The impact of Information Technology (IT) use and moral development

The Children and Technology Project, funded by the National Science Foundation, is designed to address the broad question “How does children’s use of Information Technology (IT) influence their cognitive, social, psychological and moral development?” Based on an ecological systems theory perspective, IT use is conceptualized as a reciprocal proximal process that occurs over time and is embedded in a social and cultural context. Thus, to understand the impact of IT use on children’s developmental outcomes requires a consideration of Child and Contextual factors as they interact with IT use over Time. A longitudinal study is underway that consists of six waves of data collection from middle-school children, their parents and teachers to assess Person and Contextual factors, IT use, and a diverse set of cognitive, social, psychological and moral developmental outcomes. In addition to examining the overall impact of IT use on development, the study will examine whether impact is different for children living in disadvantaged environments than for other children, as suggested by ecological system theory. Findings from the project will have implications for how IT is used in educational settings, parental regulation of children’s IT use, and policy-makers decisions about resource allocation for IT in educational and other public settings.