Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Children learn from a variety of sources such as teachers, books, peers, and the internet. The primary objective of the proposed research will be to understand how children can combine information from these different sources and whether they are able to 'edit out' information that is not reliable (e.g., information gleaned from a website that has given incorrect information). I will investigate at what age children are able to maturely manage information from different sources, and under what circumstances. Such 'information management' skills are becoming increasingly important as children are exposed to more and more information, especially through digital media. The research will provide age-appropriate expectations of what sort of management children are capable of and how we can best equip children to manage information. The findings are likely to be translated into evidence-based strategies that can be used by teachers and educators, doctors, higher education professionals (including university faculty), and parents as they try to teach and supervise good information management practices (particularly with respect to digital media).