A million UK children 'lack access to computers' says report

[Lissa]

More than a million school children in the UK still lack access to a computer at home, research suggests.

And almost 2m are unable to go online at home, according to leading digital education charity, the E-Learning Foundation.

It also claims those from the poorest families are two-and-a-half-times less likely to have the internet at home than children from the richest homes.

The government would not comment on the findings.

The E-Learning Foundation, which works to ensure that all children have access to the internet and a computer at home, has analysed the latest government spending survey.

It found that while computer access is growing in better-off households, those from low-income families are being left behind.

It is warning that many of the UK's poorest children face being severely educationally disadvantaged by their lack of access to technology as a result.

In November more than half of teachers who took part in a survey for the Times Education Supplement said pupils without access to internet or a computer at home were hampered in their learning.

The foundation's chief executive, Valerie Thompson, said: "With so many children swamped with gifts from family and friends over the Christmas period it is important we reflect on the fact that millions of children live in poverty in this country.

"For those at school, this translates into very tangible disadvantages when it comes to completing homework, researching topics, independent learning, and communicating with teachers and classmates on the school learning platform.

"Without the use of a computer and the ability to go online at home the attainment gap that characterises children from low income families is simply going to get worse."

The Department for Education was not prepared to comment on the findings.

Have we really reached a stage where not having a computer at home is a severe disadvantage to a child? I can't help but feel this is a lot of hysterical nonsense from a special interest group that wants its special interest to grab a few headlines. I am the last person to doubt that computers can be used for educational purposes but if you give a child a computer they will play games on it. Or, when they reach a certain age, look for naked body parts and try to work out which ones they like. They'll also put Facebook and other social sites well ahead of Encyclopaedia Britannica in the evenings when they're supposed to be doing their homework. Or they'll just use the internet to cheat like their better off friends.

So do we think that those without access to a computer at home are disadvantaged or will they simply have to learn in the way that those of us who went to school before computers became a basic human right did - in lessons, from books and at libraries?

[Rob McCow]

Of course, they could go to their nearest local library and use the computer facilities there.

It only gets bizarre if teachers demand that pupils either print out or e-mail in their work. It should still be fine for pupils to handwrite an English essay, for example!

[SiHart]

We get loads of kids in doing their homework on the library's PCs after school. They're obviously not all that disadvantaged.

Some kids even... gasp... use books to find things out. Sometimes they can be even better than Wiki!

Si xx

[Larry]

.

Some kids even... gasp... use books to find things out.
Si xx

have todays kids even heard of Encyclopaedia Britannica, let alone know what it is - no doubt those kids who don't have a computer will of made up for it by having an x-box and wii..

[Captain Tancredi]

I guess it depends on whether you think that children not having computers is a bad thing in and of itself, or whether it's indicative of other problems such as not having a home environment which is conducive to learning or supportive of their education. Schools shouldn't be expecting children to do work which needs internet access unless they know that all children have the access or have time to do it on the school's own machines.

That said, I think a lot of schools are finding it increasingly easy to communicate messages to parents etc. via the school website. A couple of weeks ago when the weather problems first hit, a couple of heads were on record as saying that parents should check the website to see whether the school was still open and I think some schools were even using it to set work.

[Si Hunt]

Maybe they should be trying harder to join the dots. We have a perfectly good computer in the loft that we don't need. I don't know where to take it to get rid of it, but if I thought there was a disadvantaged child somewhere I'd gladly donate it, IF I knew how to clear the porn and bank details off it and where to take it.

Si.

[shada pavlova]

Buy a blank hard disk drive, then destroy the old one in whatever manner you decide to be most amusing. Personally, I recommend bashing it to bits with a large magnet.