The use of technology to build digital communities

In today’s digital world social media has the potential to strengthen and broaden communities. It can provide a bridge between on and off-line communication, helping to strengthen links between children, parents and practitioners as they engage in shared activities (Carter Olson, 2016). Online communities can serve as an audience for sharing children’s digital products and experiences with a wider audience, and, as Magos et.al. (2013) suggest, international interactions can build intercultural understandings. When technology is used to build links between children across the world it can act as both a window and a mirror for young children: a ‘window’ to help them understand each other’s cultures and a ‘mirror’ to help develop their own identity (Cox and Galda, 1990). This chapter addresses the following themes: • the challenges and benefits of using online communities to enhance children’s learning; • how practitioners might use digital media in their daily interactions with children and as part of their own professional networking activities; • the role of technology in establishing links between children’s homes and early years settings. The chapter offers examples of these themes in practice through a detailed case study of how The Leicestershire Early Years Writing Project used technology to build communities of practice among practitioners, parents and children.