Seeking one, current full-time doctoral student interested
in working with me (Dr. Sara Grimes, Faculty of Information, University of Toronto)
on a SSHRC-funded project entitled Children's
Do-It-Yourself Media: Mapping trends, policy implications and best practices
around children's increased participation in creative cultural production
online. The successful candidate will assemble a comprehensive literature
review, assist in a survey of children’s DIY tools/sites, and contribute to
intellectual direction of theoretical framework. They will act as a key liaison
between project partners and assist in coordinating data collection across the
research team. Writing reports and papers is a key part of this project.
Some background in social sciences (information, education,
communication, sociology, anthropology, etc.) and/or social science research is
required. Experience and/or research interests relating to children/youth and digital
media would be seen as a key asset. As this is a three-year project, there
is a possibility of continuing on the project during the school year. The
research assistant must demonstrate genuine commitment, serious interest, good
work ethic, a strong writing ability, and enthusiasm for collaborating with a
cross-disciplinary team.
If interested, please contact Dr. Sara Grimes at sara[dot]grimes[at]utoronto[dot]ca with a
description of why you're interested and what skills you would bring to the
position, a writing sample, an up-to-date resume, and a list of 2-3 references
(names and contact info only).
Minimum time commitment: 45-50 hrs/month (salary = $35.00/hr),
July-August 2013. Possibility of continuing throughout the school year.
Please note: The project requires that the RA be on
site for a significant portion of the research, i.e. the successful
candidate must be predominantly
situated in Toronto during the time period of the RAship (July-August
2013).
Deadline for application: June 25, 2013.
Project Description:
Children’s
Do-It-Yourself-Media
Children have
long participated in the production of do-it-yourself (DIY) media at the
individual and local scale. These practices form a crucial part of children’s
cultural, social and everyday lives, but are also understood to provide
significant opportunities for learning. Today, children’s DIY media creation
increasingly takes place online, using digital tools that allow them to not
only produce and share their ideas with the world, but also develop many of the
skills they’ll need to be participants, innovators and leaders in the digital
economy. This development has the potential to contribute significantly to the ongoing
democratization of the media, by opening up the means of production and
distribution to a user group that has traditionally been systematically
excluded from contributing directly to these processes. However, outside of a
handful of studies, we currently know very little about the children’s DIY
media phenomenon, the frequency with which children engage in these activities
or what types of media they are producing. There are furthermore significant
gaps in our knowledge of how child-made media is shaped and moderated by the
companies who design DIY media tools and websites, not to mention what types of
policies and design practices work to support children’s DIY media creation and
which ones might in fact hinder children’s creativity and cultural rights.
This project is
aimed at advancing our understanding of an important emerging phenomenon and
mapping the various opportunities and challenges involved. The objectives
include identifying the types of support systems--regulatory, infrastructural,
and technical--required to foster a rights-based, child-centric, inclusive
approach to children's online DIY media production, which will in turn support
children's learning, cultural participation and digital skill development.
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