Research updates

Children and the internet: new findings from Ghana

23rd October 2018

UNICEF Ghana is launching its new report on children’s experiences online as part of the National Cyber Security Month Campaign by the First Lady of Ghana. Key findings are that the internet offers important learning, socialising, and entertainment opportunities for children, but important gaps remain related to online access, digital skills, and parental support. The study was conducted in collaboration with the Ministry of Communications, the Ministry of Interior, and the Ministry for Gender, Children and Social Protection.

Research on teachers’ internet use in Montenegro

7th June 2018

Global Kids Online research conducted with children and parents in Montenegro in 2016 indicated that schools need to become leaders in the process of preparing the future digital citizens. UNICEF Montenegro, in partnership with the Ministry of Education and Ipsos, is currently piloting a survey on teachers’ internet use, skills, and practices which will help to develop digital literacy education in Montenegrin schools.

Kids Online Uruguay: key findings from the new study

3rd May 2018

New findings from Global Kids Online in Uruguay are launched today by UNICEF, Plan Ceibal, AGESIC, Universidad Católica del Uruguay, and UNESCO. Uruguay has witnessed significant advances in the spread of internet connectivity in recent years as a result of public policies for digital inclusion. The study further advances the knowledge about Uruguayan children’s engagement with the digital environment.

New research on children’s internet use in Albania

26th March 2018

Albania is the latest country to join the Global Kids Online network in 2018. UNICEF Albania is commencing the new research on children’s experiences of internet use as part of its strategic intervention to tackle online child sexual exploitation, supported by the Global Partnership to End Violence against Children. The research comprises a national home-based survey of 1,000 children and young people and one of their caregivers, as well as a qualitative component exploring the internet experiences of children without parental care and those with disabilities.

GKO launching in Canada with a focus on privacy

26th February 2018

The eQuality project, in partnership with UNICEF Canada and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Ontario (IPC) will be bringing Global Kids Online to Canada in 2018 with the launch of the Canadian Kids Online project led by Professor Valerie Steeves (University of Ottawa). The new study will focus on the online experiences of Canadian youth, as well as the ways in which their knowledge of online privacy issues affects their experiences in the online environment.

Making the internet safer for children: the global evidence

6th February 2018

On Safer Internet Day 2018, Global Kids Online partners recognise the pressing need to research and support children’s rights in a digital age. To harness the positive potential of children’s internet use and to limit the harm, it is vital to understand how children are developing digital skills and citizenship, and to use the evidence to inform future policy and practice in a way that also includes the voices of children and parents.

How can using our research make an impact?

26th January 2018

Today Global Kids Online is launching its new impact tools to guide and support researchers in planning effective research impact strategies and activities. These are the result of collaboration with country partners and experts over the past 18 months in a joint effort to find the best ways to use research evidence to support children’s rights in the digital environment.

UNICEF Argentina’s work on promoting digital citizenship

14th January 2018

Based on the research findings from the recent Global Kids Online study, UNICEF Argentina has been working with a range of stakeholders to promote children’s digital citizenship and literacy as part of its knowledge exchange and impact efforts. The team has been trying to introduce a more comprehensive approach to supporting children’s internet use which focuses on children’s rights and digital citizenship, online opportunities, digital skills, and online protection.

Highlights from the past year of GKO research

18th December 2017

Global Kids Online has been gathering new evidence on children’s online opportunities and risks via representative surveys in the Philippines, Uruguay, and Ghana. This adds to the existing database from seven other countries. The members of the network have also spent the year working on maximising the impact from the research findings.