Children, Computers and Collaborations

This monograph reported on a study which investigated the collaborative interaction patterns exhibited by five-year-old pre-primary children in an educational computer environment. The case-study method was used in one pre-primary centre in metropolitan Perth, Western Australia, to examine the patterns of collaborative interaction among young children whilst engaged with the computer. The one event case study was of the interactions exhibited by pre-primary children whilst engaged, in dyads, with the computer within a naturalistic classroom environment. Factors facilitating and inhibiting the collaborative interaction of children were also identified. By identifying the collaborative interactions of children, and factors that may facilitate or inhibit these interactions, early childhood educators will be in a better position to integrate the computer into their classroom and to promote positive prosocial interaction among children whilst engaged at the computer.