Zero to eight: Very young children and the domestication of touch screen technologies in Australia
Document Type
Conference Proceeding
Publisher
Australia and New Zealand Communication Association
Faculty
Faculty of Education and Arts
School
School of Communications and Arts / Centre for Research in Entertainment, Arts, Technology, Education and Communications
RAS ID
18020
Abstract
Current figures from the UK and US show that there has been a dramatic uptake of internet use by very young children over the last 3–4 years, and a five-fold increase in tablet usage by children aged between 0-8 between 2012 and 2013 (Ofcom, 2013; Rideout, 2013). In the US “fully half (50%) of all children ages 0–8 have used mobile apps, up from just 16% in 2011” (Rideout, 2013 : 20) and in the UK “over half of 3–4 year olds have access to touchscreen tablets at home ” (Ofcom,2013: 20). Comparative Australian figures are not available, although previous studies with older children indicate that Australian data is comparable to that of high use European countries such as the UK and some Scandinavian nations (Green et al.,2011). This paper presents a critical review of available policy recommendations and guidelines regarding very young children’s internet use. It makes particular reference to the rising take–up of touchscreen technologies such as smartphones and tablets by children aged between 0–8 and calls for relevant research to be carried out within Australia
Access Rights
free_to_read
Comments
Green, L., & Holloway, D. (2014). Zero to eight: Very young children and the domestication of touch screen technologies in Australia. Proceedings of Australian and New Zealand Communication Association Conference. (pp. 10p.). Melbourne, VIC. ANZCA. Available here