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[ecrea] E-youth: Balancing between opportunities and risks?, 27-28 May 2010 - Antwerpen.

Sat Jul 04 12:07:42 GMT 2009


Call for papers, posters and
demonstrations
Deadline: 15 January 2010
Online application: www.ucsia.org/eyouth
or www.ua.ac.be/eyouth
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e-Youth
Balancing between opportunities and risks?
Multidisciplinary conference
May 27th & 28th
Antwerp, Belgium 2010
UCSIA and the University of Antwerp are pleased to announce the organisation of a two-day international, multidisciplinary conference on children, adolescents & ICT. We welcome a broad audience including researchers, educators, students, policy makers, NGO and industry representatives to share research results and discuss policy and educational issues about children¡¦s and adolescents¡¦ use of information and communication technologies. The conference will focus on national and international research dealing with social, cultural, economic, legal, psychological and ethical issues regarding youngsters¡¦ uses of different internet applications and mobile telephony. Contributions on both the multiple opportunities offered by technologies and on the (new) risks youngsters are confronted with are welcomed. Research and initiatives concerning the educational and mediating role of parents and educators will be discussed too. The conference will also provide a forum for good practices of sensitizing or educational campaigns.
Concept:
Children and teenagers are increasingly using information and communication technologies (ICTs), as these technologies are now widespread in the home, school and community. Youngsters are using the internet, mobile phones and gaming platforms in order to get informed, educated and entertained. Despite the tremendous opportunities offered by ICT, researchers, policy makers and child protection experts are also demanding attention for different risks youngsters may encounter. While they are often depicted as techno-savvies, questions rise about their competences to assess risks, to cope with negative experiences and to maximise opportunities offered by new technologies. Moreover, the roles of parents, educators, children and adolescent protection experts but also mass media in addressing specific issues and empowering young users, receive growing attention. Therefore this international conference wants to focus on the increasing body of empirical knowledge and fundamental research, as well as on policy and other initiatives dealing with the opportunities offered by ICT for children and adolescents and also how they cope with specific (new) risks. Special attention will be devoted to emerging social, ethical, psychological and legal issues within the context of ICT and minors.
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Scope:
The UCSIA conference steering group welcomes researchers, students, governmental and non-governmental representatives and other experts to share and discuss advancements in the diverse disciplines studying children¡¦s and adolescents¡¦ ICT-uses. Presentations can summarize empirical research outcomes, but also conceptual, methodological and policy related contributions are welcomed for submission. Oral presentations, posters and demonstrations can be submitted about -but not limited to- the following issues (the questions mentioned following each issue are exemplary for possible paper topics).
1. Youngsters and ICT: a heterogeneous group
?X Gap in access and competences: How do youngsters differ in their access to ICT and related competences? How do differences in ICT-uses and ¡Vcompetences between parents/educators and children/teenagers influence dialogue and commitment of adults with minors¡¦ (online) activities? How do differences in access and competences create new e-gaps? ?X Social differences: How do gender, social or cultural differences in ICT-uses and ¡Vcompetences lead to (new) communitarianism, forms of exclusions or introverted assertions of identities? Conversely, how can ICT offer new contact opportunities between youngsters with different social/cultural backgrounds? ?X Distributive (in-)justice: What are the moral, ethical and philosophical considerations when reflecting on the digital gap amongst youngsters?
2. Youngsters and ICT: developmental changes and related needs
?X Social and identity needs:
o The construction of the self and social networks: How do minors and especially adolescents use internet applications such as social networking sites in their identity construction, their presentation and self¡Vdisclosure towards peers? To what extent do online and offline networks overlap or differ? Which opportunities do ICT provide for identity construction by minority youth (on issues like gender, ethnicity, religious and/or sexual preferences)? o Self-disclosure & privacy: How do youngsters disclose personal data in social networking sites and commercial websites? Do they undertake a risk-benefit appraisal? How do youngsters define ¡¥privacy¡¦ and to what extent are they concerned about their privacy online? How can self-disclosure and exhibition practices of adolescents on the new internet scenes (blogs, social networks,¡K) be explained? Which coping strategies are used to deal with online requests of internet users to entrust personal data? o Sexual exploration and the internet: How do teenagers deal with discussing topics on sexuality on the internet? How do digital media enable them to learn about sexuality in their lives? Is there a link between adolescents¡¦ exposure to sexual media content and their sexual socialization? Are teenagers able to put the sexual
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reality of online pornography into perspective? Does online confrontation with pornography affect youngsters¡¦ attitudes and behaviours? o Technological & social normativity: behind the traditional controversy between determinism and constructivism, what are the new social norms regarding self-disclosure and privacy protection embedded in the design of social networks, blogging and gaming platforms? How do teens and youngsters cope with those new norms or develop social practices or norms to counter them?
?X Entertainment & information needs:
o Entertainment needs: How do games contribute to social and psychological well-being of children and adolescents? What is the role of games for entertainment, identity formation, social relationships and education of minors? Which effects do different game genres such as first-person shooting games, adventure games, Massive Online Role Playing Games (MMORPG¡¦s) or strategy games have? o Information & education needs: How does the introduction of computer technology change the educational environment of teenagers? How do new facilities of the internet (for instance search engines, blogs and wikis) transform the research and scholar practices of teens and youngsters? How do they cope with this mass of information and what are the implicit norms they use to assess its liability and credibility? Which new opportunities are offered by e-learning platforms? Which educational skills are fostered by using e-learning applications and does this lead to better educated teenagers? How can learner-centred interactive educational material be developed? How does edutainment and infotainment offer new possibilities or challenges traditional teaching and learning? How can educators and trainers successfully implement new learning methods and embed them in established and existing forms of learning.
3. Youngsters and ICT: a vulnerable (target) group?
?X Electronic marketing: Can e-commerce aimed at youngsters be justified and what ethical standards/codes of conduct should be adopted? How do internet and mobile marketing techniques target young consumers? How do new forms of interactive advertising (for instance in-game advertising or advergames) and other marketing techniques influence children¡¦s and adolescents¡¦ perception of products and services? Can teenagers easily discern between web content and advertising? From what age do they understand the persuasive intent of advertising messages? What effects does the long-lasting exposure to online advertising messages have on children¡¦s brand awareness and attitudes? How does online commercialism influence youngsters in peer and parent-child relationships? ?X Riskful contacts: How do children and adolescents cope with specific risks such as online (sexual) harassment, racism, cyberbullying and other negative experiences? Which consequences do these experiences have on victims, perpetrators and bystanders? How can perpetrators and victims be profiled? How do youngsters estimate specific online risks (¡¥third person effect¡¦)? How do they engage in experimentation, norm transgressive or
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risk-taking behaviour? To what extent are they confronted with online sexual harassment and racist content? Can sexual harassment by peers be linked with exposure to online pornographic content? Which media are mostly being used to sexually harass or discriminate others in online communications? How do minors report acts of sexual harassment towards peers and parents? Which consequences do these online contacts have? How can youngsters be empowered to cope with riskful contacts?
4. Youngsters and ICT: awareness, protection and empowerment
?X Perception of ICT-related risks: How do mass media report on opportunities but especially on (new) risks young internet users are confronted with? Do media priorities correspond with the prevalence of risks according to research findings? How do parents and youngsters themselves perceive these risks and deal with them? ?X Parental mediation: Which mediating techniques are applied by parents in relation to the uses of internet and mobile telephony of their children? How do perceptions possibly differ between parents and children about parental involvement with and control of ICT-use? How are ICTs integrated and regulated in the family life of children and teens? How can parental supervision be implemented through technological means? ? ?X Sensitizing & educational campaigns: How can children and adolescents be informed about opportunities and risks of ICT-use? How can they be sensitized to be responsible ICT-users? How can the effectiveness of pedagogical and sensitizing initiatives be measured? Which good practices concerning sensitizing campaigns and media literacy education can be shared and adapted to national or regional cultures and specific target groups?
5. Youngsters and ICT: ethical & legal issues
?X Adapting research methods: Which methodological and ethical problems do researchers experience when conducting research about and with minors? Which ethical issues should be taken into account when conducting research among minors? What are the societal role and ethical responsibilities of human sciences research when conducting research on ICT and youngsters? ?X Ethical issues: which moral practices and agency do young people show when they are online? To what extent is there continuity or discontinuity between their moral practices online and offline? What ethical issues are of importance to young people themselves? How is education dealing with these issues? How does cybermorality vary in different subgroups, communities? ?X Legislation, self- and co-regulation: How does the national and international legal framework enable the protection of minors on the internet? How to deal with minors as perpetrators? Do disparate issues need a legal, self-regulatory or co-regulatory response? How can different actors (for instance content industries, ISP¡¦s) combine forces to empower and protect youngsters?
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Guidelines for submission:
The conference will be composed of two types of contributions:
1. Papers: an extended abstract (maximum 1000 words) has to be submitted by January 15th 2010 the latest using the online form at www.ucsia.org/eyouth or www.ua.ac.be/eyouth. Papers include mainly accomplished (empirical) research, but also theoretical reflections or other scientific, policy or related initiatives. The reviewing process will evaluate these extended abstracts. Authors of an accepted contribution have to hand in their full paper (maximum 6000 words) by April 30th 2. Posters or demonstrations: These contain implementation information or work-in-progress and are presented in an abstract (maximum 200 words) besides the poster itself (or demonstration) that will be exposed at the conference. Submissions are subject to a blind refereeing process. 2010 to prepare the conference proceedings and to be eligible for publication. Submissions are subject to a blind refereeing process.
Submission:
Proposals of papers, posters or demonstration can only be submitted using the electronic submission form on the website at www.ucsia.org/eyouth or www.ua.ac.be/eyouth.
Publication:
The best full papers will be published as chapters in a scientific book published by an internationally renown publisher.
A best paper award will honour the author(s) of a paper of exceptional merit.
Practical information:
Date: 27-28 May 2010
Location: Meerminne building, City Campus, University of Antwerp, Belgium
Enrolment fee: 35 £á (one day) or 60 £á (two days)
Website: www.ucsia.org/eyouth or www.ua.ac.be/eyouth
E-mail: (e-youth /at/ ua.ac.be)
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Conference steering group:
Coordinators & contact persons:
Sara Mels, Michel Walrave, Heidi Vandebosch & Wannes Heirman
Members:
Prof. dr. Joke Bauwens, Department of Media and Communication Studies, Free University of Brussels Marie Demoulin, Faculty of Law, Research Centre on IT and Law (CRID), University of Namur Wannes Heirman, Faculty of Social & Political Sciences, Department of Communication Studies, University of Antwerp Prof. dr. Claire Lobet-Maris, Faculty of Computer Sciences, Interdisciplinary Center of Technology Assessment (CITA), University of Namur Prof. dr. Steven Malliet, Faculty of Social & Political Sciences, Department of Communication Studies, University of Antwerp & KHLim
Sara Mels, UCSIA, University of Antwerp
Prof. dr. Walter Nonneman, UCSIA & Faculty of Applied Economics, University of Antwerp Prof. dr. Yves Poullet, Faculty of Law, Research Centre on IT and Law (CRID), University of Namur Prof. dr. Tim Smits, European Centre of Ethics, KU Leuven and Faculty of Political and Social Sciences, Department of Communication Studies, University of Antwerp
Ellen Stassart, Childfocus & Combined Node Safer Internet Belgium
Prof. dr. Chris Timmerman, UCSIA, University of Antwerp
Katrien Vancleemput, Faculty of Political and Social Sciences, Department of Communication Studies, University of Antwerp Prof. dr. Heidi Vandebosch, Faculty of Political and Social Sciences, Department of Communication Studies, University of Antwerp
Tom Van Renterghem, Childfocus & Combined Node Safer Internet Belgium
Prof. dr. Michel Walrave, Faculty of Political and Social Sciences, Department of Communication Studies, University of Antwerp
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Organisers:
University Centre Saint-Ignatius Antwerp (UCSIA)
UCSIA provides an international and interdisciplinary platform that supports and stimulates academic research, higher education and community service regarding themes that express the Christian ideology in a spirit of openness and tolerance, thus contributing to a more just society. The centre was created five years ago as an offspring of the former Saint-Ignatius University Antwerp. UCSIA organizes a range of activities (such as seminars, conferences, lecture series, master classes etc.) on topics such as democracy, the construction of Europe, and interreligious and intercultural dialogue ; for more information, please visit our website at http://www.ucsia.org
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MIOS (Media & ICT in Organisations & Society), University of Antwerp
MIOS (Media and ICT in Organisations and Society) is a research group at the Department of Communication Science at the University of Antwerp (Belgium). The research activities of MIOS can be categorized under two headings: 1) strategic communication through ICT and other media by commercial enterprises, social profit organisations and governments, and 2) the opportunities and risks related to ICT uses of individuals (e.g. adolescents, elderly, the poor¡K) and organisations. These include policy oriented and fundamental research projects, funded by governmental and scientific agencies. The research group MIOS is also part of several international networks on youngsters and ICT, such as the COST IS0801 action on cyberbullying. More information, including a list of publications and contact data, can be found on http://www.ua.ac.be/mios.

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Nico Carpentier (Phd)
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Vrije Universiteit Brussel - Free University of Brussels
Centre for Studies on Media and Culture (CeMeSO)
Pleinlaan 2 - B-1050 Brussels - Belgium
T: ++ 32 (0)2-629.18.56
F: ++ 32 (0)2-629.36.84
Office: 5B.401a
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European Communication Research and Education Association
Web: http://www.ecrea.eu
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E-mail: (Nico.Carpentier /at/ vub.ac.be)
Web: http://homepages.vub.ac.be/~ncarpent/
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