Social construction of computer experience in a first-grade classroom: Social processes and mediating artifacts

Based on a Vygotskian perspective, as well as a broader socio-cultural perspective, we propose a transactional model of social processes and artifacts to investigate young children’s social construction of their computer experience. An ethnographic study was conducted in a first-grade classroom at a public school located in a Midwest town. A grounded-theory approach was used to analyze video, field notes, interviews, and artifacts. The results indicate that young children constantly negotiate between their own individual and collective goals in the classroom and the affordances of the environment, as they create their own definition of computer use while simultaneously conforming to the rules set by the teacher. The artifacts students use— the computer, a timer, and waiting lists— both enable and challenge children’s social negotiation. In this negotiation process, children socially construct not only their computer experience, but also their early school experience on a whole. The transactional model provides a useful theoretical framework to study children’s social practice as well as practical suggestions for teachers to optimize students’ collaborative interaction.