Journal review 4

Young children's play in online virtual worlds
Jackie Marsh, University of Sheffield, UK.

Aim
The aim of this study was to investigate and explore the effects of, and the tension between, technology designed for young people and the role of playfulness in these technologies. This study relates it back to the basic concepts of 'real' and 'virtual' with young people in mind. Marsh notes that while 'technology' and 'play' are often thought of as oppositional, this study will try to find the common ground between them, if any. Marsh also states that many parent-headed groups sprung up in the late 90s and early 2000s as electronic toys became more and more popular, claiming they didn't promote a healthy childhood, nor were they developmentally appropriate. The lack of research surrounding these topics was and is problematic, and with the fairly recent phenomenon of virtual online worlds, more specifically those aimed at children, this study aims to bridge that gap.

Method
Marsh utilised both Barbie Girls and Club Penguin virtual worlds to contextualise the study, noting that Club Penguin, which appeals to both boys and girls, launched in 2005 and had 22 million registered accounts at the time of the study. Barbie Girls, however, makes it clear that this world is intended for girls only. It launched in 2007 and had 17 million registered accounts at the time of the study. The study was undertaken at a primary school in England, in which a survey was set up asking students to detail their online activity. 175 children, ages 5-11, took part in the survey, 38 of those children were between 5 and 7 in age.

Findings
In total, 52 percent of all 175 children who completed the survey stated that they regularly use virtual worlds. This article, however, focuses largely on the 38 children in the study that were between 5 and 7 years of age. Of this age group, 17 out of 38 students reported having used virtual worlds before. 28 out of these 37 were regular internet users at home, while 11 reported that they never used the internet at home. Of the 27 who stated they used the internet at home, 13 reported that they used virtual worlds regularly - seven boys and six girls. "Of this group of children, nine accessed virtual worlds once a week or more, three used them once or twice a month and one child used them less frequently than once a month." The main findings from this study were essentially that virtual worlds do offer  young children a range of opportunities for play, and that the types of play in which they engaged in were closely related to offline play.

Marsh concludes that in virtual worlds, young people are given the opportunity to form, re-create and role-play job and duties and learn how to engage with others appropriately in the online world. Given the popularity of social media and virtual activity among children, their engagement in virtual worlds can afford opportunities to develop skills that enable them to safely and effectively navigate online environments. However, there are restrictions to identity such as gender and race, and the commercial emphasis of some of the virtual worlds, particularly Barbie Girls, raises concerns and need to be considered, particularly by educators, so that young peoples' critical awareness towards these elements of virtual worlds can be furthered, or even born.