Fostering Knowledge of Computer Viruses among Children: The Effects of a Lesson with a Cartoon Series

Children increasingly use computing devices. However, it is unclear whether they have basic knowledge of security-related issues such as computer viruses and, in case they do not, what they can learn about them. It was found previously that Czech 8-year-olds have only limited knowledge of computer viruses, but neither naïve understanding of older children nor what they can learn has been researched. Here, we first examined preconceptions of computer viruses among Czech 5-6-graders (N = 14) and German 3-4-graders (N = 28) by means of a written test. Second, the German sample (experimental group), but not the Czech one (control group), received an intervention to learn about computer viruses, antiviruses, and software updates by means of a 45-min lesson combining a cartoon series on viruses, frontal instruction, and discussion. Both groups again completed the written test. A joint analysis of both samples indicated that Czech and German children already knew key points concerning computer viruses. These included, for instance, that viruses harm our computers (88% of the total sample). However, overall, their knowledge was patchy, and children also had misconceptions such as that viruses can only infect devices connected to the Internet (57%), and antiviruses can delete viruses from the Internet (40%). Due to the intervention, the experimental group improved from pre to posttest (d = 1.06), while this was not the case for the control group. A more in-depth analysis indicated that knowledge gains were mostly related to information repeatedly mentioned during the lesson, but it was less clear whether the lesson helped correct previously held misconceptions. Taken together, the results indicated that knowledge of computer viruses should and can be taught to primary school children, but attention must be paid to existing preconceptions.