If the initial advent of the internet and technologies was characterized by strong enthusiasm, soon intrinsic challenges began to emerge. Researcher and passionate scholar of the potentials and toxicities of technological means is professor Juliana E. Raffaghelli, the coordinator of the DataChildMap project. She was recently interviewed on some fundamental topics that led to the inception of the project! 

What do you mean by "Datafication"?

Datafication refers to the extraction and massive processing of data to profile individuals, offering them personalized products with the aim of steering the user's attention towards what is presented and encouraging the purchase of recommended products.

While it may seem like a functional and positive marketing strategy, once attention is captured, unconscious processes are triggered that undermine the autonomy of the individual. The user, in fact, loses degrees of freedom, especially in terms of decision-making capacity regarding what they want to do and who they want to be within the technological medium.

The situation worsens considering the fact that the use of technologies today is no longer limited to some moments of the day, but we are even talking about the post-digital: a post-digital characterized by a true "living" within the technological medium.

The fundamental question to ask is: who extracts these "big data"?

As researcher Jose Van Dijck asserts, we live in a "platformized" society (and many other great researchers like Ben Williamson, Carlo Perrotta, my friend Pablo Rivera so far have confirmed in the field of education), meaning a society characterized by technologies created by monopolistic organizations, the so-called "G.A.F.A.M" (Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple, and Microsoft): these are the primary extractors of our data. These large organizations continuously gather data, creating, through various experiments, potential and increasingly sophisticated proposals for the user.

One of the latest strategies involves generative artificial intelligence: a technological development that, through extraction from the public web of images and texts and processing based on models such as Natural Language Processing and Language Models, can propose responses perceived as human-like or generate customized goods such as books, audio files, etc.

It's a context in constant and rapid evolution, where difficult ethical issues arise. Firstly, extremely complex aspects involve privacy and manipulation, which of course children are not exempt from.

What is the relationship between children and technology?

The theme of the connection between technology and children has been openly addressed since the early 2000s, a period characterized by intense enthusiasm regarding the significant cognitive development that technological means can provide for the very young. It is in this context that applications and toys specifically designed to enhance motor, emotional, and cognitive development in children are created. A famous example is  Baby Einstein, a U.S. line of multimedia products such as videos, books, and toys that provides interactive activities for infants.

Starting from 2010, scholars began to investigate the improper uses of technologies, identifying significant issues related to children and adolescents: high overexposure, toxic online environments, cyberbullying, sexting, and addiction are just some of the most commonly encountered themes. A partial solution to some of these difficulties (particularly addiction and overexposure) has been proposed by the French psychiatrist Serge Tisseron: with his "3-6-9-12" rule, he highlights the age stages most suitable for introducing certain functions of digital media to young children, allowing them to develop their skills without distractions.

While numerous critical positions strongly discourage screen exposure in the first three years of a child's life, it's important not to overlook the positive developmental outcomes achieved through responsibly supervised use of digital media.

According to the Italian Pediatric Association (cfr. L’uso delle tecnologie digitali nei bambini da 0 a 6 anni - Save The Children - Rete Zero - Sei), the relationship between very young children and technology remains highly complex: high screen exposure is discouraged, but the purchase of smart toys for motor, emotional, and cognitive learning is promoted. 

The best place to understand the use of these tools is certainly in early childhood services. Indeed, to ensure deep understanding of complex technological phenomena and the families’ experiences, thorough educators’ professionalism is essential.

It is by disentangling the complexity of this context that the DataChildMap project could creatively generate opportunities aimed at enhancing the skills and professional identities of early childhood educators. 

Can you tell us about the project's roots: how did DataChildMap originate?

The DataChildMap project was born in 2022 through the collaboration of an interdisciplinary working group consisting of three professors from the Department of Philosophy, Sociology, Pedagogy, and Applied Psychology (FISPPA) at the University of Padua: myself, the project coordinator; Professor Emilia Restiglian, specializing in pedagogy; and Professor Marco Scarcelli, from the field of sociology. In our discussions, we realized the need to delve into the study of privacy issues, sharenting, and datafication in the context of early childhood in Italy. We also recognized the lack of research that brings educators into the spotlight.

Educators, the professional figures that play and will play a fundamental role, including as intermediaries between the state and regulations!

The core working group is now complemented by the valuable contributions of doctoral students and undergraduate collaborators.

Through this research group, DataChildMap aims to explore how technologies and the relationships between digital devices, children, families, and educators are constantly evolving. It highlights the necessary educational professionalism to navigate such changes. The role of educators as professionals is increasingly impactful from a policy-making perspective: they are at the forefront of addressing increasingly complex issues related to the digital world (as seen in the OECD working document). The relevance of a professional development as social educators has been already carefully explored in the Italian context (I refer particularly to the work of Maria Ranieri  ed il suo gruppo di lavoro). Nevertheless, given the fact that ECEC educators is an evolving area (my dear colleague Emilia will illustrate this better for sure), we need to reinforce the initial and continuing training on the above mentioned topics. 

And here we are with DataChildMap!

By being active citizens and professionals, they might engage in developmental processes influencing policy making and regulations to control the negative impacts of technologies such as the Internet of Toys or artificial intelligence industry in relation to early childhood. Educators can also significantly influence the families-technology relationship, making the whole society to evolve towards fairer and balanced technological scenarios. The project, focused on an ever-evolving issue, aims to motivate educators to reflect critically and become a fundamental professional resource in the community, deeply engaging in the socio-political debate regarding media consumption and the person-technology relationship. 

The ultimate goal of DataChildMap is to generate genuine improvement and enrichment of professionalism, early childhood services, and dialogue with families.

This achievement, thanks to the commitment, collaboration, and passion of our research group, seems to be increasingly within reach!

Interview curated by Romina Malghera and Maria Valentini