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Sonia Livingstone

July 13th, 2018

New videos on Parenting for a Digital Future’s YouTube channel

0 comments | 1 shares

Estimated reading time: 10 minutes

Sonia Livingstone

July 13th, 2018

New videos on Parenting for a Digital Future’s YouTube channel

0 comments | 1 shares

Estimated reading time: 10 minutes

Parenting for a Digital Future’s YouTube channel showcases some of our latest research findings and we have recently posted four new videos on the following topics. [Header image credit: N. Cavallotto, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.jpg]

Parenting for a Digital Future Survey Report 1

Three short clips neatly summarise Parenting for a Digital Future’s Survey Report 1 “In the digital home, how do parents support their children and who supports them?” research findings, which were released in February. In them, lead investigator of the project Professor Sonia Livingstone discusses three key issues that arose.

“How useful is the catch-all phrase screen time in a parenting context?”

Our findings show that parents worry about how much time their children spent online, rather than asking more useful or important questions such as what their children are actually doing online, whether they are being supported in their activities online and how parents can get more involved.

“Key concerns around digital media use”

A key issue parents have around digital media in family life was found to be how to decide which online content provides the best value for children. Parents are also concerned about how to weigh up both the costs and benefits of certain digital media and they are not sure where to turn to for advice on such matters.

“The main positive findings”

The survey found that families were using digital media in many positive ways, such as watching TV and films, playing games and learning online together, as well as using social media to stay in touch with other family members. Parents are also using the internet to find online educational resources for their children.

Transmedia literacy: teens, media and collaborative culture

In this video Professor Sonia Livingstone discusses how children’s use of media can be better connected between the home and the classroom. Findings from the “Transmedia Literacy: Teens, Media and Collaborative Culture” project show how teachers can create tasks which travel across the different sites, receiving input and perspectives from both students and parents along the way.

Teachers could also offer a more student-centred approach by designing activities which allow children to draw upon their own interests or preferred media content. Teachers could identify what kinds of conversations young people are already having about media and then build activities around that.

It is recommended that media research should evaluate more clearly which ideas work well within the classroom and help children to learn. Schools could also become models of best practice themselves with regards to children and media by taking a critical approach, rewarding and valuing children’s creativity, and treating children’s data ethically.

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About the author

Sonia Livingstone

Sonia Livingstone OBE is Professor of Social Psychology in the Department of Media and Communications at LSE. Taking a comparative, critical and contextual approach, her research examines how the changing conditions of mediation are reshaping everyday practices and possibilities for action. She has published twenty books on media audiences, media literacy and media regulation, with a particular focus on the opportunities and risks of digital media use in the everyday lives of children and young people. Her most recent book is The class: living and learning in the digital age (2016, with Julian Sefton-Green). Sonia has advised the UK government, European Commission, European Parliament, Council of Europe and other national and international organisations on children’s rights, risks and safety in the digital age. She was awarded the title of Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2014 'for services to children and child internet safety.' Sonia Livingstone is a fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences, the British Psychological Society, the Royal Society for the Arts and fellow and past President of the International Communication Association (ICA). She has been visiting professor at the Universities of Bergen, Copenhagen, Harvard, Illinois, Milan, Oslo, Paris II, Pennsylvania, and Stockholm, and is on the editorial board of several leading journals. She is on the Executive Board of the UK Council for Child Internet Safety, is a member of the Internet Watch Foundation’s Ethics Committee, is an Expert Advisor to the Council of Europe, and was recently Special Advisor to the House of Lords’ Select Committee on Communications, among other roles. Sonia has received many awards and honours, including honorary doctorates from the University of Montreal, Université Panthéon Assas, the Erasmus University of Rotterdam, the University of the Basque Country, and the University of Copenhagen. She is currently leading the project Global Kids Online (with UNICEF Office of Research-Innocenti and EU Kids Online), researching children’s understanding of digital privacy (funded by the Information Commissioner’s Office) and writing a book with Alicia Blum-Ross called ‘Parenting for a Digital Future (Oxford University Press), among other research, impact and writing projects. Sonia is chairing LSE’s Truth, Trust and Technology Commission in 2017-2018, and participates in the European Commission-funded research networks, DigiLitEY and MakEY. She runs a blog called www.parenting.digital and contributes to the LSE’s Media Policy Project blog. Follow her on Twitter @Livingstone_S

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