The Tech Shock Podcast - Natalia Kucirkova
In this episode, Vicki and Geraldine are joined by Natalia Kucirkova, professor of Reading and Children’s Development at the Open University, professor of Early Childhood Education and Development at Norway’s University of Stavanger, and researcher into the impact of children’s digital books.
Natalia begins by suggesting that digital books (or ‘eBooks’) might be a more inclusive way of satisfying the varied nature of children’s needs. These types of resources, Natalia continues, can allow children – some of whom may be excluded from printed books – easier access to stories and storytelling.
The caveat here, however, is that eBooks have to be well-designed. When they aren’t “anchored by research” and science, they may actually have adverse effects on children’s development.
This leads the group onto our attitudes towards reading, and the purpose of reading when it comes to children – is it more for pleasure, for education, or should it be for both? Similarly, might we be wrongly biassed towards the nostalgia of print, or could the ‘bells and whistles’ of some eBooks actually result in low-quality reading experiences?
Finally, the group discusses the commercialisation of eBooks and how this could negatively impact children. Might we see the gaming industry’s ‘dark nudge’ techniques applied to reading? And is it possible that personalised digital books – often advertised as being pro-diversity – are just another instance of surveillance capitalism?
Next week Vicki and Geraldine are in conversation with Simeon Yates, professor of Digital Culture at the University of Liverpool. They'll be talking about media literacy – how many in Britain are digitally illiterate, why our data matters, and the place of digital skills in the workplace.