Kylie J Stevenson

This project investigates Western Australian school children’s expressions of digital identity, creativity and agency through their participation in teaching artist-led digital puppetry workshops facilitated by the West Australian-based Spare Parts Puppet Theatre (SPPT). Within these workshops, WA students utilise a custom-made iPad application enabling the design,creation and manipulation (via hand scanning) of their own puppet, after which students learn to rehearse and digitally record a small skit of their own making.

The aim of this study is to explore the nuances and variations in children with hearing loss and their individual needs and experiences of aural/sensory input engaging in digital music play experiences. Through qualitative ethnographic methods, this study will explore the digital play of children with hearing impairment and capture the nuances of their actions, activities and perspectives. In collaboration with Music Beat, music therapists with extensive national and international clinical experience in paediatric and family-centred early intervention music therapy, three participatory workshops will be delivered. The workshops have an overarching music play focus (exploring dynamics and pitch, rhythm and tempo, timbre and texture) in which the children explore various digital instruments. This study focuses on understanding how children with hearing loss engage with digital music experiences independently and with support from their parents, researchers and industry practiioners who facilitate the workshops.

This research explored children’s digital safety and citizenship through multi-stakeholder collaborations in three countries—India, South Korea, and Australia. In ethnographic fieldwork, we have engaged with two groups of stakeholders: children aged 3–13; and adults who are policy, education and/or industry influencers. In roundtable discussions underpinned by a deep literature review and applying creative methods, we have engaged child and adult stakeholder in the three countries in collaborative conversations to gain insights about their experiences of, and approaches to, young children’s digital safety and citizenship (including education, support and regulation).