Digital literacies with children

Key Findings

• Young children can meaningfully contribute to co‑producing digital literacy knowledge when given suitable support and creative formats.
• Picture books can be an effective medium to unearth children’s digital experiences and ways of thinking about online safety, privacy, identity, and digital participation.
• Co‑production (working with young people rather than for them) enhances children’s agency, allowing their perspectives to shape what digital literacies means in everyday terms.
• The methods employed helped children to communicate their digital preferences, concerns, and strategies around digital culture: how they interact online, what worries them, what helps them feel safe.
• Insights from children revealed gaps between what adults assume children know or need, and what children actually feel or experience.
• The project suggests that educational materials such as picture books designed with children’s input can better address both what children need to know (safety, privacy, identity, critical thinking) and how they might appreciate being engaged with.
• Co‑produced resources can support meaningful engagement in schools and at home by reflecting children’s real digital practices rather than abstract or adult focused messages