Supporting the use of digital media in research with children and young people

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

This project will create an online resource about using digital media in research with children and young people. The resource will give guidance and support to researchers who wish to use digital media in their work. It will build on the research team's experience running a training course on Using Digital Media in Research with Children and Young People, which to our knowledge is the first of its kind.Digital media offer exciting possibilities for research with children and young people. Increasingly, children use digital and online media as part of their everyday lives, through social networking sites, instant messaging, gaming and mobile phones for example. Recent statistics show that in the UK, 79% of 5-7 year olds, 95% of 8-11 year olds and 98% of 12-15 year olds now use the internet. It therefore makes sense to incorporate digital media into research with children. Digital media have the potential to make research more engaging for children, more inclusive, and more in tune with their lives.Researchers increasingly recognise the potential of digital media, but at the same time they face many challenges and uncertainties. In our experience:- They are seeking inspiration (what are the options, what is available?), guidance (what issues need to be considered?), technical skills (how do you actually do it?) and starting points (making the first step).- They wish to explore the ethics of digital media (issues such as consent, confidentiality, anonymity, internet safety and child protection) and also the legalities (age limits, data ownership, cross-national jurisdictions, privacy law, commercial aspects of online environments).- The blurring of boundaries between public and private is a concern for many. For example, researchers may be familiar with Facebook through setting up a personal site, but feel wary about using Facebook for their professional work.To address these needs, we will produce an online resource with digital media examples (e.g. audio, video, photos, blogs, maps), interactive tools (e.g. discussion boards, games, polls, wikis) and links to existing resources. This will:- Enable the sharing of good practice across sectors. Examples will be presented for reflection and discussion.- Provide information, advice and guidance on the myriad issues involved in using digital media in research with children. This will link comprehensively to existing resources to provide an accessible 'one stop shop'.- Stimulate discussion and debate. Many of the issues listed above are ongoing dilemmas, and cannot be resolved with simple solutions. Instead, the online environment will provide opportunities for dialogue and reflection.The design of the resource will be informed by a contact group of around 10 experts drawn from our networks who will be consulted on key decisions. To produce the resource, the research team will search for existing resources, produce new resources, and commission media examples from leading organisations working with digital media and young people. The researchers will work closely with a web design team to ensure the resource is engaging, accessible and will meet the needs of researchers. When the site has been designed, feedback will be gathered from the contact group and participants on our training courses, and revisions made accordingly.The resource will be publicised through our networks across different sectors (higher education, public, private, third sector). It will also be embedded into our training courses. This will ensure that it is updated regularly after the project has finished.