Perception of Primary School Students, Parents and Teachers toward the Use of Computers, the Internet and Social Networking sites

Regarding the future of the Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), students, parents and teachers should prepare themselves for this advancement. This paper aims to investigate the perceptions and behaviour of primary school students, parents and teachers toward the use of computers, the Internet and social networking sites while identifying factors possibly affecting marketing plan, which can be beneficial to educational businesses. This research was conducted using semi-structured interview with 3-page-open-ended questions designed by the researchers. Cultural, linguistic and subjective influences during the design of this qualitative study were taken into consideration. The setting of this study focused on a school in a suburban area of Bangkok, Thailand. The study found that primary school students, parents and teachers have positive perceptions toward the use of computers, the Internet and social networking sites. They mentioned frequently about the availability of computers at home, information literacy in terms of reading and writing skills, English language fluency, the quality of the electricity connection, Technology Readiness Index, the Internet usage and social networking sites' usage. The study concludes that supervision by parents, information controlling, school policies play a crucial part in this findings. Consequently, the findings and recommendation can be useful to any marketing plan related to these target groups by aiming to deliver a clear and safe message through parents and teachers. (C) 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.