XIII Play computer games. Boys are also more likely to have learned basic skills at home than girls, whereas girls tend to acquire their skills at school. Indigenous students are also more likely to learn these skills at school than at home, though many acquire them at other sites outside school. The pattern of IT use by gender is equally complex. The difference appears in patterns of home use.
Girls are significantly less likely than boys to have their own computer.
Boys report significantly higher use of video games, SEGA and Nintendo games, and communication uses, whereas girls outside school are more likely to use computers for study. This is possibly why girls report fewer IT skills, despite showing considerable interest and skill in other applications. Girls tend to acquire basic skills at school, thus evening out the disparity, but many of the advanced skills are not taught at school, partly because teachers are often unfamiliar with more advanced applications. Where girls do not learn advanced computer skills at home, they tend not to acquire them at all. These patterns are consistent across income areas.