Children’s learning preferences for platforms and human informants

Abstract

As independent learning becomes increasingly important in digital contexts, understanding how children choose and evaluate information sources has become a key aspect of learning research. This study examined children’s reported information seeking behaviors, and how they evaluate and choose sources for learning in hypothetical scenarios. We interviewed 4th- and 5th-graders, inquiring how they would approach learning a novel versus a partially-known concept, and how these choices relate to their epistemic and motivational evaluations of those sources. Children also described what they would do if they felt stuck during the learning process. Overall, considerably more children (73.62%) chose platforms (both printed and digital) rather than human sources. Interestingly, this preference coexisted with higher perceived trustworthiness and anticipated enjoyment associated with human sources. Learning expectations were similar across sources, regardless of concept novelty. When feeling stuck, children who initially chose platforms were more likely to report switching strategies than those who initially chose human sources. These findings contribute to a more nuanced understanding of how children integrate epistemic evaluations, motivational expectations, and perceived uncertainty when making information-seeking decisions in digital learning contexts. Such insights may inform educational practices to better support students’ information-seeking and self-regulated learning, skills that are relevant beyond the classroom in lifelong personal and professional contexts.