Children as Digital Brokers

Michel Bauwens is participating in the 7th annual Designs on E-learning 2011 conference, held at Aalto University in Helsinki from 27 to 30 September 2011. The following is part of a selection of blogposts used to prepare the conference.

By Ioana Literat:

“A few weeks ago, on the bus to campus, I witnessed a little family scene that really lingered with me (and attuned me to a potential new research topic – as a memorable experience naturally should!)

On the seat in front of me were a young Hispanic girl, aged around 12-13, and her working-class father, with paint stains on his overalls. The girl, with an iPod Touch in her hand, had put one of the headphones in her father’s ear, and was demonstrating how to play music from the iPod. The father’s thick fingers were not used to a touch-screen and he was smiling coyly at his inability to select the songs. The daughter made him practice until he was finally able to do it, and his face lit up with a wide grin. At that point, the girl felt empowered by her new role as a teacher and took it a step further, showing the dad how to take a picture with the iPod, and snapping a photo of the two of them on the bus, each with a headphone in one ear.

When I got home later that day and “skyped” with my parents, I told them about this scene, since it had really left an emotional mark on me. “Of course,” they said. “If you really think about it, the reason we are talking on Skype right now is because you taught us how to work on a computer and use email, messaging, video-chat and all this!” And that is when I realized the immense significance of the role of children as brokers of new technologies in immigrant families.

Although the function of children as technological brokers is not restricted to immigrant families, in these particular familial contexts, the acquisition of technological or digital skills is seen as a crucial part of a more complex process of adapting to the contemporary American cultural environment, which places an increasing emphasis on the integration of digital technologies into everyday life.

Furthermore, in a new cultural environment, it is often a challenge for the older generation of immigrants to become acclimatized to the cultural landscape of the new society. Thus, children and teenagers often shoulder the responsibility of mediating the new culture for their parents, and facilitating their transition and adaptation within the new environment. This process of cultural mediation, or brokering, most frequently involves linguistic and bureaucratic brokering, but it is not limited to these aspects. In the case of immigrants in the United States and other similar media-saturated environments, a vital dimension of children’s cultural brokering also refers to the intergenerational transmission of technological and digital literacy skills, which are increasingly necessary for a full participation in the new cultural spectrum that characterizes technologically progressive societies.

I would love to explore this topic in greater detail within a future research project, and I’d be curious to find out more about both the children and the parents’ perspectives on the brokering process. Also, if anyone has heard of current or recent projects in this area – since a literature review indicates a vast predominance of writing on linguistic brokering but not very much on digital skills – please let me know, as I would be glad to continue and expand this conversation.”

Source: http://www.designsonelearning2011.com/archives/312

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