[Commlist] ECREA CYM Seminar

(Hybrid) Seminar - Playfully Developing Digital Literacies: Children's 
Digital Play and Media Use in Different Social Contexts*
*
*
Following the conference ‘Practices of Digital Inclusion and Exclusion 
in Everyday Life’ organized by the University of Groningen on 3 & 4 
April 2023, the University of Groningen, ECREA section Children, Youth, 
and Media, and Chair RTVE University of Salamanca on Children Youth and 
Media will host the hybrid seminar '*Playfully Developing Digital 
Literacies: Children's Digital Play and Media Use in Different Social 
Contexts'. *

Play is one of the most important activities in childhood. It allows 
children to experiment with social norms and to make sense of the world 
around them. The advantages of play for development have long been 
investigated by researchers in a variety of domains, including 
developmental psychology, pedagogical sciences, and educational studies. 
These studies frequently view play as an essential activity and resource 
for kids’ development. While there is much consensus about the 
importance of play in general, the implications of emerging digital 
technologies for play have long been a topic of discussion (Bird & 
Edwards,2015; Marsh et al., 2016). In recent years, children are 
spending an increasing amount of time with digital technology for a 
variety of reasons, including play (Smahel et al., 2020). While digital 
play has been perceived as inferior to traditional play in the past, a 
growing number of scholars have been advocating for a more nuanced 
understanding. They argue that many characteristics of traditional play 
translate well into digital contexts, and that digital play, therefore, 
should be perceived as a supplementary form of play that can foster 
children’s development and learning. But how can social actors support 
children’s development through digital play? And, as play is inherently 
intertwined with the environment in which it happens, how do practices 
of digital play differ between various cultural, socioeconomic and 
geographical contexts?

In this seminar, we will explore children’s playful digital practices 
and consider how these practices aid their development of digital 
literacies. By exploring digital playful practices in different social 
contexts, we aim to further develop knowledge within both academic 
settings as well as in more practical settings, such as primary schools, 
after school care and NGO’s. In this seminar we will not only include 
differing social contexts, such as primary schools, the home and 
afterschool care, but we will also explore how children from different 
socioeconomic backgrounds use digital technologies to playfully shape 
and develop their digital literacy skills. With our event, we aim to 
promote dialogues between researchers and practitioners from different 
backgrounds to build knowledge on playful practices of digital literacy 
and to join forces to promote positive growth and engagement of children 
with digital technologies, as well as develop new pedagogies that can by 
various social actors, such as NGO’s and policymakers, as well as 
parents, teachers and childcare workers. We invite all students, 
researchers, practitioners, youth workers, NGO members and others with 
expertise and/or interest in the topics of this pre-conference to 
participate and engage in a roundtable discussion, a Q&A session and 
participant-led discussion.

The envisioned outcome of our event is to create a:
- List of recommendations or key takeaways from the roundtable and 
participant-led discussions;
- A strengthened community in which participants have gained fresh 
ideas, in a collaborative and creative way.

*Format*
This post-conference seminar will consist of three elements, in which we 
aim to promote a fruitful dialogue between different actors that focus 
on child-development, digital play and digital literacy.

1. We will start with a roundtable that will gather academics, teachers 
and trainers, NGO members, decision-makers and professionals of the 
tertiary sector focused on the major issues related to the theme of the 
pre-conference. We invite all participants to submit questions they wish 
to see addressed during this roundtable.
2. The roundtable discussion will be followed by a Q&A, where we will 
further explore topics brought in by the participants. Participants are 
asked to send in questions before the seminar. The moderator will ask 
these questions to the roundtable.
3. Finally, we will close the seminar with a discussion in which all 
participants can share insights and practices from the field. This 
participant-led discussion will promote a critical, creative and 
collaborative environment to foster discussion and share experiences and 
knowledge among all participants.

*Preliminary Program*
09.00 Welcome
09.15 Roundtable
10.30 Q&A
11.00 Break
11.15 Participant-led discussion
12.00 Closing

*Register now!*
If you want to participate in this hybrid seminar, please register via 
the following link (https://santu.com/dni214 
<https://santu.com/dni214>). This link allows you to register for the 
conference ‘Practices of Digital Inclusion and Exclusion in Everyday 
Life’ in Groningen on 3 & 4 April 2023 as well, but you can also choose 
to only participate in the seminar on 5 April 2023.

When registering, please formulate a question for the roundtable and 
indicate whether you want to join us in person or online. If you have 
any questions about the event, please contact Denise Mensonides 
((d.mensonides /at/ rug.nl) <mailto:(d.mensonides /at/ rug.nl)>).

*Important dates*
Registration deadline: 14th of March 2023
Seminar date: 5th of April 2023

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