We tend to think that children have a natural penchant the internet. Kids are comfortable with the web; ten-year olds haven't known a world without the internet, just as the previous generation couldn't imagine a world without television. Even ten-year-olds have their own websites – such as Graham Owen, whose site "is devoted to fire trucks, ambulances and aircraft".
But it is wrong – even unfair – to assume that youngsters are automatically brilliant at using the web. Research conducted at Northumbria University in England has revealed that teenagers regularly experience difficulties when using the internet.
The problem, according to Dr Alison Pickard, a lecturer in research methods at the University, is not that teens lack the computer necessary skills; rather, they lack information literacy skills.
Being able to “search, retrieve and use the information” that’s on the web is quite different from being able to find your way around a keyboard (the latter probably isn’t a problem for phone-texting, game-playing teenagers). Teens get frustrated and blame themselves when they cannot find the information they are looking for.
Northumbria’s four-year study shows that the web isn’t just about technology – it’s about information, and communication. Understanding how to refine a search, and knowing how to separate the chaff from the wheat of results, are skills that come with time and practice. An understanding of multiple subjects and different types of information (e.g. government reports, book reviews, academic study, individual opinion, etc.) is also helpful.
The study can also be interpreted study reiterating a point that usability experts have been claiming ever since businesses first went online – that most websites are too complex. There’s no reason why teenagers shouldn’t find the information they want online, if they are given the correct intstructions and guidance on relevant sites. Unfortunately too many designers are caught up with technology, instead of focusing on the user experience.
Hopefully the situation will have changed by the time today’s teenagers become web designers. They will have a better understanding of the pitfalls that lead to user frustration.
The signs are good: little Graham Owen’s site may be short and sweet, but it is simple to navigate. A point that can't be made about all too many "grown-up" sites.
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