LAUSR

The Internet has evolved as an important source of information and children like to search for information of their interest on the Internet. This study assessed the interest and ability of 90 children aged between 4 and 10 years to use Google voice search and if it can foster informal learning. We interviewed the children to know how many times they had used Google search in the last week and what information they searched for. We then asked the children to perform textual query based Google search and Google voice search in front of us. We also checked if the children could recall the information obtained from the Internet after 10 min. We found that the children have used voice search more frequently than textual query based search in the last week and they did so to find information related to general knowledge (91%) and homework (32%). Most (80%) of the children aged 4 to 6 years were able to use voice search with the help of an adult but were unable to perform textual query based search and retain the information obtained from the search. Most (87%) of the children aged 7 to 10 years could perform both textual query based search and voice search but preferred the latter. A majority (60%) of the children aged 9 and 10 years could retain the information obtained from the Internet. We concluded that Google voice search with parental help can foster informal education of children aged 4 years and elder.