Young Digital: Annotated bibliography on using digital media in research with children

7/31/2019 Young Digital: Annotated bibliography on using digital media in research with children

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ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY: USING DIGITAL MEDIA INRESEARCH WITH CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE

This document lists a range of research involving digital media, children and

young people. Some of the sources focus on methods, while others provide

information about childrens digital media habits. The sources listed include

web pages, textbooks and journal articles. Some sources are free to access;

others require payment or journal subscriptions. This resource was produced

in 2012 for Young Digital: www.youngdigital.net

Mobile digital technologies and children/young people

Plowman, L. and Stevenson, O. (forthcoming, 2012) Using mobile

phones to explore childrens everyday lives. Childhood.

http://bit.ly/Op3SC6 (free to access)

The authors develop digital diary methods for environments where participant

research can often be difficult the family home and car journeys. Parents

were instructed to send the researchers combined picture and text messages

to provide a visual diary of family activities, as a means to document

childrens play activities and interactions as seen through the eyes of

parents.

Walker, M., Whyatt, D., Pooley, C., Davies, G., Coulton, P. andBamford, W. (2009) Talk, technologies and teenagers: understandingthe school journey using a mixed-methods approach. ChildrensGeographies, 7 (2): 107-122


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http://bit.ly/PzZAfZ (subscription required)

This study used mobile telephones linked to GPS receivers to log the travel

routes of young teenagers in north England, as they walked to and from

school. The teenagers took photographs and entered textual information on

their mobile telephones while travelling using a GIS mobile application called

GeoBlog, in an attempt to capture their perceptions of their personal health

and wellbeing as they travelled.

Henderson, S., Taylor, R. and Thomson, R. (2002) In touch: Youngpeople, communication and technologies.Information,Communication & Society, 5 (4): 494-512

http://bit.ly/O88ule (subscription required)

Using longitudinal qualitative data from five different locations in the UK, the

authors explore the emergence of the mobile telephone in the everyday lives

of young people, and consider how class, gender and culture can shape their

meanings and use. Set within a wider context of young peoples sociality, it is

concluded that the meanings and uses of mobiles are wide-ranging, from the

ability to buy privacy and independence from parental control, to the

positioning of oneself within social hierarchies.

Morris, W., Jones, O., Wood, L. and Fleuriot, C. (2006) Investigatingnew wireless technologies and their potential impact on childrensspatiality: A role for GIS. Transactions in GIS, 10 (1): 87-102.

http://bit.ly/Sc16Um (subscription required)

This paper details a series of workshops led by the authors with primary

school children in Bristol, England, to investigate the potential role of wireless

mobile technologies for childrens self-authorship of their environments.

Using PDA handheld computers, the children designed and produced virtualsound maps that overlaid their local physical environment. This gave children

a means of communicating their environmental perceptions in spaces that

might otherwise tend to reproduce adultist geograph[ies] of the city.

Young people and social networking websites


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Livingstone, S. (2008) Taking risky opportunities in youthful contentcreation: teenagers' use of social networking sites for intimacy,privacy and self-expression. New media & society, 10 (3): 393-411

http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/27072/ (free to access)

The author conducted interviews with 16 teenagers in their homes in London,

while simultaneously viewing their profiles, and the profiles of their friends, on

different social networking sites (MySpace, Bebo, Facebook, Piczo). The paper

seeks to understand how these teenagers shape their online identities and

interact with peers, and considers the opportunities (such as intimacy and

sociability) and risks (privacy, misunderstanding, abuse) that such social

networking affords teenagers.

boyd, d. (2008) Why youth social network sites: the role ofnetworked publics in teenage social life. In: Buckingham, D. (ed.)Youth, Identity, and Digital Media. The John D. and Catherine T.MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning.Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 119142

http://bit.ly/Ndelnk (free to access)

Using a range of ethnographic tools, including participant observation,qualitative interviews, and deep hanging out, boyd considers how teenagers

using social networking sites negotiate between public and private realms.

Further, boyd outlines how social networks produce networked publics that

differ from non-mediated public life because of the presence of four properties

(persistence, searchability, replicability, and invisible audiences) that alter

social dynamics.

Donoso, V. And Ribbens, W. (2010). Identity under construction.Journal of Children and Media, 4 (4): 435-450

http://bit.ly/LOZZtZ (subscription required)

In this paper the authors explore young peoples use of photoblogs as a

mechanism for self-disclosure and the opportunities this offers to adolescents

identity construction. They emphasise the potential benefits such sites offer


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for adolescents to experiment with different versions of the self and to create

a sense of belonging.

Young people and digital technologies: ethnographic tools

Leander, K.M. and McKim, K.K. (2003) Tracing the everyday sitingsof adolescents on the internet: a strategic adaptation of ethnographyacross online and offline spaces. Education, Communication &Information, 3 (2): 211-240

www.vanderbilt.edu/litspace/sitings.pdf(free to access)

The paper begins by outlining a set of problems with traditional place-based

ethnographic procedures for researching adolescents online literacy. This

includes: the notable lack of bounded physical sites for such research; the

absence of non-verbal cues in online textual communication; and the

invisibility of members of online communities who remain silent.

The authors offer some connective ethnographic procedures to overcome

these challenges, which moves ethnography from a place-bound practice to

[a] moving, traveling practice.

Kullman, K. (2012) Experiments with moving children and digitalcameras. Childrens Geographies, 10 (1): 1-16

http://bit.ly/NjJiDB (subscription required)

In this paper, Kullman develops digital visual ethnographic methods to

investigate school journeys made by a group of children in Helsinki, Finland.

Using participatory digital filming and digital photography methods and follow-

up interviews, the author explores childrens image making practices including

their performative aspects, such as the staging of images and the sharing andcirculation of images and cameras.

Ruckenstein, M. (2010) Toying with the world: Children, virtual petsand the value of mobility. Childhood, 17 (4): 500-513

http://bit.ly/PPohVV (free to access)


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Based on ethnographic data drawn from participant observation, individual

and group interviews, and childrens drawings produced within 3 preschools in

Helsinki, this article focuses on the interactions between preschoolers,

teachers and virtual pet toys. The research results emphasise gendered

differences in the ways in which these toys are used, principally with regard to

caretaking, and the various ways that virtual pets allow preschoolers to movebetween, and orient themselves within, virtual and physical worlds.

Arrsand, P. and Forsberg, L. (2010) Producing childrens corporealprivacy: ethnographic video recording as material-discursive practice.Qualitative Research 10 (2): 249-268

http://bit.ly/Pyk0Sj (subscription required)

Drawing on ethnographic data collected over the period of one year with eightSwedish families, the authors consider the ethical dilemmas faced by

researchers using video cameras to carry out participant observation in

peoples homes. The authors argue that, because videotaping is framed as a

public event, the choice of technology used had a significant impact on how

researchers and participants create and negotiate corporeal privacy.

Young peoples media habits and use

Livingstone, S.; Haddon, L.; Grzig, A.; lafsson, K. with members ofthe EU Kids Online Network (2011) EU Kids Online: Final Report.London: LSE Research Online.

http://www.eukidsonline.de/Final%20report.pdf(free to access)

This report presents the findings from a detailed face-to-face survey exploring

childrens online habits and experiences. Interviews were carried out with

25,142 young people (9-16 years old) and their parents from 25 countries of

the European Union during 2010. The authors consider 10 myths about

childrens online risks and make a number of recommendations for, amongst

others, government, parents and educators.


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Livingstone, S. and Bober, M. (2003) UK children go online: listeningto young peoples experiences [online]. London: LSE Research Online.

http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/archive/0000388 (free to access)

This paper draws on the findings from fourteen focus groups carried out with

55 young people (9-19 years old), and longitudinal interviews with threeyoung people and their parents. The combination of methods highlighted the

gap between great expectations and good intentions, and actual online use

and behaviour. Findings suggest that despite young peoples enthusiasm for

the internet there were gaps in their internet literacy and a lack of critical

engagement with online content.

Ito, M.; Bittanti, H.H.M.; boyd, d.; Herr-Stephenson, B.; Lange, P.G.;

Pascoe, C.J. and Robinson, L. with Baumer, S.; Cody, R.; Mahendran,D; Martnez, K.; Perkel, D.; Sims, C. and Tripp, L. (2008) Living andLearning with New Media: Summary of Findings from the Digital

Youth Project, The John D. And Catherine T. MacArthur FoundationsReports on Digital Media and Learning.

http://bit.ly/NpLRIK (free to access)

This paper documents young peoples everyday engagement with new media

in the US. It is based on a three-year ethnographic study which included

semi-structured interviews, focus groups, diary studies, online discussiongroup forums, videos, observations, online profiles and questionnaires.

Findings suggest that young peoples engagement with online networks

creates new opportunities for learning, education and public participation.

These challenge traditional models of learning and traditional notions of

expertise and authority.

Druin, A.; Foss, E.; Hatley, L.; Golub, E.; Guha, M.L.; Fails, J.; and

Hutchison, H. (2009). How children search the internet with keywordinterfaces, in Proceedings of the 8th International Conference onInteraction Design and Children, June 3-5, 2009, Como, Italy.

http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1753388 (subscription required)

This paper presents the findings of a study to understand how children search

the internet using keyword interfaces in the home. The authors emphasise the


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potential barriers children encounter when searching for information on the

internet, and offer some suggestions for improving the design of future

internet search interfaces for children.

New media use as educational tool

Sylla, C.; Branco, P.; Coutinho, C. and Coquet, E. (2012). TUIs vs.GUIs: comparing the learning potential with preschoolers. Personaland Ubiquitous Computing, 16 (4): 421-432

http://www.springerlink.com/content/a787j38171409225/(subscription

required)

In this paper the authors present the findings of a comparison study

evaluating the merits of tangible and traditional graphical user interfaces for

teaching preschoolers (4-5 years old). The study used three evaluation

methodologies to assess childrens involvement and preferences with the

interfaces, highlighting some of the difficulties in evaluating technology for

and with preschoolers.

New media and socio-political engagement

Coleman, S. (2008). Doing IT for Themselves: Management versusAutonomy in Youth E-Citizenship. In: Lance Bennett, W. (ed.) CivicLife Online: Learning How Digital Media Can Engage Youth. The JohnD. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media andLearning. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, pp. 189-206.

http://bit.ly/NpUoey (free to access)

Drawing from the findings of a study of six youth e-citizenship projects in the

United Kingdom, the author considers the tension between, and the

drawbacks of, managed (i.e. run for young people with strong links to

government) and autonomous (i.e. run by young people with weak or no links

to government) youth e-citizenship. The author argues for greater

convergence between these two models and concludes by making a number

of suggestions for educationalists and policy.


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Sandoval, C, and Latorre, G. (2008) Chicana/o Artivism: Judy BacasDigital Work with Youth of Color. In: Everett, A. (ed.) Learning Raceand Ethnicity: Youth and Digital Media. The John D. and Catherine T.MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning.

Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, pp. 81108.

http://bit.ly/O8b76F (free to access)

The authors explore young peoples digital art and activism through an

analysis of collaborations between public artist Judy Baca and young

Chicanas/os in Southern California. They describe a number of projects and

methodologies used, highlighting the potential of blending digital art and

activism to breach social, racial and generational divides.

Internet methods

Rogers, R. (2010) Internet Research: The Question of Method aKeynote Address from the YouTube and the 2008 Election Cycle in theUnited States Conference,Journal or Information Technology &Politics, 7 (2/3): 241-260

http://bit.ly/NS8YY0 (free to access)

Drawing from a number of examples, the author critically reviews the existing

approaches for the study of internet cultures. He concludes that these have,

by and large, merely digitalised traditional social sciences methodologies. He

considers the particular research opportunities the internet offers and what

natively digital approaches might be worth pursuing.

Produced in 2012 for Young Digitalwww.youngdigital.net

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Young Digital: Annotated bibliography on using digital media in research with children