Children, tv and the web

The technological revolution of the past twenty years may have moved too fast for some people, but as any grandparent knows, if you need help to operate any digital device, from the TV to the mobile phone, help is at hand - the grandchildren.

Children today grow up in a very different world from their parents and digital technology is a way of life in the classroom and at home when socializing and relaxing.

This use of technology, and the way that it is used particularly by children between the ages of seven and eleven is the basis of a new joint research project by the Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies at Aberystwyth University and one of the biggest producers of children's television, Boomerang+ from Cardiff.

It's not enough any more for a television company to create a programme to entertain the audience. In today's multi-platform world, each programme needs at least a website, as well as interactive online activities, clubs and chat rooms.

The aim of the two year project, funded by the Technology Strategy Board, is to understand the way that young children use technology, and specifically their experience of the relationship between television and the web. This will inform Boomerang+'s long term strategy, as the company prepares to launch S4C's new service that appeals to children aged from 7 to their early teens in spring 2010.

The Department and Boomerang+ will appoint a postgraduate researcher to work with the production team and children who use these services in order to create a new production model that will be of economic benefit for the company.

The work will be based on the academic research of Dr Merris Griffiths, and authority on children's media, including advertising, production conventions and media literacy. Dr Griffiths will supervise the project and generating new data on the media preferences and practices of children in Wales.

Dr Griffiths said: “It will be fascinating to explore what children across Wales think about the form and content of the television programmes and websites made for them. Knowing more about children's multi-platform lives and convergent media activities will help Boomerang+ better understand and assess how their creative work is being received by the target audience.”

Angharad Garlick of Boomerang+ said, "Having a researcher from the University as part of our production teams around and about Wales will help enormously in understanding children’s current, rapidly evolving, viewing habits and, as we look to the future, will help us to meet the needs of our audience, which are likely to change more quickly than ever."

Professor Adrian Kear, Head of the Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies said: "With the help of the University's Commercialisation and Consultancy Services, we have succeeded in matching expertise within the department with the company's needs. With today's increasing emphasis on knowledge transfer between academia and industry, we are confident that we will be able to build on this collaboration with Boomerang+ on many projects which will prove to be mutually beneficial."

Huw Eurig Davies, Chief Executive of the Boomerang Group, said: “The partnership that brings together this transfer of knowledge and disciplines between the University and our production team will provide key information about the way children and young people are changing the way media is used in the digital world. It is a timely and exciting initiative.”

Since the formal partnership between the Department and Boomerang+ was established in October 2008 there has been a good deal of collaboration in developing talent and providing work placements for students. This latest development is the partners' first collaborative research activity.