DigiLitEY's Smart Parenting

As an American, based in Europe, I am fortunate enough to see some of the best resources on two continents and I spend a good percentage of my time curating the best content for digital parents no matter where they are located.

To that end, I wanted to share a newly launched resource, called Smart Parenting, which was the result of several years of research under the Digital Literacy for Under 8 years olds Project, or DigiLitEY.

DigiLitEY is a European interdisciplinary research network that focuses on children under 8, with the goal to examine and respond flexibly to the learning potential of both existing and emerging communicative technologies.

In other words, DigiLitEY studied how children engage with new media devices (tablets, wearable technologies, 3D printers, robots, augmented reality apps, toy and games) and reported on the outcomes for policy and early childhood practice.

Each working group had a specific focus and I invite you to read further:

The work on this project was fascinating and the reports and publications make valuable contributions to the literature. But for the purposes of this blogpost, I wanted to specifically point you to one resource for parents of children under 8: The Smart Parenting Guide. You can download the guide here.

But here is a sneak peek into the 5 chapters of this guide, designed to help parents think more about raising children in the digital age.

1. STUDY YOUR CHILD’S DIGITAL WORLD Ask: What digital devices and media is my child using? In what contexts?

2. SHAPE YOUR CHILD’S ONLINE EXPERIENCE Ask: What do I want for my child online? How can I help them learn and grow?

3. SHARE, LEARN AND PLAY TOGETHER Ask: How can digital help my child to learn and grow? How can we help our children to have positive digital experiences? How can I be present in my child’s digital life?

4. STAY HEALTHY AND SAFE ONLINE Ask: How can I keep my child safe online - and look after their health and privacy?

5. STAY IN TOUCH WITH DIGITAL DEVELOPMENTS Ask: What’s changed since I first explored my child’s digital world?

Written by

Dr. Elizabeth Milovidov

Dr. Elizabeth Milovidov is a mom to two tech-savvy little boys, a lawyer, law professor and eSafety consultant.

She is a member of the Working Group of experts on Digital Citizenship Education and an independent expert on Digital Parenting and Children and Internet for the Children’s Rights Division of Council of Europe.

She is an advisor on European Cooperation and International Projects for e-Enfance, a French online child protection association providing support to parents and children in the digital age.

Her core work involves researching solutions for parenting in the digital age and she has authored several guides and workbooks for parents, moderates a Facebook community for parents and is the founder of DigitalParentingCoach.com. a website and community with resources for parents.