Webwatch – Young Digital

Digital and social media offer new and creative ways to conduct, as well as share, research. Capitalising on this is a team of researchers from the Universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow that has developed an enterprising initiative – a website resource for anyone with an interest in using digital media for research, consultation or participation activities with children and young people.

Funded by the ESRC and known as Young Digital, the resource was developed out of the course ‘Using digital media in research with children and young people’ at the Centre for Research on Families and Relationships (CRFR), University of Edinburgh. Participants who came on the course wanted to explore: different technologies; a range of methods; ethical issues that arise when using digital media; and involving young people as participants and co-researchers.

The content of the website draws on commissioned contributions from experts in research, consultation, education and participation with children and young people; extensive searching of existing resources, specifically those available online on research with children, young people’s participation, e-safety, ethics and the technical aspects of working with digital media; and feedback and contributions from participants on the course.

Young Digital is designed for researchers in higher education, the public sector, non-governmental and commercial organisations; professionals using research skills and techniques in research, consultation or participation activities with children and young people; and young people involved in research or consultation activities as participants, peer researchers or co-producers. It covers topics including choosing technologies such as social media and mobile devices, and using audio/visual media; the various methods of conducting research and the analysis and dissemination of it; ethics and digital media; and co-producing research with young people using digital media.

Visit the Young Digital website: http://www.youngdigital.net/
Visit our child care and protection research collection of videos and audio: http://www.iriss.org.uk/child-care-and-protection-research-collection