Wie nutzen Kinder digitale Medien? : Fallstudien der alltäglichen Nutzung von Computer und Internet durch 9- bis 10-jährige Kinder

Children using computers has been a controversial subject from the outset.
Although public debate often argues about the effect of game consoles,
computers and the Internet, scientific studies concerning children’s media
use are almost always based on exclusively quantitative paradigms. On the
other hand, differentiated analysis of the use and appropriation of
digital media by 9- and 10-year-old children in Germany is very scarce.
The present study intends to close this gap using qualitative case studies
which have been collected and evaluated. The key questions in these
detailed case studies are composed of the following points: How, where and
when do 9- and 10-year old children use the computer and other digital
media in their everyday lives? Which role do the various media worlds
(i.e. family, peer group, school and various other important people in the
children’s lives) play in the appropriation of digital media? How do
children use digital media compared to “classic”, “analogue” media? How do
children appropriate digital media? What is the difference between this
appropriation in comparison with the appropriation of other media? This
study follows an interdisciplinary research approach which, while
clarifying the afore mentioned key points, focuses on topics which are
highly relevant for computer science as well as for pedagogy and media
research. The main focus hereby is on the use and appropriation of media,
not on their effects.

The study makes use of qualitative methods of social research, using tools
which include various types of interview and participatory observation.
One particularly important method is the so-called “interactive interview”
which was developed in the course of this study to answer the requirements
of the research field. As a kind of hybrid composed of already existing
methods, the interactive interview allows both better access to the field
as well as the elicitation of valid data. For the evaluation of the
empirical material, several key categories, dimensions and properties are
elicited according to the grounded theory method, which allow for a
systematic description of the individual phenomena within the respective
case studies. A total of ten children formed the core of the case studies
and, of these, three were chosen for the development of the key
categories. The cases were subsequently contrasted with each other in
greater detail. The key categories were Children’s Media Use, Families’
Media Use, Children’s Media Appropriation and Children’s Media
Education.

The result is a clearly differentiated picture of the spectrum of
children’s media use and appropriation practices. Children’s media use is
characterized by great diversity and is subject to constant change. In
everyday use, it is the respective media world by which the child is
currently surrounded which is of vital importance. Each media world
applies its own, different rules and the awareness of this plays an
important part in children’s socialization. Particular focus hereby is on
the role model effect of parental use of the diverse media. In addition to
the three existing media worlds of family, peer group and school, the
internet can be defined as a new, fourth media world: it influences all
the other media worlds and in most cases does not exist autonomously. At
the same time, the existing media worlds face up to the increasing
importance of the internet in everyday life and the challenges involved in
very different ways. In general, a new type of habitus can be observed
concerning the use of digital media in all media worlds. This “digital
habitus” is not to be discerned as distinct from the children’s other
habitus. On the contrary it is, in fact, rather to be seen as a new aspect
of these habitus: the initially playful use and secrecy concerning
passwords that protect personal privacy are typical features of digital
habitus. Additional attributes, e.g. strategies for the correction of
mistakes (by rebooting, or “starting again”) can be seen here as original
and provide an important link to a starting point for further studies. One
of the most important conclusions for computer science is that digital
media should be designed for and with children. This calls for a common
culture of use by children and their parents alike. One future challenge
for pedagogy will be for teachers in the course of their training as well
as for schools themselves to focus intensively on games and social media.
Seen from a research methodological point of view, it would appear to be
ethical issues which play a role when studying social media: researchers
eliciting, evaluating and publishing empirical data are being confronted
with new and as yet unsolved issues due to the blending of mass- and
individual communication in social media.