Bbc News

Does Home Internet Use Influence the Academic Performance of
Low-Income Children?
Extracts from a report by Linda A. Jackson, Alexander von Eye, Frank A. Biocca, Gretchen Barbatsis, Yong Zhao, & Hiram E. Fitzgerald (Developmental Psychology 2006 Vol. 42, No. 3)

HomeNetToo is a study designed to examine the background and consequences of
home Internet use in low-income families (http://www.HomeNetToo.org). The study was done between December 2000 and June 2002. Among the consequences considered was children’s academic performance. Participants were 140 children, mostly African American (83%), mostly boys (58%), and most living in single-parent households (75%) in which the median annual income was $15,000 (U.S. dollars) or less. Average age was 13.8 years. Ages ranged between 10 and 18 years, Internet use was continuously recorded, and multiple measures of academic performance were obtained during the 16-month trial.
Findings indicated that children who used the Internet more had higher scores on standardized tests of reading achievement and higher grade point averages 6 months, 1 year, and 16 months later than did children who used it less. Older children used the Internet more than did younger children, but age had no effect on the nature or the academic performance benefits of Internet use. Implications for the digital “use” divide are discussed.

Why did Internet use enhance HomeNetToo children’s academic performance, specifically, their reading performance? One possibility is that children who spent more time online were also spending more time reading compared with their unconnected peers. HomeNetToo children logged on primarily to surf the Web. Web pages are heavily text based. Thus, whether searching for information about school-related projects or searching for information
about personal interests and hobbies (e.g., rock stars, movies), children who were searching the Web more were reading more, and more time spent reading may account for...