Britain is producing a young generation of "internet dunces", according to a new survey.

Research suggests that while many children now have access to the web, most are baffled by even the most basic internet terminology.

The findings have led to a call for a vast improvement in internet teaching in schools.

The survey, carried out for telecommunications company Telewest, found that 85% of children aged between 10 and 15 had access to a computer at home, and 62% of those were connected to the internet.

But many of them had no idea what common terms, such as browser and search engine, meant.

Just 29% of the children questioned could explain what a browser was, compared with 41% of adults.

A search engine was correctly described by 28% of children, compared with a slightly higher 31% of adults.

Logging on to learn

The only instance where children proved fractionally more knowledgeable than adults was when they were asked to explain what "downloading" meant. 55% of children understood the term, compared with 54% of adults.

Terms which caused the most confusion included MP3 (a music file which can be downloaded and played from the hard drive), which only 11% of children and 14% adults could explain correctly, and JPEG (a picture file), which 8% of children and 12% of adults knew.

The most baffling term was HTML - a markup language which suggests the way a browser should display web pages - which only 6% of children and 11% of adults described correctly.

The survey showed that young people's main reason for using the internet was learning, with 48% logging on to find out facts and information. 26% used it for e-mail.

Of the adults surveyed, 49% said e-mail was their main cause for internet use, while 40% cited finding information.

'Alarm bell'

Educational psychologist Peter Kendall, a former teacher, said children's lack of internet knowledge was caused by a lack of unpressured practice time, and too little internet teaching in schools.

He said young people learned quickly, and were more "flexible, intuitive and experimental" than adults, but "practice time with frequent sessions and regular access is crucial".

"They learn through a variety of input - sights, sounds, physically doing something. Access to the internet that allows them to absorb this information in an unhurried way and suit their learning style will improve their knowledge considerably.

"I think the idea that school pupils know all about the internet is a bit of an illusion.

"Some children are lucky if they get an average of 10 minutes a week to themselves using the internet, and that's not going to teach them a new skill."

He added that cheap internet access was also needed, so that children could spend time learning about it without worry about running up large bills.

"Young people need regular access if they are to make progress," he said.

Philip Jansen, Telewest's group marketing director, said: "Our survey rings an alarm bell for British industry with a warning that youngsters need to have more access to the net as it increasingly becomes a vital tool in schools, the home and industry."