They say it takes a village to raise a child.
It also takes a team of leading academic researchers and industry experts to help educate, empower, and safeguard children online.
This was demonstrated by the Australian Catholic University-led Young Children in Digital Society (YCDS) project, which culminated in the release of a suite of new evidence-based, free, and user-friendly online resources for educators and families late last year.
The outcome of the four-year project, funded by the Australian Research Council, received positive national media attention across print, online, and broadcast platforms at the time.
But that wasn't the whole story.
In addition to the 40 new resources available on the YCDS website to help educate and protect children in today's digital world was the story of the people and organisations who united to create them.
As lead researcher Professor Suzy Edwards, of ACU's Institute for Learning Sciences and Teacher Education, puts it, the stakes were too high for academic and industry experts, as well as frontline organisations, to work in individual silos.
"Young children using digital technologies intersects with diverse aspects of their learning and development including their relationships with other people, their physical activity and emotional wellbeing, online safety and opportunities for digital play and learning," Professor Edwards said.
"It was necessary for us to have expertise in each of these aspects so we could collaborate on how they could be jointly addressed. Teams were then assembled based on the inclusion of the best mix of industry partner, participating organisation, and research expertise.
"We couldn't have achieved what we did working in individual silos. Our stakeholders - early learning services, educators, families, and ultimately children - deserved quality insights and proven advice from a diverse range of experts, and we delivered that together."
Accordingly, education and health academic researchers from ACU, Curtin University, Deakin University, Monash University, La Trobe University, and the University of Canberra were partnered with industry experts from Early Childhood Australia, the eSafety Commissioner, ABC Kids, Australian Federal Police, Raising Children Network, the Alannah & Madeline Foundation, and Deeper Richer to bring the project to life.
Participating organisations We Belong Family Day Care, Playgroup Western Australia, Lady Gowrie Tasmania, Pope Road Kindergarten, Berwick and District Woodworkers Club, and C & K Childcare & Kindergarten also played a pivotal role in helping experts to conduct research and ensure the new resources were relevant and effective in the real world.
For Professor Edwards' academic colleagues, working directly with industry and organisational partners enhanced the project's mandate to respond to the four areas of technology use outlined in the Early Childhood Australia (ECA) Statement on Young Children and Digital Technologies - relationships, health and wellbeing, citizenship, and play and pedagogy.
"It was exhilarating, as you exchanged ideas and opinions with others who were coming at this work from different angles," Deakin University Professor of Early Childhood Education Andrea Nolan said
"There was respect, and trust was built as everyone was acknowledged for what they brought to the project. What consolidated us all was the shared vision of a positive outcome for young children and their families."
John Curtin Distinguished Professor Leon Straker described the collaborative project as "amazingly successful".
"The digital society that young children are growing up in is very complex, and having diverse viewpoints sharing a common goal enables outcomes that are very robust and likely to be useful for many," he said.
"This project provides a great exemplar of a collaborative project that was very well managed, overcame major difficulties including COVID and delivered great outcomes for academic thinking, but more importantly, for real world sustainable impact to enable young children to thrive in a digital world."
For industry partners, the chance to work with academic researchers was just as beneficial.
"Working alongside subject matter experts in fields we usually would not cross paths with was an opportunity to witness how we all share a common goal but none of us would be able to truly achieve this goal without collaboration," an Australian Federal Police spokesperson said.
"From an AFP perspective, and in particular a prevention and education standpoint, it highlighted for us the need to lean on these ancillary perspectives to ensure our work is based in best practice for the whole child."
A spokesperson for the eSafety Commissioner said academic researchers and industry bodies were able to learn from one another throughout the project.
"Everyone comes from a different angle, but everyone is working towards the same goal of the best interests of children, families and educators. We were able to leverage off each of our expertise for a common goal," she said.
"The final result shows what can be achieved when whole of industry comes together. Having both industry partners and universities collaborating created a much stronger result and we were able to achieve significantly more than if we had been working alone."
Of her involvement in the project, ABC Kids Early Childhood Education producer Laura Stone said empowering children to play, learn and thrive through excellent media and resources was not just a goal for ABC Kids, but an ethical responsibility for the national broadcaster.
"The innovative outputs emerging from this Linkage Project illuminate how the Australian public - especially parents, caregivers, educators, and most importantly children - can harness the power of collaborative, research-driven practices to ensure their end-user journey is filled with genuine meaning and playful opportunity," she said.
"As an early childhood teacher first, and children's media producer second, I value the way this online hub prioritises the evolving needs of our youngest citizens as they navigate the complexities of growing up in a digital society."
Raising Children network director Derek McCormack said his organisation brought experience and expertise in knowledge translation, content development, and the co-creation of evidence-based messages for parents and practitioners to the project.
And the exchange of knowledge was reciprocated.
"My team and I gained insights and practical knowledge about participatory research methods, the philosophy of technology (underpinning this research) and practices theory," he said.
"I also learned a lot about the work of the other collaborating partners and agencies in areas including early care, parenting support, practice development and effective ways to collaborate across organisations and disciplines."
For the Alannah & Madeline Foundation, a spokesperson said their proud involvement in the project and the resulting website of evidence-based resources reflected their purpose of supporting children to thrive, wherever they live, learn and play.
"Having the resource as one that we can now promote and share to our networks is really valuable," she said.
"The collaborative experience of this project strengthened our relationships with key stakeholders and grew our own level of expertise in the space.
"The Foundation representatives were able to learn and grow their knowledge from the other industry partners which in turn reflected stronger understandings of the needs and strengths of the communities in which the resource was created for."
Professor Edwards said the collaborative project had strengthened academic and industry knowledge and led to a holistic approach to empowering early learning services, children and families to engage with digital technologies safely and confidently.
"We have developed a shared understanding across previous disparate areas of national service provision, such as law enforcement, digital media production, professional learning, parenting education and online safety regarding young children and digital technologies," she said.
"This new shared understanding informs an advanced understanding of young children in digital society beyond seeing technologies as good or bad for children towards working together to design, develop and promote resources that help children, families and educators live safely and well with digital technologies."
Harnessing these new shared understandings and research outcomes, the YCDS interactive website includes:
- Articles on topics including how to use technology to build relationships and social skills, ways digital technologies can support peer-to-peer interactions between children, and tips on how digital technologies can be used to spark physical activity.
- Videos to support families to safely enjoy digital content together including a segment on iconic Australian TV show Play School that supports children in building early understandings about safely communicating with people they know in real life online, as well as ways to transition from technology to non-digital activities, and how to link digital content to children's interests.
- Webinars, interactive modules, picture books, and animations for children, parents and guardians, and early childhood educators about online safety.
Young Children in Digital Society
