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ESRC Seminar Series

The educational and social impact of new technologies on young people in Britain - fourth publication now available

Conference: Maximising opportunities for young learners in the digital age

Said Business School, University of Oxford University

This conference was the final event in the series. A packed hall in the Said Business School in Oxford heard a wide range of stimulating and challenging presentations from some key figures in the field. Sound files of each presentation are available (please see Conference page), as well as some PowerPoint presentations.
A special issue of the Oxford Review of Education arising from this conference is currently in preparation.

students seminar

  • What are the benefits of new technologies for children and young people?
  • How can society ensure ICTs contribute to positive educational outcomes?
  • What can a multidisciplinary research framework offer practitioners?

These and other questions will be addressed by a new seminar series funded by the ESRC, to run between 2008 and 2009.

John Coleman, Sonia Livingstone, Chris Davies and Ingrid Lunt will work with academics and practitioners from many different backgrounds and disciplines to create a network of interested parties involved in different ways with young people and new technologies.

The distinctive contribution of the seminars is anticipated as follows:

  • Led by active researchers who combine a knowledge of adolescent development, an interest in new technologies, and a commitment to capacity building in the research community.
  • Guided by the recognition that, although new technologies are frequently seen as potentially harmful to children and young people, the positive benefits too often go unrecognised.
  • Committed to bringing together those who have an interest in sharing ideas about the positive benefits of technology for young people.
The seminars will be directed not only at academics, but also at professionals and policy makers from many different backgrounds.  We are delighted that we have involvement not only from the universities of Oxford, the London School of Economics, Bristol, Leeds and Northwestern in the USA, but also of key voluntary organisations, of policy makers, and of industry through the involvement of British Telecom, Hewlett Packard and Vodafone.

Involving children: we are also pleased to have the involvement of a number of secondary schools which have agreed to the participation of young people across the adolescent age range. Their voices and experiences will be brought into the conduct of the seminars throughout.

We expect to publish a variety of outputs resulting from the seminars, including enhanced podcasts of each seminar, presentations from each seminar which will be available for downloading, and a published book reflecting the main conclusions of the seminar series.