Abstract
This chapter discusses how smart toys are being adopted in homes with young children (under 10), using domestication theory (Silverstone and Hirsch in Consuming Technologies: Media and information in domestic spaces. Routledge, London, 1992) as the framework. We report on a qualitative exploratory study aiming to understand the different domestication stages—appropriation, objectification, incorporation and conversion. Our method consisted of visits to a purposive sample of 21 families, combining interviews, activities and non-participant observation. Our findings reveal that parents have mixed perceptions about smart toys—they value their educational potential but fear an excess of technological play and consider them expensive. We found smart toys in a few homes, observing early stages of domestication, with smart toys becoming part of an “ecosystem” of other toys and activities, but still with a “novelty” status.
An earlier version of this work was published in the British Journal of Educational Technology.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Berker, T., Hartmann, M., Punie, Y., & Ward, K. (2006). Domestication of media and technology. London: Open University Press.
Boyatzis, R. E. (1998). Transforming qualitative information: Thematic analysis and code development. Thousand Oaks, London, and New Delhi: Sage.
Brito, R., Francisco, R., Dias, P., & Chaudron, S. (2017). Family dynamics in digital homes: The role played by parental mediation in young children’s digital practices around 14 European countries. Contemporary Family Therapy,39(4), 271–280.
Chambers, D. (2016). Changing media, homes and households: Cultures, technologies and meanings. London: Routledge.
Charmaz, K. (2004). Grounded theory. In S. N. Hesse-Biber & P. Leavy (Eds.), Approaches to qualitative research (pp. 496–521). New York: Oxford University Press.
Chaudron, S., Beutel, M. E., Černikova, M., Donoso, V., Dreier, M., … & Wölfling, K. (2015). Young children (0–8) and digital technology: A qualitative exploratory study across seven countries. JRC 93239/EUR 27052.
Chaudron, S., Di Gioia, R., Gemo, M., Holloway, D., Marsh, J., Mascheroni, G., … Yamada-Rice, D. (2017). Kaleidoscope on the internet of toys—Safety, security, privacy and societal insights. Retrieved from https://goo.gl/TtuntC.
Chen, Z. H., Liao, C., Chien, T. C., & Chan, T. W. (2011). Animal companions: Fostering children’s effort-making by nurturing virtual pets. British Journal of Educational Technology,42(1), 166–180.
Connell, S. L., Lauricella, A. R., & Wartella, E. (2015). Parental co-use of media technology with their young children in the USA. Journal of Children and Media,9, 5–21.
Denscombe, M. (2007). The good research guide: For small-scale social research projects. Maidenhead, England and New York: Open University Press.
Dias, P., & Brito, R. (2016). Crianças (0 a 8 anos) e Tecnologias Digitais. Lisboa: Universidade Católica Portuguesa. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10400.14/19160.
Dias, P., & Brito, R. (2017). Crianças (0 a 8 anos) e Tecnologias Digitais: Que mudanças num ano? Lisboa: Universidade Católica Portuguesa. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10400.14/22498.
Dias, P., Brito, R., Ribbens, W., Daniela, L., Rubene, Z., Dreier, M., … Chaudron, S. (2016). The role of parents in the engagement of young children with digital technologies: Exploring tensions between rights of access and protection, from ‘gatekeepers’ to ‘scaffolders’. Global Studies of Childhood, 6(4), 414–427.
Drotner, K. (1999). Dangerous media? Panic discourses and dilemmas of Modernity. International Journal of the History of Education,35(3), 593–619.
Haddon, L. (2006). The contribution of domestication research to in-home computing and media consumption. The Information Society,22, 195–203.
Haddon, L. (2011). Domestication analysis, objects of study, and the centrality of technologies in everyday life. Canadian Journal of Communication,36(2), 311–313.
Hepp, A., & Krotz, F. (Eds.). (2014). Mediatized worlds: Culture and society in a media age. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Holloway, D., & Green, L. (2016). The internet of toys. Communication Research and Practice,2(4), 506–519.
Holloway, D., & Green, L. (2017). Mediated memory making: The virtual family photograph album. Communications,44(3), 351–368.
Holloway, D. J., Green, L., & Stevenson, K. (2015, August). Digitods: Toddlers, touch screens and Australian family life. M/C Journal, 18(5). ISSN 14412616. (Special Issue). Available at http://www.journal.media-culture.org.au/index.php/mcjournal/article/viewArticle/1024. Accessed 21 December 2018.
Katz, J., & Aakhus, M. (2002). Perpetual contact: Mobile communication, private talk, public performance. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Kotler, P., Kartajaya, H., & Setiawan, I. (2017). Marketing 4.0: Moving from traditional to digital. London: Wiley.
Kucirnova, N., & Sakr, M. (2015). Child-father creative text-making at home with crayons, iPad collage and PC. Thinking Skills and Creativity,17, 59–63.
Lawlor, M. A., & Prothero, A. (2011). Pester power: A battle of wills between children and their parents. Journal of Marketing Management,27(5), 551–561.
Ling, R. (2004). The mobile connection: The cell phone’s impact on society. New York: Morgan Kaufmann.
Livingstone, S., Mascheroni, G., Dreier, M., Chaudron, S., & Lagae, K. (2015). How parents of young children manage digital devices at home: The role of income, education and parental style. EU Kids online. Retrieved from https://goo.gl/6rvdhe.
Livingstone, S., Ólafsson, K., Helsper, E., Lupiáñez-Villanueva, F., Veltri, G., & Folkvord, F. (2017). Maximizing opportunities and minimizing risks for children online: The role of digital skills in emerging strategies of parental mediation. Journal of Communication,67(1), 82–105.
Livingstone, S., & Third, A. (2017). Children and young people’s rights in the digital age: An emerging agenda. New Media & Society,19(5), 657–670.
Llorente & Cuenca. (2017). Consumer engagement trends for 2017: The phygital era. Retrieved from http://www.desarrollando-ideas.com.
Marsh, J. (Ed.). (2005). Popular culture, new media and digital literacy in early childhood. London: Psychology Press.
Marsh, J. (2017). The internet of toys: A posthuman and multimodal analysis of connected play. Teachers College Record, 119. Retrieved from http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/113557/14/38_22073.pdf.
Mascheroni, G., & Holloway, D. (Eds.). (2017). The internet of toys: A report on media and social discourses around young children and IoToys. DigiLitEY. Retrieved from https://goo.gl/2C1VsR.
Mitskavets, I. (2015). Children and teens as influencers. London: Mintel. Retrieved from https://goo.gl/C9Mkcf.
Mukherji, P., & Albon, D. (2010). Research methods in early childhood: An introductory guide. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Nikken, P., & Jansz, J. (2014). Developing scales to measure parental mediation of young children’s internet use. Learning, Media and Technology,39(2), 250–266.
Ofcom. (2017). Children and parents: Media use and attitudes report. Retrieved from https://goo.gl/BrmPF2.
Plowman, L., McPake, J., & Stephen, C. (2008). Just picking it up? Young children learning with technology at home. Cambridge Journal of Education,38, 303–319.
Ray, A. (2012). The methodology of sampling and purposive sampling. Berlin: Grin Publishing.
Reuver, M., Nikou, S., & Bouwman, H. (2016). Domestication of smartphones and mobile applications: A quantitative mixed-method study. Mobile Media & Communication,4(3), 347–370.
Rosin, H. (2013). The touch-screen generation. The Atlantic, 20.
Silverstone, R., & Haddon, L. (1996). Design and the domestication of information and communication technologies: Technical change in everyday life. In R. Silverstone & R. Mansell (Eds.), Communication by design: The politics of information and communication technologies (pp. 44–74). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Silverstone, R., & Hirsch, E. (Eds.). (1992). Consuming technologies: Media and information in domestic spaces. London: Routledge.
Valcke, M., Bonte, S., Wener, B., & Rots, I. (2010). Internet parenting styles and the impact on internet use of primary school children. Computers & Education,55(2), 454–464.
Valkenburg, P. (2002). Beeldschermkinderen: Theorieën over kind en media [Screen-kids: Theories about children and media]. Amsterdam: Boom.
Vincent, J. (2006). Emotional attachment and mobile phones. Knowledge, Technology & Policy,19(1), 39–44.
Wang, W., Kuo, V., King, C., & Chang, C. (2010). Internet of toys: An e-Pet overview and proposed innovative social toy service platform. Computer Symposium (ICS). Tainan, 16–18 December. Retrieved from https://goo.gl/aR4b89.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Brito, R., Dias, P., Oliveira, G. (2019). The Domestication of Smart Toys: Perceptions and Practices of Young Children and Their Parents. In: Mascheroni, G., Holloway, D. (eds) The Internet of Toys. Studies in Childhood and Youth. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-10898-4_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-10898-4_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-10897-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-10898-4
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)