Media mentoring through digital storytimes: the experiences of public libraries in Aotearoa New Zealand

This paper reports selected results from a study investigating digital storytimes in children’s programming in public libraries in New Zealand Aotearoa. The paper focuses specifically on the capacity of the librarians running digital storytimes to act as media mentors for families within their communities by demonstrating good practice in joint media engagement and acting as guides to good quality digital resources. The results suggest that while the librarians are offering advice to caregivers on appropriate apps and e-resources, they are less comfortable with modelling and explaining to caregivers how to use digital devices with their children to maximize their learning. It is suggested that part of the reason for this is continuing concern about young children’s exposure to technology. It is recommended that librarians include more explicit messages about appropriate use of digital media with young children in their digital storytimes to enable caregivers to support their children’s learning with technology and to overcome some of the resistance to digital media use.

本论文报告了一项针对新西兰奥特亚罗瓦（New Zealand Aotearoa）公共图书馆儿童活动中数字故事会项目的研究精选成果。本论文重点关注开展数字故事会的图书馆员，如何通过展示亲子共同参与媒体的规范实践、为社区家庭提供优质数字资源指引，从而担当社区家庭的媒体导师角色。研究结果显示，尽管图书馆员已能为看护者提供适配的应用程序与电子资源建议，但在为看护者示范并讲解如何与儿童配合使用数字设备以最大化学习效益方面，他们仍略显不足。研究认为，造成这一现象的部分原因在于，人们对幼儿接触科技产品仍存在持续的担忧。据此建议，图书馆员可在数字故事会中增加关于幼儿合理使用数字媒体的明确指引，以帮助看护者借助科技支持儿童学习，同时消解部分群体对数字媒体使用的抵触情绪。