Digital Age Learning Activities

Learning Activity 3.3 (All questions)
Unless indicated in the learning activity itself, there is no page limit or expectation. Try to answer the questions so that you understand the main points. You
can use point form where appropriate. Be certain that your notes cover the main argument, main points, and sub-points. You should be able to paraphrase
(say in your own words) the main ideas since the notes will be used for study purposes.
3B The Industrial Revolution and Digital Age
Leonard’s text and the Mills and Mills reader say very little about the profound movement toward rapid expansion of the Internet and mobile digital
technology into children’s lives. The stories of Aaron Swartz and Edward Snowden tell us a lot about life in the Digital Age and how it has progressed from the
Industrial Age before it. Rapid technological and economic changes have shaped our economic, work, educational and consumer lives. And, issues of
surveillance, privacy, public/private space and the speed of change are at the forefront of everyday life. This is life in the Digital Age.
Required Resources
Now read the following:
In Leonard:
Chapter 3, Macro Childhoods: Prioritising Structure
Read the following article:
Tilleczek, K & Srigley, R (2017).
https://d2l.laurentian.ca/content/enforced/157633-SOCI_2006EL_12_2021F/content/Readings/SOCI_2006_mod_03_reading_01.pdf?
_&d2lSessionVal=Ym1NIfUx0TQzDHAvYxFxqamPG&ou=157633
. In A. Furlong (Ed.) The Handbook of Youth and Young Adulthood (Chapter 33). Abington, Oxon: Routledge. Used with permission from Taylor & Francis.
Learning Activity 3.2
Answer question 2 on page 62 of Leonard.
How does the Industrial Age compare to the Digital Age as outlined by Tilleczek & Srigley (2017) article? Give two ways in which it is the same and two ways
in which it is different for young people.
Complete an Internet search about Aaron Swartz. This could include watching the film The Internet’s Own Boy and/or Killswitch. Write a short biography (2-3
pages) of him by answering the following: Who was Aaron Swartz, what happened to him and why? Include the details about the legal battles he was
engaged with in trying to address Internet freedom and net neutrality. What does his story say about living in the Digital Age? How does Aaron Swartz’s story
compare to Edward Snowden’s story? (if you are unfamiliar with Edward Snowden you will need to research his story and could watch the films Citizen Four
and/or Snowden).
3C Digital Media, Film & LiteratureModule 3
Consider the following questions:
What does the culture of childhood look like today?
How does digital media play a part?
Imagine looking into the backpacks of children in Canada on any given school day. What items do you suppose you would find and why?
What do these items tell us about the lives of children in our culture?
Culture is made up of both material and non-material components. The material components include technology, tangible items (pencils, books, Gameboys,
tablets, cell phones) and artifacts. Non-material components include language, values, symbols, and ideas of a culture. Now imagine the items again and try
to list them as material or non-material. Would you find similar items in the backpacks of kids in Japan? Sweden?
It is also useful to examine and heed the contemporary representations of children on the Internet, YouTube, TV, and magazines. Is television viewing harmful
for children? Parents, teathe appropriateness of the behaviour for determining
whether or not a given behaviour should be imitated. As a consequence, he argues, children act out the violence they see on television shows and carry the
violent behaviours into adulthood. Brian Siano, a writer and researcher, maintains that while we should constantly strive for quality programming, we should
not attempt to indiscriminately eliminate all violence from television. He argues that children with non-nurturing parents and those who least identify with
their parents tend to be the most aggressive and that these variables are more influential than T.V. violence in affecting aggression in children.
EU-Kids Online is a large-scale study of the opportunities and constraints offered to children by the digital technology of today. Conducted in dozens (and
growing) of countries around the world, this project has much to tell us about the concerns and joys of childhood on-line. Similarly, Media Smarts is a
Canadian media literacy site that provides data on the lives of kids on-line. Each puts into context the growing usage of digital media and the vast numbers
of sites, Apps, games, social media, Youtube videos and other content that children are consuming today.
Children today are also exposed to a vast number of movies. The invention and normalizing of the home video and the children’s film industry have made a
great impact on society during the last six years. Watching a video is now a popular and regular pastime for children. Stories and characters in films come to
life for children and provide representations of the world. Hanson’s article provides key issues involved in considering the reality of these representations and
the meanings they may have for children and adults alike. Taken together, the books movies and Internet content for and about children is fascinating. What
does it all say about what childhood today has become? Does Leonard’s view of consumption help to frame these representations of children and childhood?
Required Resources
Examine the following websites to get a sense of the size of the studies and some of its main findings
http://www.lse.ac.uk/media@lse/research/EUKidsOnline/Home.aspx
http://mediasmarts.ca/
Now read the following from your Mills and Mills textbook:
Children in film by Stuart Hanson
Childhood and twentieth-century children’s literature by Fay Sampson
Learning Activity 3.3
1-Prepare an analysis (two-pages) of a movie or video game or digital App of your choice that in some way pertains to children; whether it was made for
children or represents them in a particular way. Use Questions 5 and 6 on page 157 of Mills and Mills as a guide to your analysis.
2-What are 5 most important opportunities and constraints of digital technology for children according to EU-KIDS online? Are these the same as thosechers, and policy makers alike often ask this question. Brandon S. Centerwall, an epidemiologist, asserts that children have an
instinctive desire to imitate behaviour. However, they do not possess the instinct for determining the appropriateness of the behaviour for determining