The impact of ICT on Shaping Reflexes and Manual Coordination in Children and Teenagers: Pupils’ and Teachers’ Opinions

Abstract

The article presents part of a diagnostic and correlational study of mixed character that establishes pupils’ information competency in the use of ICT methods and tools. It investigates the effects of children’s and teenagers’ ICT use (importance levels of new media influence) on improving reflexes and manual coordination. To obtain the data, the author used a diagnostic survey method (questionnaire and interview) and statistical methods (chi-square test of independence and Pearson’s correlation coefficient). Together, 2,510 pupils and 1,110 teachers were surveyed. It was found that in the aggregated importance hierarchy of ICT effects, the category ‘reflexes and manual coordination’ was given a high weight by the pupils (third place) and a very high weight by the teachers (second place). There was a faint and negative correlation (r @ -0.009) between pupils’ opinions and teachers’ observations on the effects of ICT use by children and teenagers in the improvement of reflexes and manual coordination. The calculations of differential factors revealed statistically significant differences between the opinions of the two groups and gender, educational stage, place of learning and the gender of teachers. There was a noticeable discrepancy between the pupils’ and teachers’ opinions: a not very significant ‘separation’ of the world of children and teenagers (‘us’) from the world of teachers (‘them’). This may raise concerns as teachers’ recognition and understanding of students’ needs, according to the ideas of constructivism, is one of the key factors in the success of the educational process.