From public policy to family practices: researching the everyday realities of families' technology use at home

Abstract

Informed by ‘critical’ approaches to ‘educational technology’, this paper aims to move away from presenting a ‘could’ and ‘should’ explanation of children learning with technology to a more nuanced, context-rich analyses of how information and communication technologies (ICTs) are being used by technologically privileged families at home. Here, a critical approach means locating the findings within a framework, which not only includes reference to the policies and politics of educational technology, but also takes account of uneven, contested, and contradictory uses of ICT in everyday family life. To achieve this, the paper presents accounts of technology use in situ from eight case families. The data reveal that although ICTs were purchased for their perceived educational potential, how parents and children approached and used them in the home for learning was entwined with many other dimensions of social life. The findings suggest that there is a need to move beyond one-dimensional debates, such as access to ICT ensures use, to more nuanced accounts that focus on the ‘messy’ realities of ICTs usage ‘as it happens’ in the home. In sum, more explicit empirically based information on ICT practices in the home need to be made available for policymakers and families.