Developing a measure to understand young children’s Internet cognition and cyber-safety awareness: A pilot test

Susan Edwards, Andrea Nolan, Michael Henderson, Helen Skouteris, Ana Mantilla, Pamela Lambert, Jo Bird

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer-review

    14 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Advancements in technology have increased preschool children’s access to the Internet. Very little research has been conducted to identify pre-school-aged children’s understandings of the Internet and ramifications of being ‘online’. Without an understanding of children’s thinking about the Internet, it is difficult to provide age- and pedagogically appropriate cyber-safety education. This study developed and pilot-tested an interview schedule that focuses on the Internet thinking and cyber-safety awareness of Australian children aged 4–5 years. The schedule is informed by sociocultural theory, cyber-safety education research and approaches for researching with young children. The schedule shows potential to elicit children’s understandings of the Internet and cyber-safety awareness. Adjustments are required to allow more contextualised responses from children.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)322-335
    Number of pages14
    JournalEarly Years
    Volume36
    Issue number3
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2 Jul 2016

    Keywords

    • Cyber-safety
    • early childhood education
    • online

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