C H I L D R E N , T E C H N O L O G Y A N D P L AY

Technology and Play - a guide for the media industry

The LEGO Foundation Tecnhology and Play - a guide for the media industry 2

Researchers from the University of Cape Town, South Africa, and the University of Sheffield, UK worked with the LEGO Foundation and Dubit to explore children’s (aged 3-11) use of technology, and its impact on play and learning.

In this booklet, we outline how we carried out the research, share some findings and identify a number of recommendations for the children’s media industry.

Digital

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How we carried out the study

South Africa* UK

1,286Survey respondents

2,429Survey respondents

9Case study families

10Case study families

10Case study children

17Case study children

9Number of early years settings and primary schools involved

5Number of early years settings and primary schools involved

49Focus group children

71Focus group children

30Telephone interviews with parents

30Telephone interviews with parents

14Teachers and community members interviewed

24Teachers and community members interviewed

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*From the Cape Town area

The LEGO Foundation

The LEGO Foundation Tecnhology and Play - a guide for the media industry 4

The research questions and key findings

The LEGO Foundation Tecnhology and Play - a guide for the media industry 5

What is the relationship between children’s use of technology and their play in everyday life?

Standard TV65 % of SA children and 82 %

of UK children have access to

a standard TV.

Laptop23 % of SA children and 72 %

of UK children have access to

a laptop.

Tablet

21 % of SA children and 94 %

of UK children have access to

a tablet.

Smartphone28 % of SA children and 84 %

of UK children have access to

a smartphone.

Q U E S T I O N 1

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What skills and knowledge do children develop in their play with technology?

Holisticskills

Subjectknowledge

Digitalskills

Social, physical,

emotional and

creative skills

E.g. operating devices

and navigating apps,

finding information,

keeping safe, creating

digital content

E.g. language, literacy,

mathematics, science,

geography, history, art

and so on

Q U E S T I O N 2

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How far does children’s play with technology demonstrate the five characteristics of learning through play?

Q U E S T I O N 3

Joyful Children exhibited positive emotions, sometimes after initial frustrations, as they played on a range of devices.

Socially interactive Devices provided opportunities to engage with others, either via co-presence or remotely.

Meaningful Children used technologies, apps and games that related to non-digital interests and their everyday lives.

Actively engaging Children were completely focused when using devices, making choices and demonstrating agency.

Iterative Children tested and tried out different aspects of technologies, revisiting games and apps and making improvements.

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Digital play can foster:

Children use technology playfully to create:

Imagination

Creative thinking

Problem-solving

Persistence

Resilience

Inquisitiveness

Drawings and paintings

Computer games

Music

Rhymes and word play

Writing - stories, lists etc.

What is the relationship between play, technology and creativity?

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Q U E S T I O N 4

The LEGO Foundation Tecnhology and Play - a guide for the media industry 9

How do parents and adults facilitate children’s play with technology, and what are their views on this issue?

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Parents were concerned about:

Safety and privacy

Too much screen time

Commercialisation

Lack of cultural representation

Potential social isolation

Negative emotional impact

Parents were positive about:

Skills and knowledge developed in digital play

Positive emotional impact

Potential for social interaction

Preparation for future education/employment

Q U E S T I O N 5

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Parents facilitated children’s play in the following ways:

Parent facilitation

Free Play

Parents provided resources and space for children’s free play.

Guided Play

Parents helped children in their digital play, and sometimes co-played.

Game Play

Parents played digital games with children, or explained the rules of games to them

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To what extent is children’s play with technology shaped by socio-cultural contexts?Children’s digital play was influenced by the following factors:

Economics

Race / Ethnicity

Gender

Children in South Africa were much less likely to

own a range of digital devices than UK children.

Social class in the UK impacts more on type of

use than access.

Children were disadvantaged when

digital media and games did not provide

representations of their culture and/or

language.

Boys are more likely to play racing games, while

the gender gap across other types of games is

much smaller.B

Q U E S T I O N 6

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Recommendations for the Children's Media Industry

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The children’s media industry should work to develop a set of standards for technology and play. These standards would need to be broad enough to include devices, apps, games, online services and software solutions. The standards should emphasise the need for goods and services to, amongst other factors: Be age appropriate

Foster learning.

Meet a diverse range of learning and development needs.

Be culturally and linguistically diverse.

Enable children to play safely.

Cultivate creativity and imagination.

Give children sufficient choice and autonomy.

Promote sustainability.

Be tested appropriately with children before release. Products should have the best interests of children at their core.

The study identified that there is a lack of cultural relevance in many media/digital texts provided for South African children. The Western nature of these narratives is the norm and researching the design, production and use of more situated digital tools that are culturally appropriate is urgent. There is a need for African games, practices and narratives that include the sound and rhythms of Africa and its musical

instruments to be developed and disseminated, with minimal cost implications.

A lack of diversity in digital play products is also of concern in other countries, including the UK, and producers should focus on the development of toys, games and apps that represent the diversity of contemporary childhoods. This would include the development of toys, games and services that are diverse in terms of racial/ethnic representation, but also in relation to representations of gendered identities and disability, for example. In addition, many children live in families with LGBT+ parents and/ or wider family members, and/or live in single parent families, or with extended families who co-habit, or live in foster or adoptive homes, and so on, and so games should reflect this diversity of family life.

In the study, children made insightful comments about digital play products that could have informed their design. Where possible, the industry should do more to engage children in digital toy/play design. This could be through the use of extended observations of play, but also talking to children about products, either individually or in focus groups. Diverse methods should be used, such as visual methods (including the use of point-of-view cameras), use of concept mapping, classifying and sorting and storying (developing narratives around products). However, more innovative approaches could include co-development of products from the design stage through to production.

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Given the current context in which post-digital play takes place across analogue and digital domains, more products could be developed that integrate online/offline play, some related to traditional forms/genres/titles, which extend their possibilities. In addition, products in this area could pay attention to ways in which devices can foster physical, outdoor play. There was evidence from this study that children are using wearable devices such as Fitbits to compete against each other, for example, but toys could create opportunities for competitions, leagues, and so on.

The value of family play was reconfirmed in this study, as digital play served to thicken emotional ties and foster intergenerational understanding. There is a need to develop more games and devices that foster family play, as there appeared to be an over-reliance on a few titles, particularly in the UK. The games should pay attention to the ease of on-boarding (becoming familiar with a game and its potential) and should consider imaginative ways to interface not just with televisions but also smart assistants.

There was limited take-up of Virtual Reality games, but this may be because affordable technology is relatively new. In addition, more attention should be paid to fostering storytelling and narrative in VR, as advocated by Yamada-Rice, Mushtaq, Woodgate et al. (2017).

Finally, digital play involves content creation and some of this content is focused on toy and game brands and apps. Whilst quality is variable, there is little doubt that such content drives children’s engagement with these brands. Companies should, therefore, think of imaginative ways to engage positively with this user-generated content that moves beyond appropriating popular genres (e.g. unboxing) for their own ends.

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ConclusionThe Children, Technology and Play study demonstrated the important role that digital devices play in children’s lives. Enabling children and

their families to make the most productive and safe use of technology to enhance digital play is a shared responsibility across families, governments, educational institutions and the industry, and the

children’s media industry has a vital role to play in this.

The full report can be accessed here: https://www.LEGOfoundation.com/en/learn-how/knowledge-base/children-tech-play/

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