A survey of the computer literacy of 3,452 6th, 8th and 11th grade students was completed in 1984, at a time when few schools had installed computers for educational use. Intended to provide a baseline, it measured the levels of computer literacy of Japanese students before schools began to use computers in the classroom. The results were used to divide the students into four categories : (1) Program writers, (2) Non-program writers, (3) Future interest in computers, and (4) Indifferent/avoidant. Students in the first of these two groups could operate computers while those in the latter two could not. The percentages for the groups were 4, 13, 46 and 34%, respectively. These ratios varied little between types of schools. Most of the students had positive attitudes towards computers but the indifferent/avoidant group was less familiar with them. Students who already knew how to use microcomputers were more interested in mathematics, science and social studies. They were also better adapted to school life and activities. Their primary reasons for using computers were to play games and to learn programming. In these groups, the most frequently mentioned negative effect was that computers were hard on the eyes, while the most frequently mentioned positive effects were intellectual training and the making of friends. The authors also make a comparison of the results of this study with one done in California.
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