Principal Investigators: Cristina Ponte (Universidade Nova de Lisboa), Joseph Straubhaar (University of Texas at Austin), José Azevedo (Universidade do Porto)
The project’s objectives include:
1.Understand the conditions and tendencies for access and appropriation by users and non- users of digital media, with a focus on families and groups which are digitally excluded and in the digital integration of children and youth; Identify which national, regional, social and cultural modes and contexts could affect digital inclusion and participation;
2. Promote comparative research and advanced education in the digital media;
3. Contribute so that digital industries, digital policy decision makers, and social agents who can intervene in communities (including teachers) understand the practices and understandings of users (and non-users) of digital media;
4. Disseminate recommendations relevant to the development of initiatives for digital inclusion and participation, and contribute to the public debate about digital inclusion.
Specific objectives
1. To enhance digital inclusion and integration:
-Understanding the conditions and tendencies of access, use, appropriations and associated competencies of users and non-users of digital media, with a focus on digitally excluded families and on children and young people;
-Identifying how larger national, regional, social and cultural contexts can affect digital inclusion.
2.To promote comparative research and advanced education on digital media
-Working on a transnational and interdisciplinary approach.
-Training young graduate sudents in researching digital media issues.
-Promoting participatory methods of research
-Generating educational resources
3.To provide information for digital production and public policies
-Contributing to digital content creators and policy makers’ understanding of digital media users, their interests and appropriations of digital media.
4. To identify and disseminate key recommendations, relevant to the development of digital inclusion initiatives
5. To identify any remaining knowledge gaps and methodological lessons learned to inform future projects.
NOTE: This project is funded by the FCT Portugal and conducted under the auspices of the Digital Media program of the UT Austin – Portugal Collaboratory.
To see a project overview, please click here.
Click here for a more comprehensive list of project partners and participants.