Digital Media Use in Early Childhood: Birth to Six

(Hardback)

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The easy interface of touchscreen technologies like tablets and smartphones have enabled children to access the digital world from a very young age. But while some commentators are enthusiastic about how this can open up a new world for play, learning, and developing digital skills, others see the dangers of yet more screens, inauthentic play, and time spent isolated with electronic babysitters that detract from interaction with parents and the learning of social skills. Including a glossary of key terms, this book draws on a three-year research project examining the realities of 0-5 years olds experiences of these technologies in the UK and Australia. The authors draw heavily on Vygotsky and engage with other thinkers including Bronfenbrenner and Bruner. It explores how parents of young children evaluate these opportunities and concerns, and how they try to work out ways to parent in relation to technologies they did not experience in their own childhood. The book examines how digital technologies fit in with other elements of childrens daily lives including their preferences, pleasures and sociability. The book also explores the extent to which grandparents, parents and educators engage with childrens experience of digital technologies.

Author Bio

Lelia Green is Professor of Communications at Edith Cowan University, Australia. Leslie Haddon is a Lecturer in the Department of Media and Communications at the London School of Economics, UK. Donell Holloway is a Senior Research Fellow at Edith Cowan University, Australia. Sonia Livingstone (OBE) is Professor of Social Psychology, London School of Economics, UK. Brian ONeill is Director or Research, Enterprise and Innovation Services at Dublin Institute of Technology, Ireland. Kylie J Stevenson is an Early Career Researcher at Edith Cowan University, Australia.