Ebrahim Talae[back]

Research Students
FELL
e-Learning
OSAT
Comparative International Education
Green Templeton College
+44(0)1865517063
ebrahim.talae@education.ox.ac.uk
Http://madreseyesabz.persianblog.ir
Supervisor(s)Prof. Kathy Sylva,Dr Maria Evangelou
Keyword(s)cultural capital, home learning environment, ICT, technology, litercay, e-learning
Working Title of Thesis
Effects of Home Computing Environment on children's cognitive and social/behavioural developmen
Previous Education and Professional Background
  • BA in Teaching English to Speakers of other Languages (TESOL), Iran
  • MA in Linguistics, Iran
  • MSc in Educational Research Methodology, Oxford
Research Topic

Use of computers and internet has now become part of the daily activities that children do at schools and homes. Most of the research which has been carried out has focused on the effects of computer use in delivering curriculum in schools. There are also a few research studies which have investigated the effects of home computer/internet use on children's school attainments. However, most of these studies are not longitudinal and they have studied Home Computer Use (HCU) as an independent variable.

 

The proposed study aims to look at the effectiveness of home computer use within other individual, family and home background of children. This study will in fact examine the effects of Home Computer Environment (HCE) on children's cognitive and social-behavioural development in Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2.

 

In the first stage of the study, the data from an ongoing longitudinal study, namely the Effective Pre-school Primary and Secondary Education (EPPSE 1997-2011), will be used. The EPPSE data set (the study was originally called EPPE) contains demographic and developmental data on more than 3000 English children who were recruited for the study when they were around 3 years old.  In this stage, statistical analyses will be carried out in order to investigate the effects of Home Computing Environment (HCE) on the children' s school attainments and social-behavioural development at age 7 and 10. These analyses will be carried out while controlling for child's individual, family and home background.

 

In the second stage of the study, twelve children who live in Oxfordshire will be chosen from the EPPSE dataset in order to do qualitative case studies on their home computer use and environment. This will be carried out through home visits and interviews with parents and children. Using a mixed method and secondary data analysis, it is hoped that the study will address some of the limitations of research literature on ICT use in education. It will also open new areas for further research on the effects of computers and internet on children's development.  

 

Last modified by Ebrahim Talae - 12 July 2009