The purpose of this paper is to examine the literature on the effects of computer usage involving the Internet on the motor skill development of young children.
Can using the Internet help young children develop their motor skills? Shneiderman (1998) statds that children can learn both cognitive and motor skills from using the Internet but that the degree to which they are motivated to learn is, at least in part, dependent upon the user-interface design process and the extent to which it has been appropriately modified for the young user and the tasks required. Shneiderman states that the extent to which a child's use of the Internet will facilitate cognitive and/or motor skills growth will depend upon making sure that their use of it is age appropriate.
Therefore, if children are between three and five years of age, which means they have not yet learned to read, then the Internet will best facilitate skill development if the task is short (8-15 minutes) and if it builds on something they remember from the day before. This focuses them on the task at high levels of motivational intensity and thereby maximizes what they can learn from the task in terms of both cognitive and motor skills.
For children who are a little bit older, the Internet can still be used to build motor skills but in different ways and for longer period of times. For example, Dumas and Brooks (2000) report that between five and six years of age, children develop fine motor skills and the use of the Internet for finding and playing developmentally-appropriate computer games can do much to help them build these skills. Children at this age are also able to spend a longer amount of time playing these games.
The tasks children perform when using the Internet, if they are to be effective in facilitating motor skill development, must not only be developmentally appropriate, they must also be gender appropriate. In this regard, the National School Boards...