A window on the wider world? Rural childrenʹs use of information and communication technologies

The possibilities which information and communication technologies (ICT) offer people (or groups) to overcome the friction of distance and the constraints of materiality mean that these technologies are seen to have particular relevance in rural areas which have been historically characterised in terms of their economic and social perpheriality. In this paper, we draw on empirical research with children and their teachers and parents, to explore the opportunities which ICT are seen to offer young people living in rural areas. First, we examine the information that children access on-line and how young people make sense of this expanded terrain. Second we focus on communication, by considering childrenʹs use of email and chat rooms. Third, we explore how this information and these modes of communication may be shaping young peopleʹs sense of place in the world. Our findings expose a clear contrast between the ambitious and future orientated ways in which adults imagine ICT will expand their childrenʹs educational and employment opportunities, and social and spatial horizons, and the everyday ways in which these technologies actually emerge for children in practice.