ESTABLISHING A COMPREHENSIVE UNDERSTANDING AND TAXONOMY OF CHILDREN'S DIGITAL MATURITY

Project Information

DIGYMATEX

Grant agreement ID: 870578

DOI

10.3030/870578

Project closed

EC signature date 8 November 2019

Start date 1 February 2020

End date 31 January 2025

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Europe In A Changing World - Inclusive, Innovative And Reflective Societies

Total cost

€ 3 452 638,75

EU contribution

€ 3 452 638,75

Coordinated by

AARHUS UNIVERSITET
Denmark

Periodic Reporting for period 3 - DIGYMATEX (ESTABLISHING A COMPREHENSIVE UNDERSTANDING AND TAXONOMY OF CHILDREN'S DIGITAL MATURITY)

Reporting period: 2023-02-01 to 2025-01-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Understanding ICT effects on children

Children are attracted to digital technology, but it is not yet clear how digitally mature they are. How is children's behaviour affected by ICT and to what extent? The EU-funded DIGYMATEX project intends to offer evidence-based instruments that can support understanding and estimating ICT effects on children's conduct. The first instrument consists of an advanced and ready for the market Digital Youth Maturity Index (DYMI), a cloud-based open-access instrument. DYMI will contribute in the development of an inclusive taxonomy that will inform stakeholders on the long-term impact of ICT on children and young people's behaviour. The second tool consists of a solution based on the development of the DiGYou programme. Both tools will contribute to a safer and profitable use of ICT.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

In period No: 2, DIGYMATEX has extensively invested in laying the ground for (1) one of the main objective - the development of a digital youth maturity index (DYMI) and (2) a successful dissemination and exploitation strategy of project outcomes. The majority of work in RP2 covered the development of the Digital Maturity measurement tool (Digital Maturity Inventory (DIMI)) and the application of the tool within a diverse set of behavioral, fMRI, longitudinal and qualitative studies. Furthermore, concentration went on the establishment and the maintenance of the underlying data pool and applied machine-learning methods. Main results are the success to have the measurement tool published (peer-reviewed) and ready to disseminate and applicable for a broader audience. Additionally, empirical work showed the explanatory power of our measurement tool with regard to children's ICT use, performance and decision-making processes. Thus, work in RP2 mainly shows the importance of our conceptualization and introduction of Digital Maturity and the development of the related measurement tool. Furthermore, DIGYMATEX disseminates research insights and knowledge to a scientific and public audience already from the beginning and could create interdependencies with other European researchers and their projects (i.e. YSkills, DigiGen and CORE).

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Progress beyond the state of the art is, that the shared understanding of the core concept of digital (youth) maturity was derived from the related concept of psycho-social maturity, which integrates a person’s socialization goals and goals of individual development. It can be described as the ability to take on obligations and make responsible decisions by considering one’s own needs and the consequences of one’s own actions. The concept of psycho-social maturity goes beyond intelligence and takes into account that an individual is able to develop a positive attitude towards his own life-goals and towards the environment. Similarly, the shared understanding of digital maturity by DIGYMATEX is not limited to digital literacy, but includes the accomplishment of long-term life goals and needs with ICTs as well as engagement for others and the society in digital environments. Importantly, digital maturity is based on ideas from the literature on psycho-social maturity and positive psychological development, but it also extends these concepts. While ICTs provide tools to pursue individual goals, they also impede long-term goal pursuit with all the temptations that are used by technology to intentionally grab the attention of the users, as well as by the overwhelming information density provided by ICTs. Hence, DIGYMATEX assume that digital maturity needs technology specific psychological competences to finally render an individual a respected member of the (digital) society with a high well-being. This conceptualization is theoretically grounded and support the work of creating an index - DYMI - corresponding support tools - DigYou3 - to address the expected project impacts of (1) the provision of continuously updated knowledge about children’s digital maturity and market-ready insights and recommendations with the help of the Digital Youth Maturity Index (DMYI), (2) the contribution of DigYou to a safer and more beneficial use of mobile ICTs by children, to educational stakeholder and to EU policy and (3) ambitions to secure long-term impact and application of the DYMI and DigYou-program.

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