Digital Technologies in the Lives of Young People

Chris Davies, John Coleman, Sonia Livingstone

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2015
• ISBN:
  9781317699873
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

This book examines the presence and effects of new technologies in the lives of young people. The rapid pace of change in the development and use of digital technologies, and the likely impact this has on youth, means that the topic has wide implications for educational institutions, theory and practice. There is a demand for a concentration on the ways in which new devices such as smart phones and tablets, as well as new platforms and recent notions such as the 'flipped classroom', are affecting the way education is being provided. However, there is also still a small minority who do not have full access to the internet, and the disadvantages suffered by this group must also be addressed.

The internet offers a vast range of opportunities for young people, and yet for various reasons it is not always available. This can partly be attributed to the controls that schools impose on the use of digital technology, for reasons of safety and security, and can in part be explained by the fact that policy makers have contradictory attitudes to technology. While they may argue for the need to have a well-educated and well-trained workforce, they fear the threats to privacy and safety posed by the internet. This book asserts that society needs to have more open debate about the threats and opportunities of digital technology as it is a dynamic and ever-changing topic for us all.

This book was originally published as a special issue of the Oxford Review of Education.

Introduction: Digital technologies in the lives of young people

John Coleman
University of Oxford, UK

Introduction

In 2007 a number of colleagues from Oxford University and the London School of Economics came together to share an interest in young people and digital technologies. They discussed how those having a developmental perspective on adolescence could collaborate with others having a knowledge of technological change in the field of ICTs to identify new research agendas and to demonstrate that a multi-disciplinary approach would be worthwhile. A group of four people, Chris Davies, Sonia Livingstone, Ingrid Lunt and myself, put forward an application to the ESRC for a seminar series entitled ‘The educational and social impact of new technologies on the lives of young people in Britain’. The application was successful, and this Special Issue is the outcome, following four seminars, a conference and four reports of the proceedings of the seminars.

In her Introduction to the first seminar Livingstone (2008) identified three questions that she hoped the seminar series would address. First, she asked what benefits could be expected for children and young people as a result of the development of new technologies. This question links closely with one of the paramount beliefs of those planning the seminar series, namely that it is important to focus on the positive outcomes of technological advance, since by and large the emphasis in public debate has tended to concentrate more on the disadvantages and the threats posed by technology, rather than on the advantages and opportunities offered to children and young people. In the context of this question it is also important to note a strong belief among the group that some knowledge of adolescent development could be helpful in considering what might be called ‘the digital revolution’ of the first decade of the 21st century. We took the view that, since the meaning of technology is very likely to be located in the social and cultural milieu, one key aspect of that milieu has to be the developmental stage of the individuals concerned. As Selwyn (this issue) puts it: ‘… technologies are subjected continually to a series of complex negotiations and interactions with the social, economic, political and cultural contexts into which they emerge’, and if this is so, one fundamental aspect of such negotiations has to do with the psychological development of young people.

A second question asked by Livingstone (2008) was: ‘How can society ensure that ICTs contribute to positive educational outcomes?’. Many of the papers in this Special Issue concentrate on aspects of the learning environment, and tackle a variety of concerns about the role of the school, the link between learning in formal and informal settings, the learning lives of young people, and the tensions that exist between the objectives of those endorsing technological advance and the reality of ‘conservative’ educational institutions and family settings. In framing this seminar series the organisers recognised that more research on this topic has been carried out within the educational context than in any other sphere, and that therefore many of the questions we had about the links between adolescent development and digital technologies were likely to be considered as part of an ongoing debate about schools and learning. Furthermore many of the papers here recognise that one of the major affordances of ICTs is that learning is no longer limited to formal settings. Sefton-Green (2008) uses the word ‘unbundled’ to describe this process of learning being freed from the boundaries of the educational institution and, as Furlong and Davies (this issue) indicate, if this is the case then ‘we need to think seriously about contexts such as the home, where learning increasingly takes place’.

The third and final question asked by Livingstone (2008) in her Introduction was: ‘What can a multi-disciplinary framework offer practitioners?’. This topic reflects another key belief of the organisers: that questions about the relation between human development and the benefits of technology are most likely to be answered by a multi-disciplinary approach. However, as most individuals working in an academic environment will know, to pursue cross-disciplinary dialogue is not easy. It is hard work to bring together those from different backgrounds in order to create a genuinely open forum for discussion. The organisers were also keen to cross the divide between researchers and those working directly with young people. A serious attempt was made to involve schools as well as those from the worlds of policy and industry, and it is our hope that the papers in this Special Issue are indicative of both our intentions and of some of the outcomes.

In addition to the three questions outlined above, Livingstone (2008) indicated that there were three research topics which she and the organising group would like to have considered as part of the background to the field of youth/technology studies. These three topics all reflect unresolved questions that could, and indeed should, form part of any research agenda that might stem from the seminar series. The three research topics are as follows:

• The question of age. It is far from clear how to consider age in social, cognitive and cultural terms, so how do we meaningfully distinguish the needs and interests of young people, and how do we recognise their unique contribution to the development of digital technologies?
• Technological determinism. Technological determinism has been criticised by academics, but it remains an underlying belief among some policy makers and industrialists. Soft determinism appears to be favoured by some researchers and theorists, but constructivism can also be recognised as being part of many debates. So, what are the key ways of thinking about the technological?
• Formal and informal learning. The relation between formal and informal learning remains unclear and contested. What are the links between home and school? What is the role of ICTs in learning, however this is defined, and what is at stake in considering this question?

As will be apparent from the papers in this issue the contributions made to the seminars did indeed address these questions. Furthermore many have identified future directions for research in this field. I will now consider each of the three research questions, and explore how the articles that make up this Special Issue advance our thinking in relation to these topics.

Age

One of the premises of this Seminar Series is that a greater understanding of adolescent development will assist us in recognising the role that digital technologies play for young people in both formal and informal settings. In order to set the scene for such a discussion it will be as well to rehearse briefly one theoretical approach which has clear benefits in the present context. This theoretical approach is that of lifespan developmental psychology, outlined by Coleman (2008) as a contribution to the first seminar. Lifespan developmental theory is based on a number of key premises. The first of these is that development is interactive, occurring across domains. In order to understand development, therefore, it is essential to include perspectives from different disciplines, including psychology, sociology, anthropology, biology and other sciences. The second principle is that development is determined by the context as much as by any other factor. The stress on the environment is a major step forward in allowing us to explore the differences between individuals depending on the circumstances in which they develop.

A third principle is that development is bi-directional, not uni-directional. Again this is extremely important, since our understanding of all aspects of human growth and change has been enhanced by seeing that, while the adult and the environment may influence the young person, so does the young person influence the adult and the environment in which he or she grows up. Finally the fourth principle has to do with what is called active agency. This also has major significance, since it allows us to see that the individual is an agent in his or her own development, rather than being a passive recipient reflecting biological or social forces. These principles, particularly the latter two, can be linked directly to the discussions held during the seminar series, and can be shown to illuminate the research questions outlined above.

One means of indicating the links between theory and research questions will be to set out three arguments supporting the case that digital technologies have special salience for the adolescent period of development. In the first place it will be apparent that friendship and the peer group are of central concern to young people during the adolescent stage. Young people are more likely to use peers rather than family as social support networks, in social decision-making and as a reference group for attitudes and opinions, culture, leisure and fashion. Alongside this change in social relationships research has shown that, for young people from the age of about 12 upwards, there is rapid growth in the individual’s capacity to understand and process information relating to social situations. This area of functioning is known as social cognition, and includes impression-formation, perspective-taking and behavioural decision-making. In view of this it is not surprising that the affordances provided by social software and by means of communication such as messaging and texting are of especial interest to this age group. Many authors in this Special Issue refer to the opportunities for networking provided by ICTs. As Erstad (this issue) notes: ‘Digital media provide new spaces and resources for information, entertainment, communication and networking. … We need to develop new ways of researching this cultural complexity to fully grasp the role of media among young people’.

We can now turn to questions relating to mastery and autonomy, two essential needs of the young person as he or she moves towards maturity and establishes independence in the family context. One of the principles of lifespan developmental psychology is that of agency and active mastery, and this links directly with the idea that the individual has the capacity to shape and influence his or her own development. Where digital technologies are concerned this is a significant concept, since ICTs provide a golden opportunity for young people to experience agency as they become active consumers in this arena.

The third topic to be considered here is that of identity. As all writers on adolescence have made clear, this stage is one of identity exploration. It is during this period that individuals find themselves considering such questions as what sort of a person am I, what sort of job or future do I want, what values do I wish to uphold, and what friends suit me best. It is not difficult to see how the opportunities afforded by digital technologies can allow this sort of exploration to take place within a relatively safe environment. There are of course risks involved, but these have to be weighed against the benefits, and systems put in place to reduce as far as possible the threats posed by the freedom of the internet. One of the seminars in this series was dedicated to questions of identity, and many of the articles here address aspects of this topic. One good example is the work of Furlong and Davies (this issue) who state that: ‘What we have learned is … that young people’s engagement with new technologies is fundamentally bound up with their own identity. It is impossible fully to understand the role that new technologies play in [young people’s] lives without understanding their particular life projects. … As ICTs become more ubiquitous then they are just as important as any other (commercially available) cultural resource—dress, music—in the construction of a personal identity’.

Social cognition, agency and identity are three topics that illustrate the ways in which key themes of adolescent development are reflected in research on young people and digital technologies. The findings make it clear that there are particular reasons why the affordances of ICTs play such a special role in young people’s lives, and why it can be argued that the link between developmental psychology and the study of technological advance is a particularly fruitful one.

Technological determinism

As already noted, Livingstone (2008) asked questions about the key ways of thinking about digital technologies, and indicated that she considered it essential to pay some attention to this topic in order to provide a background to understanding the place of ICTs in the lives of young people. A number of papers in this Special Issue refer to questions of theory. However it is clear that this is not an easy debate in which to engage, and as Selwyn (this issue) notes: ‘One of the most disappointing aspects of work in this area … is a general failure to think carefully about the technological. This is not altogether a surprising shortfall, as thinking critically about younger generations and technology is, in many ways, a disconcerting thing to do’. Selwyn goes on to make the point that academics may find it difficult to separate out their own experiences of the technological from those of young people or, to put it another way, those in the university world find it hard to step into the shoes of another generation for whom technology perhaps has a different range of meanings in comparison to those who depend on it day in and day out for their work. Selwyn (this issue) also makes the point that it is not just theory, but social theory, to which we need to turn if we are to develop ‘rich understandings of structures, actions, processes and relations that constitute use of digital technologies in educational settings and contexts’.

One of the central themes in most debates about the place of technology in our lives has to do with the degree of determinism involved. Most accept that the development of technologies takes place within social and cultural contexts, and that therefore there can be no sense in which the technology itself absolutely controls or determines the way it is used. Nonetheless there are many ways in which some form of determinism remains as an underlying motif, or subtext, in discussions about the subject. Selwyn (this issue) points to the belief that texting negatively influences vocabulary development, or that the Internet shrinks international boundaries, as good examples of ways in which determinism underlies thinking about technologies.

Livingstone (this issue) puts the question slightly differently. She notes that there is a debate between those who ask what is the internet doing to society, and those who, instead, ask why we have made the internet as we have, and what are we doing with it. As she points out, this is a critical debate when we come to consider the role of technology in the learning context. The question opens up consideration of whether digital technologies are seen as tools or whether they are seen as features of the environment having inherent qualities. If the former, then we should be concentrating on developing skills in children and young people, but if the latter, then the task is to recognise critically how our lives are mediated in specific ways by the technologies.

A further interesting concern has to do with the ideologies which inform or shape theories of change in the context of digital technology. Selwyn (this issue) refers to studies framed within the social construction of technology (SCOT) approach, where researchers start from the premise that the meaning of technology is shaped socially. This leads on to a consideration of technology from, say, a feminist viewpoint, or from one that is concerned with left or right wing politics. Livingstone (this issue) notes that this takes debate beyond ‘the identification and explanation of change, to ask whether such changes can be democratic, empowering, or on the contrary whether they reinforce the interests of … established power’. This is an extremely important subject, since it leads on to a consideration of topics such as equality in access to technology, to autonomy and independence of the individual, and to control in educational institutions and in educational policy-making.

To conclude this section, it is clear that there is no one ‘correct’ theoretical stance when it comes to considering the place of digital technologies in the lives of young people. Most authors here appear sympathetic to an approach which recognises that this is not an either/or question. Neither extreme determinism nor an ‘antiessentialist’ approach are going to take discussion forward. It seems likely that ICTs do have some characteristics which influence the way they are used, but in turn users too shape the ways in which they approach and utilise the technologies available to them. What is most important is that the theoretical underpinnings of both policy and research are overt and well-considered. Theoretical debate can drive both of these things forward, so long as they are approached in an open manner.

Formal and informal learning

Questions relating to formal and informal learning, or to learning in the school setting and in other settings such as the home, are perhaps the ones that are addressed most widely by authors in this Special Issue. In this Introduction I will consider three main topics, although it should be noted that they are not necessarily distinct and separate, and there is considerable overlap between them. The first is whether there is evidence that the introduction of ICTs into the school setting can be said to have enhanced learning. How confident can we be that digital technologies show clear benefits in the educational context? The second question has to do with formal and informal learning. Does learning occur in the home, and is this learning the same or different from the learning that occurs in school? A subsidiary issue here is whether there are advantages or disadvantages associated with learning at home, and what part digital technologies play in this debate. Thirdly there is a consideration of the learning lives of young people. What is actually going on at home when digital technologies are in use, and how does leisure use link with learning? An associated topic relates to the balance between threats and opportunities afforded by technologies when they are provided in the home setting.

Looking first at the question of whether the introduction of digital technologies has improved learning outcomes, Livingstone (this issue) is the author who tackles this issue most directly. She notes that schools have proved ‘… slower to integrate ICTs into their lesson plans than they were to locate computers into the classroom’. To some extent this may be because, as her review indicates, there is not a huge amount of evidence to support the view that pupils’ school achievement will improve with the introduction of new technologies. However, it may also be because there is uncertainty among the teaching profession over the nature of the benefit that is expected to accrue from the introduction of digital technologies. On the one hand there are some who see these as a support or extension of the way the traditional curriculum is delivered, whilst others believe that the introduction of ICTs opens up opportunities for a different curriculum based on a different set of skills.

Crook expands this argument by drawing on evidence from his research with young people in which he asked about their experiences of using ICTs in the school setting. He states: ‘While often deeply immersed in the use of this technology and broadly positive about it, these young people also identified a shared set of circumstances associated with its use in school that could be variously stressful, frustrating, threatening or devious’ (Crook, this issue). Livingstone makes it clear that there is a long way to go before new technologies will be embraced fully by schools and, as she says, this: ‘… raises fundamental questions over whether society really desires a transformed, technologically-mediated relation between teacher and learner’ (this issue).

Turning now to the topic of f...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Citation Information
• Notes on Contributors
• 1. Introduction: Digital technologies in the lives of young people
• 2. Critical reflections on the benefits of ICT in education
• 3. The learning lives of digital youth—beyond the formal and informal
• 4. Young people, new technologies and learning at home: taking context seriously
• 5. The ‘digital native’ in context: tensions associated with importing Web 2.0 practices into the school setting
• 6. Making sense of young people, education and digital technology: the role of sociological theory
• 7. Taking the 21st century seriously: young people, education and socio-technical futures
• Index