Parents as learning partners in the development of technological fluency

This paper presents research on parent support of the development of new media skills and technological fluency. Parents' roles in their children's learning were identified based on interviews with eight middle school students and their parents. All eight students were highly experienced with technology activities. Seven distinct parental roles that supported learning were identified and defined: Teacher, Collaborator, Learning Broker, Resource Provider, Nontechnical Consultant, Employer, and Learner. The parents in this sample varied in their level of technological knowledge, though in every family at least one parent worked in the computer industry as an engineer or designer. The paper presents the approach used to identify these roles, the coding system used, and examples of each role across the cases. The diversity and density of roles played by parents for individual students are also quantified. Findings indicate that for these eight learners parents play significant roles in supporting creative technologically mediated activities. The findings highlight the importance of understanding family-based learning relationships when considering pathways to early expertise with new media.