VIEWS & OPINION


VIEWS & OPINIO N


Content curation: Parent’s untapped super-power


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It’s no secret that children’s screen time is increasing – a study released earlier this year by Avast found that parents were expecting their kids to spend more than 20 hours in front of a digital device during the October half-term holidays. A further one in six said they thought it was acceptable for young children to use digital devices at the table. Even the American Academy of Paediatrics has announced new screen time guidelines for toddlers, advising that children aged over


18 months could use digital devices to video chat with family or watch “high quality” programmes with their parents.


That’s a lot of time in front of a screen, be it traditional TV or tablets. With children being introduced to the digital world at increasingly early ages, it has never been more important to ensure that the media they consume is carefully curated, wholesome and, of course, fun. As a parent with three young children of my own, I know what a challenge this there are certain things that parents can keep in mind t o the process .


help them through is. That said


I Impressions and Influence mpressions and Influence


their personal and social skills develop or their perceptions o t e world around them.


For example, if we were to carefully examine popular children’s


programmes today, we’d note a number of family settings where the father figure is lazy, incapable of doing any household chores, and regularly absent. A child won’t question whether this is a social norm – they’ll accept this as reality. It’s important parents critically analyse the content their children are watching to ensure it reflects the values they want to share with their children .


Cultural Literacy Cultural Literacy and Localisation –


society like the UK, i world may well not


cy and Localisation


Building on this, let’s not forget that the content kids consume also shapes their cultural discourse what’s cool, trending or relevant in one part of the be relevant in another. And particularly in a diverse t’s a challenge to tick all the boxes.


When we choose content for Azoomee we often have to consider things like the origin of a programme – for example if kids were to watch predominantly American shows they might pick up Americanisms – and ethnicity, to ensure that there’s a good balance between what children find entertaining and engaging, but also what connects the m to their background and heritage .


Information Overl Information Overload oad


It’s no easy feat ensuring the content our children are exposed to is entertaining and enriching. And with so many different content platforms available ranging from broadcast TV to on-demand streaming services and video-sharing platforms the choice is simply overwhelming.


My suggestion is to narrow down your options and stick to quality over quantity – if in doubt, select a few trusted sources where your children can explore mini versions of the internet to their heart’s content. Ultimately, this will make you much more comfortable with what your children are watching and who they might be mimicking as their cultural icons!


1 8 www .education-today.co.uk.co.uk www


We know that kids are impressionable, but we sometimes forget just how much of an impact media can have on their understanding of real life. It’s not just violent or sexualised content that we should be concerned about, but also the subtleties in seemingly innocent media that might influence how f h


Content curation: Parent’s’s untapped super-


Comment by ESTELLE LLOYD, Co-founder, Azoomee Comment by ESTELLE LLOYD, Co-founder, Azoomee


Preparing students f or university stud y


Comment by


DR HARRIET JONES, senior lecturer, the University East Angli a


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When I set out to create a course which would enable teachers to prepare their students for the university study skills they would need, we knew it could be a great benefit to both the students and their future lecturers. But I never predicted the considerable boost in the A-level results of those who took part. While teaching at the University of East Anglia it became apparent that students were struggling with the work we were expecting them to do. They struggled to research a topic, write clearly and concisely and handle lectures. I run a first-year undergraduate course which helps students with these skills, some of which are very basic and I wondered whether thes e were skills students could actually try and master before they arrived at university – or at least appreciate what we would be expecting of them. So I gathered together a team of lecturers from different disciplines and school teachers, and we started planning a course that sixth formers might take to prepare them for university.What emerged, after two years, was the Preuniversity Skills Course (www.preuniversityskills.com). School teachers attend a one-day tr ia ning course, where we discuss the school-to-university transition and how they can best help their pupils prepare for it. They then teach their pupils the material over eight lessons. One of the schools that ran the cou rse offered it to their pupils in the period after their AS exams as an alternative to continuing with the sub ect they would drop when they went into their final A-level year. This brought together a mixture of pupils on the course – those keen to learn about the expectations of university, and those that wanted to avoid continuing with a subject they wanted to drop.


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The positive effect on the students’ A-level results was a huge surprise. The students who took the Preuniversity Skills Course ended up with results that were, on average, a grade higher in each of their subjects than the students who did not. And whatever statistical test we threw at the data, the results always showed a significant difference between the two groups. This was a very exciting result, and raises the question ‘why?’. It could be that the students, given an appreciation of where they were heading, felt more incentivised to work harder. It could have been that the students were developing skills that helped them study for their A-levels. It could have been a combination of these two. It could be that students just needed something motivational, possibly external to their school studies, to move their learning up into another gear


And just as importantly, the course material builds an


understanding of the differences in studying Arts and Sciences, allowing a more informed decision, firstly about whether university is right for them, and secondly whether they are going along the right path of study.


What is particularly incredible about t his study is that we sa w this effect after just eight lessons. So whatever the reason, we’re continuing to encourage the take up of the course in schools. It’s just eight hours of study, which can’t adversely affect grades, has the potential to take students up an entire grade in r A levels, helping them get into the top universities.


thei and


Novembe r 2016 2016


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