Zoom and the Nostalgia of a freshly minted Textbook: The Routledge Companion to Digital Media and Children
Chika Anyanwu PhD, FGLF
Empowering the next generation through inclusive digital transformation, self agency, inspirational leadership and a sense of purpose in an ever changing world.
In a COVID world of virtual companionship, it felt like magic after a day of nearly zooming my brain to death, to receive a big parcel containing a hardcover, freshly minted contributor’s copy of The Routledge Companion to Digital Media and Children.
This huge volume was edited by Lelia Green, Donell Holloway, Kylie Stevenson, Tama Leaver and Leslie Haddon, great scholars who believe that children’s voices are important in a digital world that rightfully belongs to them.
My contribution in Chapter 47, titled “Voices of African Children”, highlights the ingenuity and creativity of children from African countries who, despite enormous challenges ranging from exploitative cost of access, low bandwidth, limited infrastructural investment in digital technology, and spectrum allocation, have demonstrated resilience, industriousness and ability to compete favourably with peers in digital space.
I must thank Lelia Green and her great team for the mammoth task of editing such a global snapshot on children’s voices. It is timely and essential. The book officially comes out 2021.