic functions of the Internet? Avgoroy 61 4.61 0.759 0.008Rethymno 46 3.24 1.448

Level of the technological Profile Avgoroy 62 20.43 3.09 0.000Rethymno 46 16.26 4.31


labelled The Technological Gap detects the parents’ level of technological profile between the two groups of oursample (Avgorou/traditional society and Rethymno/developing society), (b) Table 2 labelled Thoughts/Expec-

tations includes statements as ‘‘The first time I heard that my child attends courses through a screen I went toschool in order to be better informed by the teacher about the new way of teaching’’, ‘‘I am still cautious aboutthe introduction of ICT in the classroom’’ etc., and (3) Table 3 labelled Parents’ Thoughts and Expectations

according to their level of Technological Profile includes the same statements of Table 2 but in accordance withparents’ insufficient or sufficient knowledge of NT. All answers are coded 1 or 2 if the parent’s answer is more

or less positive, 3 and 4 for negative or strong negative answer and 5 for not knowing what to answer. So, in thefollowing three Tables the higher the average rate the more negative the outcome of the answers is.

3.5. Results

Concerning the level of the technological profile of the parents and how they perceive their children’s acqui-sition of new educational and interpersonal experiences at school, the present study showed that there were nosignificant statistical differences in the whole sample of the present research. However, it is worth mentioningthat there was a statistical difference (p = 0.016) between mothers and fathers of the whole sample (Avgorou–Rethymnon), as mothers (N = 54, mean 1.06, SD 0.231) seemed to be more informed on what a videoconfer-ence was than fathers (N = 50, mean 1.22, SD 0.418). Another statistical difference (p = 0.041) was also notedbetween the two sexes in the group of Cyprus (Avgorou), as mothers (N = 31, mean 1.94, SD 0.854) seemed to

Table 2Thoughts/expectations

Thoughts/expectations Town N Mean SD Significance

The first time I heard that my child attends courses through a screen I went to school inorder to be better informed by the teacher about the new way of teaching

Avgoroy 61 2.20 1.014 0.000Rethymno 46 3.17 1.161

My child needs more time to prepare their homework when they have a course throughthe PC monitor than when they have a conventional lesson


I am still cautious about the introduction of ICT in the classroom Avgoroy 60 2.65 1.260 0.001Rethymno 46 3.48 1.110

My child would rather attend the courses from our house through a screen, withoutcoming to school


My child prefers more to get closely acquainted with a student from the other class thanfrom their own


Table 3Thoughts/expectations /tec. profile

Thoughts/expectations Tec. profile N Mean SD Significance

My child needs more time to prepare their homework when they havea course through the PC monitor than when they have aconventional lesson

Insufficient knowledge/use of NT

84 2.37 0.979 0.016

Sufficient knowledge/use of NT

22 2.95 1.090

I am still cautious about the introduction of ICT in the classroom Insufficient knowledge/use of NT

84 2.87 1.220 0.024


22 3.55 1.299

My child would rather attend the courses from our house through a screen,without coming to school


84 4.39 0.878 0.001


22 4.82 0.395

My child prefers more to get closely acquainted with a student from theother class than from their own


83 3.61 1.156 0.024


22 4.09 0.750


be more willing to become better familiarized with the new educational environment of their children thanfathers (N = 30, mean 2.47, SD 1.106).

Finally, many differences were detected between the two groups of the present sample (Cyprian and Cretanparents). The present data revealed that parents from Rethymno (developing city in Crete) have a better tech-nological grasp of computers (Table 1) than parents of Avgorou (rural town in Cyprus). More specifically, thefirst group (Rethymno) seemed more familiarized with the basic functions of computers, the majority had apersonal computer at home (Fig. 1) and used the Internet more often (Fig. 2) than the second group(Avgorou).

On the contrary, no significant differences were found between the parents from Rethymno and the parentsfrom Avgorou when asked if they knew the risks their children may encounter on the Internet (Fig. 3), if theyknew about videoconferences (Fig. 4) and if they had a positive attitude towards their children’s options to useICT applications at school (Fig. 5).

According to the parents’ reactions about their children’s participation in the new educational program(Table 2), parents from Avgorou (traditional society) more than parents from Rethymno (developing society)preferred to come in contact with the school in order to be better informed about the new way of teaching.Moreover, when focusing on the parents’ ability to assist their children with homework for the videoconfer-ence, a significant number of parents claimed that children needed more supervision with their homework thanthey did with conventional tasks. Also, a fair share of parents felt quite cautious about the introduction of ICTin the new school settings (Fig. 6) and the majority of parents appeared to have negative attitude towards theopportunity for their children to attend courses through a digital screen, without coming to school.

In conclusion, in response to the questions regarding whether children find the videoconferences interesting,learn more easily or tend to widen their interpersonal experiences through the digital screen and finallywhether children would rather attend more courses in the modern educational environment, most parentsapplauded the idea of having their children educated in new ways of teaching and no significant differenceswere found between the two groups of the sample (Avgorou and Rethymnon) (Fig. 7).

0

10

20

30

40

YES 24 29

NO 38 16

AVGOROY RETHYMNO

Fig. 1. Do you have a PC at your home?

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

AVGOROY 53620

RETHYMNO 151398

DAILYMORE THAN ONCE PER

WEEKNEVERONCE PER WEEK

Fig. 2. How often do you use the Internet?

0

5

10

15

20

AYGOROY 18 16 15 6 6

RETHYMNO 15 18 4 3 6

VERY WELL

QUITE WELL

WELL LITTLENOT AT

ALL

Fig. 3. Do you know the risks that your children may encounter on the Internet?

0

20

40

60

AVGOROY 851

RETHYMNO 638

YES NO

Fig. 4. Do you know what ‘‘videoconference’’ means.

0

20

40

60

YES 3851

NO 68

AYGOROY RETHYMNO

Fig. 5. Do you think that the videoconference program is interesting?

0

5

10

15

20

AVGOROY 12 20 10 13 5

RETHYMNO 1 10 10 16 9

STRONG AGREEMEN

T

AGREEMENT

NOOPINION

DISAGREEMENT

STRONG DISAGREE

MENT

Fig. 6. I am still cautious about the introduction of ICT in the classroom.


Especially interesting are the results when comparing the mean numbers which are related to the parents’attitudes to the videoconferences according to their level of familiarization with ICT (Table 3). Parents lessfamiliarized with ICT seem to believe that the new way of teaching demands more preparation time for children

0

20

40

60

AVGOROY 9 32 12 8 0

RETHYMNO 5 21 9 8 3

TOTAL 14 53 21 16 3

STRONG AGREEME

AGREEMENT

NO OPINION

DISAGREEMENT

STRONG DISAGREE

Fig. 7. My child would like to attend more courses with the new way of teaching at school.

0

10

20

30

40

50

Insufficient use of NT 1 3 6 24 46

Sufficient use of NT 0 0 1 4 21

STRONG

AGREEMENTAGREEMENT NO OPINION

DISAGREEME

NT

STRONG

DISAGREEME

Fig. 8. My child would rather attend the courses from our house through a screen, without coming to school.


at home and they are more reserved in the introduction of ICT at school. Also, parents without a good grasp ofICT are more cautious about the introduction of ICT in the classroom but less negative towards their children’sbeing educated in a technologically interactive environment within the family home (Fig. 8) and also, their chil-dren’s option to prefer their new digital friends than the ones from their own conventional classroom.

4. Discussion and future research

The current study investigates the attitudinal consequences of the introduction of videoconferencing collab-orative learning activities among parents of elementary students in rural and developing provinces of the EU.Specifically, the researchers examined the extent to which parents of elementary students aged 11 to 12 yearsold have access to computers and the Internet, whether that access is related to the participants’ social-culturalsettings (traditional and developing societies), gender or perceived compatibility of ICT, and what is thenotion of involvement of parents who have greater or less familiarity with computer technology with their chil-dren’s every day educational and interpersonal digital activities at home and in the modern schoolenvironment.

An overall review of the present findings indicated that the general perception of the parents on the video-conference program was generally positive. Most parents knew what a ‘‘videoconference’’ was and they con-sidered it as a more overwhelming educational tool in the students’ learning process than the conventional wayof learning (only 19 parents disagreed). Associated with this was the parents’ strong belief that technologicalinteractivity is an alternative form of human communication (Plowman & Stephen, 2005). In practice though,it was the technological interactivity with children that caused problems to parents as they seemed not confi-dent enough to support their children’s digital activities especially when these had to do with the students’


homework. Nevertheless, parents identify the costs and benefits of such technologies which children almostintuitively know how to use, probably because of the children’s capability to lack of fear in contrast though,to the parents’ lack of confidence (Plowman & Stephen, 2005).

Meanwhile, despite the parents’ general positive reactions to the videoconference, there are some crucialparameters that should be discussed judging from the statistical analysis of the present data and are relatedto the parents’: (a) gender, (b) place of living and level of familiarity of computes/Internet access, and (c) atti-tudinal and behavioural consequences of ICT between a traditional and a developing region of the EU.

(A) Among our interviewees, the male Internet users outnumbered the female users. Nevertheless, motherswere more likely to check their children’s new learning and interpersonal experiences through Internet usethan fathers. We expected that fathers would do that more than mothers given that fathers usually have moreexperience with computer technology (Pettersson & Carlsson, 2004; Wang et al., 2005). Consistent with pre-vious studies, using the net for learning purposes, such as preparing homework, learning Internet skills, anddownloading software is probably related not only to the quantity of time that parents and children spendtogether but to the extent that the child is feeling close to parents (Mesch, 2003). It is possible that mothersof this sample spent more time with children at home than fathers and took responsibility for checking notonly children’s conventional school homework but for involving with their online activities too. Future studiesexploring the impact of the Internet on the family will benefit from exploring this explanation by investigatingthe types of family shared computer activities, quantity and quality of digital involvement of parents with chil-dren in relation to the extent that the child reports feeling close to each parent.

(B) According to various studies (Corbett & Willms, 2002; Pettersson & Carlsson, 2004; Wang et al., 2005;Zhu & He, 2002), socio-cultural settings and perceived technical features are primarily driving forces for civ-ilians’ past, current and possible future adoption of computers and the Internet (e.g. number of ICT users athome). The present results have demonstrated that socio-cultural settings (urban and rural provinces of theEU) and the participants’ perceived compatibility of the Internet might also be the key to explaining why par-ents with greater technological efficiency were less sceptical than parents with less or almost no technologicalefficiency about the educational perspectives that ICT offer to their children. For example, many parents(Avgorou/Cyprus) claimed that their children needed more time to prepare their homework now than before,while parents with better technological profiles (Rethymnon/Crete) seemed more confident to handle the newpedagogical circumstances at home. In short, socio-cultural settings and perceived compatibility may haveproven to be two essential determinants of ICT familiarization and use between the traditional society ofAvgorou, where there is still a significant lack of technological infrastructure and the developing Rethymnon,where people there have already learned to live with ICT and view computers and the Internet access as com-patible with existing work, study routine or lifestyle.

(C) Finally, we have tested the impact of ICT on parents’ attitudes (toward Internet related-issues) andbehaviours (in both educational and communicative activities and family involvement with their children’smodern digital opportunities), between the two above-mentioned samples. The present study has shown thatadoption and use of the Internet do have some discernible impact on users. However, the impact is not over-arching but rather confined to certain attitudinal and behavioural responses. For example, the researchersfound that concerns about the effects of the Internet on children are affected by the level of parents’ techno-logical capacity, meaning that parents with insufficient knowledge regarding software did not seem to evaluateenough some serious consequences of children’s developmentally important activities, in particular the possi-ble absence of normal interactivity with a teacher or classmates in the school settings and their replacementwith virtual alternatives within the household. On the contrary, parents who had a better technological graspof computers seemed to be less open to the possibility that one day their children might substitute the physicalcontact of their teacher and their classmates for alternative digital ones on the screen. This finding is consistentwith previous studies that parents who use the Internet are more likely to monitor their children’s digital activ-ities than those who do not because parents who have computer/Internet access may have more firsthandknowledge of the dangers associated with the Internet and may also feel better able to monitor and enforceInternet rules (Lugaila, 2003; Vandewater, Park, Huang, & Wartellios, 2005). Moreover, according to thepresent data parents who use computer technology with their children may be more likely to use the interactivenew learning environments efficiently in order to assist productively to their children’s educational demands asthis may reflect their greater involvement with children.


Based on this study, future research in this area might include provisions for a larger sample involving avariety of settings including rural, suburban and urban areas. Also, little is known about the social, physicaland cognitive impacts of ICT use on child development. Descriptive studies based on theoretical models aswell as research focusing on specific benefits and vulnerabilities are needed. Studies of ICT use among childrenshould be encouraged and promoted.

Acknowledgements

This research was conducted within the framework of ODUSSEAS Videoconference instructional method-ology (Anastasiades, 2003). We would like to thank the students and their parents of both elementary schoolsin Crete and in Cyprus for their participation in this research. Also, special thanks to the teachers of the 2ndelementary school of Rethymnon in Crete John Skepetzi and Mihali Papathouraki and to the teachers of the2nd elementary school of Augorou in Cyprus Sava Pitsilos and George Savithis, as well as to the principals ofboth schools Theodoro Eleftheraki and Iro Asprou.

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Communication, ModelSource: http://www.ascusc.org/.

Dr. Panagiotes Anastasiades is currently Assistant Professor on Lifelong and Distance Learning, in the Department of Education at theUniversity of Crete. He is also Tutor Counsellor at the Hellenic Open University (Postgraduate Level, Master in Education, Module:EKP65 Open and Distance Learning). He has been Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Engineering andInformatics at the Polytechnic School of the University of Patras (1999–2002), and also Visiting Faculty in the Department of ComputerScience at the University of Cyprus (2000–2002).

His current research emphasis focuses on Lifelong and Distance Learning via Advanced Learning Internet Technologies and InteractiveVideoconferencing, Social & Educational Informatics, Information Society Theories.

He has additional papers published in Journal of Computers and Education, Computers in the Social Studies Journal, ACM SpecialInterest Group on Computers and Society (ACM SIGCAS), Lecture Notes in Computer Science, International Journal of Communi-cation, International Journal of Learning, International Journal of the Humanities etc.

Home Page: http://www.edc.uoc.gr/~panas/index.html

Dr. Elena Vitalaki is a Visiting Assisting Professor in the Department of Education at the University of Crete (2002–2005). Her currentresearch emphasis focuses on School and Family Relationships and she has participated in the project ‘‘ODYSSEAS’’ with Dr. PanagiotisAnastasiadis. She has additional papers published in Oxford University Publications and in other Greek scientific magazines.

Nikos Gertzakis is an undergraduate student in the department of Education.

http://www.ascusc.org/

http://www.edc.uoc.gr/~panas/index.html

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