School of Education

Entering e-Society: young children’s development of e-literacies was funded by the ESRC's e-Society Programme under research grant RES-341-25-0034.

The project aimed to investigate the early development of e-literacies among pre-school children (aged three to five). e-Literacies were defined as the technical and socio-cultural competences needed  to make effective and creative use of digital connectivity.  The research focused on children’s home experiences, exploring the extent to which their developing e-literacies could usefully be compared with their developing print-based literacies. It also considered whether digital divides were emerging between children from ‘technology rich’ and ‘technology poor’ families.

The two-year study was based in the School of Education. Research commenced in February  2005 and was completed in June 2007. A detailed report of the findings, and a list of articles and other publications can be found in the Publications section of this site.
 

The project drew on findings from earlier research which explored young children’s developing competence with a wide range of ICT and ICT-related items at home. That work,  Already at a disadvantage?  funded by Becta addressed the impact of socio-economic disadvantage. The Entering e-Society project was also linked to Interplay: Play, Learning and ICT in Pre-school Education, a project funded by ESRC’s Teaching  and Learning Research Programme . The purpose of Interplay was to identify ways of enhancing young children’s experiences with ICT through guided interaction  with practitioners, peers and parents. Collectively, these three projects led on to a fourth study (2008-11), Young Children learning with Toys and Technology at Home, also funded by the ESRC.