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Children and the Web

This broad area of research covers topics such as how children engage with the web, how websites are designed in a way which does not effectively outline the access to harmful information and the influence which the internet has had on both children and adults.

Collaborations with other scholars pointed towards the danger of unintended access by children to harmful materials (pornography, hate sites, grooming). This was through the use of informed consent, whereby participants were provided with documents both physically (on paper) and through digital outlets (computers). Issues arose whereby in an online scenario, authentication of a persons age is not full proof, therefore there is much scope for children to access material which is intended for a more mature audience. Similar studies3 have been carried out on a similar premise whereby through changes in familiar web settings, users can be easily led to incorrect areas of the internet.

Co-authoring the book, Psychology and the internet: Intrapersonal, Interpersonal, and Transpersonal Implications, Varnhagen looked into issues such as social development, unwanted exposure to harmful content, bullying and predation. Disorganized content and unclear routes have paved the way for multiple ways to inadvertently access suspect content. Critical appraisal is one of the main tools which was found to be of vast importance when identifying the right information. In summarization, Varnhagen found that through correct guidance and teaching of children, sound decisions can be made by the children, which in turn is also empowering them through trust. Akin to these findings are those which highlighted similar issues with undergraduate students who did not use sound judgement (critical appraisal) and in turn fell afoul of contradictory information online. Other research carried out by Varnhagen in terms of web design and dynamics has pinpointed towards the importance of correct website/webpage layout. Points such as how much space should be applied in context with the content of each webpage, and optimum character count per line have also been highlighted in order for effective web learning to be reached.

Research carried out by Varnhagen also overlaps each other, with another poignant study into Spelling and the Web (Spelling is another vein of research which Varnhagen is a specialist in). Findings from this report indicated that children are increasingly using the internet to help the with their studies and homework. With this however has come a degradation in the standard of spelling due to tools such as auto-correct. This in turn means that when some children misspelled words to such an extent that the auto-correct could not rectify the issue, they would give up. Another overlapping article which Varnhagen co-authored had a mixture of both children and the web, and also instructional technology; this study highlighted that students found that the use of online teaching was an effective way of learning when compared to regular classroom settings. The highlight was that the communicative techniques were more effective then the informational techniques.