BU Research Blog

 This week, Dr Jacqui Taylor, Associate Professor in the psychology group (School of Design, Engineering and Computing) coordinated two workshops on the Impact of Technology on Children, in-conjunction with colleagues from Winton Primary School, Bournemouth Borough Council, Barnardo’s, Dorset Police and the Research Development Unit. Many congratulations to Jacqui for organising two such informative and engaging events.

The first workshop was aimed at parents and included presentations about current research findings, technical advice, police guidance on child protection and film ratings guidance. The workshop also encouraged lively debate about how parents can use research findings to ensure that their children have a healthy relationship with technology.

The second workshop invited practitioners (including teachers) to consider research around the psychological impacts of social networking and video games, age ratings, child protection and technological innovation. Again, this promoted considerable discussion on how to develop good practice at a speed that keeps pace with changing technology.

A full report on the workshops will be made available next month, but until then, insights into the knowledge shared can be found from Dr Jacqui Taylor’s presentation Research on the Impacts of Technology on the Thoughts, Feelings and Behaviour of Children and Cheryl I’anson’s talk on Age Ratings of Video Games. PC Jeff Gray’s presentation on Protecting Young People Online can be found here.

If you attended the workshop, Jacqui would be grateful if you could complete the Children and Technology Workshop Evaluation Questionnaire

Jacqui would be grateful if anyone with children aged between 4 and 12 years could complete the Children and Technology Research Questionnaire to aid research in the subject area.

Future activities around the theme of technology and children are being planned. If you would be interested in participating in a future event, or have ideas about what you would like to learn, please contact Becca on redwards@bournemouth.ac.uk.