Top of page

Student/Staff Portal
Global Site Navigation

School of Arts and Humanities

Local Section Navigation
You are here: Main Content

Related Contents

The Internet of Toys: Benefits and risks of connected toys for children

This project investigates the emerging communication world of the Internet of Toys —including communication in the family context, communication in the media, and communication in the toy industry. Internet-connected toys are currently being used as play and comfort objects across generations. For children, The Internet of Toys, where toys relate one-on-one to children and also connect to other toys, other children and to online databases, is a fast-paced emerging part of the toy market. This research compares Australian children’s play with children in Italy, England and Belgium. We are looking for children aged 0-12.

Engaging in future oriented research, this project will examine the emerging benefits and risks of these connected toys through engaging with families and industry, as well as with regulatory and policy developments. The research will inform and influence policy makers, toy designers and families of children who are too young to understand the implications of these toys in terms of data privacy and security. The project has received a grant from the Australian Research Council, which is a government-funded organisation, Project number DP180103922.

Funding agency

Australian Research Council

Researchers

Professor Lelia Green
Professor Lelia Green

Professor Lelia Green

Lelia is the Chief Investigator for the project and is a Professor of Communications in the School of Arts and Humanities.

Kelly Jaunzems

Kelly is a researcher on the project and a Research Assistant in Edith Cowan’s School of Arts and Humanities.

An invitation to you and your child to participate in research interviews

Has this research been approved?

This research project has received the approval of Edith Cowan University’s Human Research Ethics Committee, in accordance with the National Health and Medical Research Council’s National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research (2007).  The approval number is 2021-02205-GREEN.

What happens when this research study stops?

We will report our research outcomes to the Australian Research Council on or around June 2023. We will send this report to you and or your child if you wish. We intend to publish our research in journals, and to present it at research conferences locally, nationally and internationally. We will be engaging in policy debates. No identifying information about you or your child will be included in any of the publications or presentations.

Do my child and I have to take part in these interviews?

No. You and your child’s participation in this research project are completely voluntary. If you do not wish you or your child to take part, that’s totally fine. If you decide you and your child can take part and later change your mind, you are free to withdraw both of you from the project at any time. Any data contributed by you and your child can be withdrawn up to a month after the interviews take place. Your child also has the same rights to participate or not, and to withdraw or not, and to withdraw data, as you do, with respect to their own data.

If you decide you and your child will take part, and your child chooses to do so, your child will also be given a Participant Information Letter like this one, and both of you will have a Consent form to sign. You will each have a copy of your Information letter to keep. Any decision not to let your child take part, or to allow your child to take part and later withdraw consent, will not affect your relationship with the research team and or with Edith Cowan University and or with the Australian Research Council.

If you are interested in the project after you’ve read the information letter, and if your teen is also interested in taking part and you’re happy for them to do so, we can set up an interview. The interview will probably be between 30 minutes and one hour long. Separate interviewers will interview you and your teen. You will each be interviewed privately, but at the same time via a digital audio or video platform such as Skype or Zoom. We can sort out a time for the interviews that suits you including after school, in the evening or at weekends.

What does my participation and my child’s participation involve?

Your participation involves you agreeing to an interview, and you agreeing to your child being interviewed, if your child decides they wish take part. Each interview will take about 30 minutes. Your child will be asked to take the researcher on a toy tour, showing us their favourite toys and explaining how they play with them. We would like to take photos of your child playing with their favourite toys. You do not have to agree to photos being taken to participate part in this research.

Interviews will be recorded and transcribed, and data will be de-identified so that neither individual participants nor families can be identified. An honorarium of a $50 Coles-Myer voucher will be paid to you and $20 to Coles-Myer voucher your child as a thank you to them for taking part.

Contact

If you have any concerns or complaints about the research project and wish to talk to an independent person, you may contact:

Independent Person
ECU Research Ethics Officer
Edith Cowan University
Telephone: (61 8) 6304 2170
Fax: (61 8) 6304 2661
Email: research.ethics@ecu.edu.au

Skip to top of page