Jos de Haan

Guiding young children’s internet use at home: Problems that parents experience in their parental mediation and the need for parenting support

Using an online questionnaire among 785 parents (children 0-7 years) in the Netherlands we investigated a) whether parents experience problems when guiding children’s digital media usage, b) whether they feel competent in dealing with these problems, c) whether they need parenting support, and d) how these problems, competences and need for support are related to the characteristics of the parents, the family and the child. The analyses reveal that the parents’ experiences of problems is associated with negative views on media effects, the presence of older siblings living at home and occur especially when their child is active on social media. Parents’ feelings of competence are enhanced by positive views on media effects, older children being present in the home, and the involvement of the young child in educational games and media skill level. Parents feel less confident if their child is active on social media. Support is primarily dependent on the level of problems at hand. Moreover, professionals are consulted especially when parents feel less competent, their child is active on social media and no older siblings are present at home. Parents ask family or friends for advice when they have a negative view on media effects.

How The Internet Skills Of European 11- To 16-Year-Olds Mediate Between Online Risk And Harm

Not all children who use the internet will experience harm from the online risks they encounter. One of the factors that might moderate the relationship between risk and harm is childrens internet skills. As there has been little research on this topic, this article examines the influence of internet skills on the prevalence of online risks and the degree to which 11- to 16-year-olds experience being harmed by these risks, using data from the EU Kids Online project. The findings suggest that, whilst older children (aged 13–16) are exposed to more online risks, younger children (11–12) report more often being harmed by these risks. After controlling for differences between children due to demographics and internet experience, as well as country differences (using multilevel analysis), the findings reveal that children with more self-reported internet skills experience more risks online. Such skills do not seem to contribute much to differences in being harmed by online risks.

Safety by Literacy? Rethinking the Role of Digital Skills in Improving Online Safety

It is generally assumed that children can avoid negative consequences from using the Internet by acquiring and improving their digital skills. These skills are part of the broader concept of digital literacy. They encompass several types of skills or dimensions, ranging from basic skills to strategic skills, related to the technology of computers and the Internet, as well as to the use and evaluation of information online. Due to the current characteristics of interactive—Web 2.0—Internet use, digital skills also increasingly comprise social skills and the creative skills needed to produce and upload content to the Web. Some publications do not support the assumption that more skills mean fewer Internet risks. In fact they suggest precisely the opposite, namely that more skills are associated with more risks. The main questions addressed in this chapter are: To what extent do children acquire the skills needed to use the Internet safely? How do the different types of skills relate to online risk experience? How can children learn to master the skills needed to use the Internet safely? In this chapter, we focus particularly on the situation in the Netherlands, as this country ranks among the highest scorers for Internet penetration and use, both among the general public and among young people. High Internet access figures might implicitly suggest that children are also automatically highly skilled in using the Internet safely. In this chapter, we present some empirical findings about children’s mastery of the different dimensions of digital skills. We will then explore the relationship between skills and online safety, as well as the implications for children’s acquiring of digital literacy via peers, parents, schools, government and industry.

De trage acceptatie van snelle media

Jos de Haan gaat in de negende Tiele-lezing in op de integratie van nieuwe media in het dagelijks leven van Nederlanders. Vrijwel iedere Nederlander heeft tegenwoordig een mobiele telefoon en surft op het web. We bellen, mailen en twitteren wat af, we zijn bezig met e-shoppen, online games, muziek en films. Meer en meer kan informatie via het web worden verspreid, geconsumeerd en geproduceerd. Het schrijven op papier en het lezen van gedrukte kranten en boeken loopt terug, maar zal het verdwijnen? De nieuwe media mogen snel zijn, brede acceptatie ervan lijkt met enige traagheid te komen. De verspreidings- en gebruikspatronen van digitale technologie onder de bevolking blijken namelijk niet eenduidig. Tussen technofiele voorlopers en technofobe achterblijvers bevindt zich een grote groep die de elektronische snelweg bedachtzaam betreedt, terwijl jongeren juist intens genieten van alles wat de mobiele jeugdcultuur ze biedt. Naar verwachting zullen we het komende decennium dan ook leven met de rijkdom van oude en nieuwe media naast elkaar.

21st-Century digital skills instrument aimed at working professionals: Conceptual development and empirical validation

Employees with high levels of 21st-century digital skills are beneficial for organizations characterized by rapid technological changes and complex knowledge bases. Although a number of instruments have been used to measure digital skills, they do not consider the broad range of 21st-century skills. Additionally, available measures are limited by their use of agreement scales and by their primary focus on students or citizens. This study aims to overcome these limitations by developing a set of reliable measures that focuses on the frequency of activities performed by working professionals to assess each core 21st-century digital skill. To this end, we conducted cognitive interviews, a survey pilot, and a full survey among a large sample of professionals working within the creative industries. The result is a theoretical, empirically validated instrument that measures six types of 21st-century digital skills: information, communication, collaboration, critical-thinking, creativity, and problem-solving skills.

Teens @ Culture The Online Communications of Dutch High School Teenagers on Popular and Highbrow Culture

Teenagers’ interest in highbrow culture like classical music, museums and plays is somewhat low, but this group’s extensive Internet use may heighten this interest and increase their cultural participation online. In contrast to previous research, we examined teenagers’ online involvement in both popular and highbrow culture. An investigation among 892 high school teenagers indicated that explanations from the fields of cultural participation and media use account for differences in online cultural involvement. Teenagers with parents who are more highly educated and culturally active, and those with culturally interested friend are in turn more interested in culture, and communicate online more about both highbrow and popular culture. In addition to interest and socialization, there appears to be a minor mobilization effect of Internet use, as those with better digital skills and spending more time online engage more in online cultural communications.

Trends, conclusies en aanbevelingen

Vanaf het begin van de opmars van internet, en zeker na de komst van breedbandinternet, stelden opvoeders en leerkrachten zich de vraag wat kinderen moeten leren om veilig en effectief met nieuwe media om te gaan. Welke vaardigheden zijn er nodig om hen mediawijze burgers te maken? En wat is onze taak daarbij? Deze bundel laat zien dat deze vragen nog steeds zeer relevant zijn en nadrukkelijk ook gelden voor jonge kinderen. Kinderen houden nog steeds het meest van buiten zijn, sporten, en spelen met vrienden. Toch zien we dat ze steeds jonger online gaan en steeds meer tijd online besteden. Ook daar spelen en praten ze met hun vrienden. In Europa zijn de Nederlandse kinderen zelfs koploper vergeleken bij hun buitenlandse leeftijdgenoten. Ook het bezit van een mobieltje maakt een snelle groei door onder kinderen van 6 tot 12 jaar.

Commentary and Debate Special Section Introduction: Defining media diversity

Abstract Against the background of the current European competitive media landscape, the media are more and more compelled to legitimize their activities in their own national context as well as at a European level. Meanwhile, the nature of the media diversity in The Netherlands has changed tremendously; from a society divided along political and religious lines, it has evolved towards a multi-ethnic society. Hence, both the conceptualizing and operationalizing of media diversity from an academic as well as a media practical perspective prove to be hot topics. An expert meeting was held at the Department of Communication at Radboud University Nijmegen in December 2004 in which the contours of media diversity in general and in The Netherlands in particular were explored. Institutional performance as well as program-related aspects linked to the notion of media diversity were discussed. Media diversity was explored from the angle of media economics (How many media actors are there? What about the competition? Is competition deadly or just healthy or somewhere in between?) as well as from the perspective of the program/format level (Is it more of the same? A lot of imports? What about criteria for quality, innovation? Does the public broadcaster make any difference?). In addition, the audience reception perspective (Are these media production and distribution trends followed by media use patterns?) as well as methodologically problematic aspects one encounters when measuring media diversity were assessed. What follows here is a selection of several most pertinent views on this complex topic. We welcome each critical insight from other geographical contexts which might stimulate the debate on measures of open and reflective diversity in the media.