Computer attitudes of primary and secondary students in South Africa

  • Authors:

  • Chantal Bovée;Joke Voogt;Martina Meelissen

  • Affiliations:

  • 24 Von Braunstreet, Nelspruit 1201, South Africa;Department of Curriculum, Faculty of Behavioural Sciences, University of Twente, P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands;Department of Curriculum, Faculty of Behavioural Sciences, University of Twente, P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands

  • Venue:
  • Computers in Human Behavior
  • Year:
  • 2007

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Abstract

This study investigated computer attitudes of 240 students from eight primary and secondary schools in South Africa. The student population of six of the eight schools that participated in the study can be characterised as middle or upper class. Two schools were from South African townships. All eight schools used computers for educational purposes, although the availability and use of the computers differed. The research question of the study was whether differences in computer attitude could be found between boys and girls, and to what extent these differences could be explained by student, school, and environment characteristics. In contrast to most studies on gender differences and computer attitudes, no gender differences in computer attitudes were found. However, this study showed differences in computer attitudes between students from the upper/middle class schools and students from the township schools. The latter showed a less positive attitude towards computers, but more interest in computer-related careers compared with the students in the upper/middle class schools. The study found that computer access and experience, which was significantly lower in the township schools, was also related to computer attitude.