General Theme Introduction
With the rapid technological development nowdays, the way that children learn and how society as a whole views children are undergoing dramatic changes. Especially under the impact of the Covid-19, online teaching and online social interactions are rapidly gaining popularity around the world, thus forming new cultural models of children. However, this phenomenon has also further widened the digital gap between groups of children from different socio-economic backgrounds. In order to reflect on the impacts of science and technology on children's education, the views on children, and the changes of social civilization as a whole,Tencent social science research center，the School of Education of Hangzhou Normal University (HZNU) and the HZNU-CIPSH Chair Collaboration Office will jointly organize the " 2021 International Online Conference on Children's Studies" on April 23-24, 2021. This conference invites experts from different disciplines and research fields from home and abroad to engage in fascinating dialogues on the theme of "Child, Learning, and Technology" to promote research and reform in basic education in China and around the world and to serve as an unique contributor to the well-being of children in the global society.
1. Children and Learning
Children are natural learners. They not only learn from adults, but also from peers, and they themselves can also be who adults learn from. There are rich and complex mechanisms behind children's learning. It is not only a biological and natural phenomenon, but also a socio-historical and cultural event. This topic will analyze the nature and various types of children’s learning from the perspectives of neuroscience, psychology, pedagogy, sociology, communication, philosophy and other disciplines, clarify the impacts of different elements on learning, and depict children’s learning journey and stories to show the overall view of children’s learning.
The relationship between education and civilization is inseparable. Civilization includes education, and education is an important aspect of civilization; education is the key carrier for the inheritance and reproduction of human civilization. Civilization is the main content of education; civilization is the basis of education design. What kind of civilization there is is what kind of education. The reform of education can in turn promote the optimization and development of civilization. This theme focuses on the connotation and evolution of civilization from different perspectives, such as history, anthropology, sociology, literature, philosophy, pedagogy, etc., elaborates the complexity of the development of civilization on education and views of children, and analyzes the positive role of education reform in the progress of civilization.
The past few hundred years have seen rapid advances in science and technology. This development has changed children themselves and the human societies in which they live, as well as the way they think about childhood. Today, technology has become part of children's lives, with televisions, computers, cell phones and other electronic devices now a necessity for children or their families. However, the design of technology needs to be further considered to be more child-friendly, and should focus on the equity of access and use of technology, explore the issues of children’s rights in the technological environment, and develop children's senses of digital citizenship and their ability to use science and technology to demonstrate their own power. This theme focuses on the overall impact of technology on children's lives from the perspectives of philosophy, natural science, communication studies, sociology, etc., narrating children's real experiences of technology, analyzing the views on children behind the development of technology, and looking into the future prospects of technology development.
