Activities with Parents on the Computer: An Ecological Framework

This paper proposes an ecological framework “Activities with Parents on the Computer” (APC) to bridge home and school contexts by involving parents and students in digital media based assignments. An exploratory case-study was conducted based on ten parent-child dyads that engaged in an APC at home. Attitudes were assessed through a self-evaluation questionnaire. Four parent-child dyads, that showed different patterns of attitudes, were studied in depth through semi-structured interviews. The findings revealed that parents and children have mixed attitudes towards APC. The performance in the activity varied according to the kind of parental involvement in homework and individuals’ relationship with digital media. Relevant insights helped to reframe the model in order to evaluate the relations with other living elements (e.g., friends) brought by technology into the ecological microsystems (e.g., home, school). Future research should focus on the development of more accurate instruments of evaluation, the role of teachers and other community members.