The Experience Factor in Computer Anxiety and Interest

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The shift towards a computerized society is stimulating active research in students' expressed computer anxiety and computer interest. This study examined how experience in computer usage influences the manifestation of computer anxiety and computer interest in high school students. Data collected from 426 students in Western Australia showed a clear gradation in the decline of anxiety level with increase in the number of years of experience. The results further showed that irrespective of experience, the subjects had high scores favoring the items “I think a computer can be very interesting” and “If my family had a home computer, I would probably use it more than any one else.” There was a significant difference in the views of the students on such items as “A computer can be a boring companion,” “People managed before without computers, so computers are not really necessary now,” and “People who like computers are not often sociable.” The educational implications of these and other interesting findings of the study are drawn.