Meier Jennifer Virginie, Kaspar Kai
Department of Psychology, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.
PLoS One. 2024 Dec 31;19(12):e0316567. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0316567. eCollection 2024.
Digital media have become integral to schoolchildren's lives, both within educational and non-educational settings. Educators emphasize the importance of bridging the gap between school learning and children's out-of-school activities. To identify potential variations and commonalities, we investigated key situations with digital media among lower secondary schoolchildren in Germany, aiming to determine which themes are especially relevant in different settings.
We analyzed the media usage of German schoolchildren (ages 10 to 17) in class and outside of school using a mixed-method approach with a focus on the qualitative facets of key situations. For this purpose, 49 schoolchildren from seven schools were asked to complete media diaries. Over a six-week period, they documented key situations with details on setting, emotional experiences, post-communication, social support, and self-reflection. We analyzed the key situations using content and frequency analyses.
The schoolchildren reported 145 key situations, from which we developed a categorization system comprising 15 distinct categories. The most reported key situations involved "playing video games", "digital learning or homework", and "online communication or content sharing". Most key situations (115) took place outside of school, while 30 occurring in class. Schoolchildren mostly reported key situations that involved feelings of happiness and low levels of arousal. They discussed key situations more often and in greater depth with family members and school friends, and less often with school staff or non-school friends. Key situations were discussed more often face-to-face than online. Notably, schoolchildren engaged in self-reflection on their key situations, including concerns about excessive media use.
Overall, the study provides comprehensive insights into the digital media behaviors of schoolchildren, highlighting individual differences and preferences. The discussion offers valuable implications for both educational practice and future research, particularly regarding the integration of digital media into formal educational settings.
数字媒体已成为学童生活中不可或缺的一部分，无论是在教育环境还是非教育环境中。教育工作者强调弥合学校学习与儿童校外活动之间差距的重要性。为了确定潜在的差异和共性，我们调查了德国初中学生使用数字媒体的关键情况，旨在确定哪些主题在不同环境中特别相关。
我们采用混合方法分析了德国学童（10至17岁）在课堂内外的媒体使用情况，重点关注关键情况的定性方面。为此，我们邀请了来自七所学校的49名学童完成媒体日记。在六周的时间里，他们记录了关键情况，并详细说明了场景、情感体验、事后交流、社会支持和自我反思。我们使用内容分析和频率分析来分析这些关键情况。
学童们报告了145个关键情况，我们据此开发了一个包含15个不同类别的分类系统。报告最多的关键情况包括“玩电子游戏”、“数字学习或家庭作业”以及“在线交流或内容分享”。大多数关键情况（115个）发生在校外，而30个发生在课堂上。学童们大多报告的关键情况涉及幸福感和低唤醒水平。他们与家人和学校朋友讨论关键情况的频率更高、更深入，与学校工作人员或校外朋友讨论的频率较低。关键情况面对面讨论的频率高于在线讨论。值得注意的是，学童们对自己的关键情况进行了自我反思，包括对过度使用媒体的担忧。
总体而言，该研究全面深入地了解了学童的数字媒体行为，突出了个体差异和偏好。该讨论为教育实践和未来研究提供了有价值的启示，特别是在将数字媒体融入正式教育环境方面。
