Top

Education and Information Technologies

Published in:

01-03-2011

Are online communities for young people an issue for education researchers? A literature review of Swedish and international studies within the educational field

Author: Camilla Jonsson

Published in: Education and Information Technologies | Issue 1/2011

Activate our intelligent search to find suitable subject content or patents.

search-config

AI-assisted search

Off

Abstract

Issues concerning children and young people are of interest for the educational field as question about fostering, up-bringing, learning and socialisation are core topics for academic researchers in education. Today many young people in Sweden and around the world spend an increasing amount of their time in online communities or social networking sites. This article aims to investigate whether it also is highlighted by the education researchers. Is it an area to which educational researchers currently contribute? The goal for this article is to present research that is done regarding these issues. My findings show that few academic studies deal with youth and their online environments. Foremost is the research about Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in formal learning situations: in higher education, in schools and classrooms, among professional groups such as teachers and about more general computer use rather than on questions about the fostering or up-bringing of children online. This study implies that online activities for children and young people is a topic currently lying outside the educational research field, resulting in a discussion on why that can be. My work consisted of three parts: a manual search in Swedish research journals at a university library and by searching one Swedish (Libris) and one international (ISI Web of Science) online database. This activity took place in 2009 and covered research conducted between 2003 and 2008. I conclude that this area is one where educational expertise is lacking; hence further research is strongly required.

previous article E-Learning change management and communication strategies within a HEI in a developing country: Institutional organisational cultural change at the University of the Western Cape

next article E-learning in life long education: A computational approach to determining listening comprehension ability

Dont have a licence yet? Then find out more about our products and how to get one now:

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

über 102.000 Bücher
über 537 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

Automobil + Motoren
Bauwesen + Immobilien
Business IT + Informatik
Elektrotechnik + Elektronik
Energie + Nachhaltigkeit
Finance + Banking
Management + Führung
Marketing + Vertrieb
Maschinenbau + Werkstoffe
Versicherung + Risiko

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

über 67.000 Bücher
über 340 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

Bauwesen + Immobilien
Business IT + Informatik
Finance + Banking
Management + Führung
Marketing + Vertrieb
Versicherung + Risiko

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now

Springer Professional "Technik"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Technik" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

über 67.000 Bücher
über 390 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

Automobil + Motoren
Bauwesen + Immobilien
Business IT + Informatik
Elektrotechnik + Elektronik
Energie + Nachhaltigkeit
Maschinenbau + Werkstoffe

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now

Aftonbladet. (2001). Kolla vem ditt barn chattar med (Check who your kid is chatting with: in Swedish). Aftonbladet, 18 May. Available from: http://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/article20938.ab [Accessed 7 January 2009].

Aftonbladet. (2006). Här är familjen LunarStorm (Here is the LunarStorm family: in Swedish). Aftonbladet, 27 October. Available from: http://www.aftonbladet.se/wendela/relationer/article450999.ab [Accessed 7 January 2009].

Almqvist, J. (2006). Teknikretorik i utbildningspolitik (Technology Rhetoric in Education Policy: In Swedish). Pedagogisk Forskning i Sverige, 11(1), 19–38.

boyd. d. m., & Ellison, N. B. (2007). Social network sites: Definition, history, and scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13(1), article 11, 0-0.

Campell, A. J., Cumming, S. R., & Hughes, I. (2006). Internet use by the socially fearful: Addiction or therapy? CyberPsychology and Behaviour, 9(1), 69–81.CrossRef

Dagens Nyheter (2002). Filmare åtalas för barnporrbrott (Movie maker condemned for crime against child pornography: in Swedish). Dagens Nyheter, 10 October. Available from:http://www.dn.se/DNet/jsp/polopoly.jsp?a=64388 [Accessed 7 January 2009].

Dagens Nyheter (2003). Till allmän beskådan i eget krypin (Your online space is for all everyone to watch: in Swedish). Dagens Nyheter, 4 June.

Dagens Nyheter (2004). Nätsajt gräddfil till unga köpare (A website with easy access to young consumers: in Swedish). Dagens Nyheter, 21 March. Available from: http://www.dn.se/DNet/jsp/polopoly.jsp?a=246592 [Accessed 7 January 2009].

Daily Mail. (2006). Paedophile warning over teen websites Bebo and MySpace. Daily Mail, 3 July. Available from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-393764/Paedophile-warning-teen-websites-bebo-MySpace.html [Accessed 8 January 2009].

Daily Mail. (2007). Social websites like MySpace encourage anorexia. Daily Mail, 10 August. Available from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-474329/Social-websites-like-MySpace-encourage-anorexia-warn-charities.html [Accessed 8 January 2009].

Dunkels, E. (2007). Bridging the distance: children´s strategies on the internet. Thesis (PhD). Umeå University. Umeå: Sweden.

Haythornthwaite, C. (2006). Digital divide — Social Barriers On- and Offline. Proceedings of International Conference Cyberworld Unlimited. 9– 11 of February, Bielefeld, Germany.

IDC. (2004). IDC’s Information social index. Available from: http://www.idc.com/groups/isi/main.html [Accessed 10 October 2008].

Jonsson, C. (2003). Lunarstorm och identitetsutveckling — en virtuell med verklig resurs för tonårsflickor? (LunarStorm and Identity Establishment. A virtual but real development aid for female teenagers?: in Swedish). Thesis (Master). Umeå University. Umeå: Sweden.

Klerfelt, A. (2004). Ban the computer, or make it a storytelling machine. Bridging the gap between the children’s media culture and Pre-School. Pedagogisk Forskning, 48(1), 73–93.

Livingstone, S. (2005). Mediating the public/private boundary at home: Children’s use of the internet for privacy and participation. Journal of Media Practice, 6(1), 41–51.CrossRef

Livingstone, S. (2008). Taking risky opportunities in youthful content creation: Teenagers’ use of social networking sites for intimacy, privacy and self-expression. New Media & Society, 10(2), 393–411.CrossRef

Ljung-Djärf, A. (2004). Spelet runt datorn: datoranvändande som meningsskapande praktik i förskolan (Play around the computer: Computer use as meaning-shaping practice in pre-school: In Swedish). Pedagogisk Forskning i Sverige, 9(2), 115–128.

Löfberg, C. (2008). Möjligheternas arena? Barns och ungas samtal om tjejer, killar, känslor och sexualitet på en virtuell arena (Arenas of Possibilities? Children’s and Young People’s conversations about Girls, Boys, Emotions and Sexuality on a Virtual arena: in Swedish). Thesis (Ph.D). Stockholm University. Stockholm: Sweden.

Lövheim, M. (2004). Intersecting identities: Young people, religion, and interaction on the Internet. Thesis (PhD). Uppsala University. Uppsala: Sweden.

Manago, A. M., Graham, M. B., Greenfield, P. M., & Salimkhan, G. (2008). Self-presentation and gender on myspace. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 29, 446–458.CrossRef

McGinnis, T., Goodsteing-Stolzenberg, A., & Costa Saliani, E. (2007). “Indnpride”: Online spaces of transnational youth as sites of creative and sophisticated literacy and identity work. Linguistics and Education, 18, 283–304.CrossRef

Mesch, G. S., & Talmud, I. (2007). Similarity and the quality of online and offline social relationships among adolescents in Israel. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 17(2), 455–466.CrossRef

Newholm, T., Keeling, K., McGoldrick, P., Macaulay, L., & Doherty, L. (2008). The digital divide and the theory of optimal slack. New Media & Society, 10(2), 295–319.CrossRef

Peter, J., Valkenburg, P. M., & Schouten, A. P. (2005). Developing a model of adolescent friendship formation on the internet. CyberPsychology & Behaviour, 8(5), 423–430.CrossRef

Preece, J., Maloney-Krichmar, D., & Abras, C. (2003). History of Emergence of Online Communities. In K. Christensen & D. Levinson (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Community: From Village to Virtual World. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 1023–1027.

Raacke, J., & Bonds-Raacke, J. (2008). MySpace and Facebook: Applying the uses and gratifications theory to exploring friend-networking sites. Cyberpsychology & Behavior, 11(2), 169–174.CrossRef

Rheingold, H. (1994). The Virtual community: Finding connection in a computerized world. London: Secker & Warburg.

Rumsey, S. (2008). How to find information. Berkshire: Open University press.

Seepersad, S. (2004). Coping with loneliness: Adolescent online and offline behavior. CyberPychology and Behavior, 7(1), 35–39.CrossRef

Sjöborg, A. (2006). Bibeln på mina egna villkor: en studie av medierade kontakter med Bibeln med särskilt avseende på ungdomar och Internet (The Bible on my Own Terms. A Study on Mediated Contacts with the Bible with Special Reference to Youth and the Internet: in Swedish). Thesis (PhD). Uppsala University, Uppsala: Sweden.

Sørensen Holm, B. (2005). Information and computing technology and the gap between school pedagogy and children’s culture. Pedagogy, Culture and Society, 13(1), 43–57.CrossRef

Sundén, J. (2003). Material virtualities. New York: Peter Lang.

Svenska Dagbladet. (2002). Träffpunkt fullträff på nätet (A smashing meeting point on the Net: in Swedish). Svenska Dagbladet, 11 June. Available from: http://www.svd.se/naringsliv/arkivnyheter/artikel_1039685 [Accessed 7 January 2009].

The Australian. (2007). Social networks ‘addictive’ for youth. The Australian, 4 November. Available from: http://www.news.com.au/technology/story/0,,22705896-5014108,00.html [Accessed 7 January 2009].

Thulin, E. (2004). Ungdomars virtuella rörlighet: användningen av dator, internet och mobiltelefon i ett geografiskt perspektiv. (The virtual mobility of young people — the use of computers, the Internet and mobile phones from a geographical perspective: in Swedish). Thesis (PhD). University of Göteborg. Göteborg: Sweden.

Tynes, B. M. (2007). Internet safety gone wild? sacrificing the educational and psychosocial benefits of online social environments. Journal of Adolescent Research, 22(6), 575–584.CrossRef

USA Today. (2005). Teens wear their hearts on their blog; Web diaries that let kids interact put them at risk. USA Today, 31 October. Available from: http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/USAToday/access/919406941.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Oct+31%2C+2005&author=Janet+Kornblum&pub=USA+TODAY&edition=&startpage=D.1&desc=Teens+wear+their+hearts+on+their+blog+%3B+Web+diaries+that+let+kids+interact+put+them+at+risk [Accessed 8 January 2009].

USA Today. (2006). Teens hang out at MySpace: Web is now a real place to socialize. USA Today, 9 January. Available from: http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/USAToday/access/960638631.html?dids=960638631:960638631&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Jan+9%2C+2006&author=Janet+Kornblum&pub=USA+TODAY&edition=&startpage=D.1&desc=Teens+hang+out+at+MySpace+%3B+Web+is+now+a+real+place+to+socialize [Accessed 8 January 2009].

Valkenburg, P. M., Schouten, A. P., & Peter, J. (2005). Adolescents’ identity experiments on the internet. New Media Society, 7(3), 383–402.CrossRef

Williams, B. T. (2006). Girl power in a digital world: Considering the complexity of gender, literacy, and technology. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 50(4), 300.CrossRef

Ybarra, M. L., Diener-West, M., & Leaf, P. J. (2007). Examining the overlap in internet harassment and school bullying: Implications for school intervention. The Journal of Adolescent Health, 41, 42–50.CrossRef

Title: Are online communities for young people an issue for education researchers? A literature review of Swedish and international studies within the educational field
Author: Camilla Jonsson
Publication date: 01-03-2011
Publisher: Springer US
Published in: Education and Information Technologies / Issue 1/2011
Print ISSN: 1360-2357
Electronic ISSN: 1573-7608
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-010-9128-6

Springer Professional

Abstract

Please log in to get access to your license.

Dont have a licence yet? Then find out more about our products and how to get one now:

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik"

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

Springer Professional "Technik"

Other articles of this Issue 1/2011

Editorial vol 16, no 1: Online learning technologies

E-Learning change management and communication strategies within a HEI in a developing country: Institutional organisational cultural change at the University of the Western Cape

Formalization and implementation of Eliminating and Optimizing Selection (EOS) approach

Students’ opinions on blended learning and its implementation in terms of their learning styles

Distance learning technology and service support in Greece: The case study of the Aristotle University over the last decade

E-learning in life long education: A computational approach to determining listening comprehension ability

Premium Partner