Mobile Device Usage by Young Children with Learning Difficulties (Intellectual Disability) in Their Home. CAN YOU HELP?

 Information Leaflet for Parents of Young Children with Learning Difficulties to Participate in the First Stage of the Study

1. Research Project Title

 

Researcher: Yunus Saracoglu

Doctoral Student in the School of Education, University of Nottingham

2. Invitation

Dear Participant,

I am conducting a research study as a doctoral student in the School of Education at the University of Nottingham. I would like to invite you to take part in a research study if you have a young child (under age 7) with learning difficulties. Before you decide to do so, it is important you understand why the research is being done and what it will involve. Please take time to read the following information carefully and discuss it with others if you wish. Ask me if there is anything that is not clear or if you would like more information. Take time to decide whether or not you wish to take part. Thank you for reading this.

3. Aims of the research

The aim of this research is to explore the current use of mobile devices (e.g., smartphones, tablets) use in the homes of children with learning difficulties and parents’ perspectives, expectations, and experiences of using these devices with their children. I would like to highlight an important thing about this research which is that this study does not aim to evaluate or judge your parenting regarding technology use at home.

4. Participation

Participation in this study is voluntary and your consent is signified by clicking the consent button at the end of research information sheet located at the beginning of the questionnaire. You are free to withdraw at any point during completion of the questionnaire, without having to give a reason. If you decide to withdraw from the study after submitting your questionnaire responses, you can request to withdraw from the research within 30 days after the submission of questionnaire answers. To be able to identify your data, you will be asked to provide a code word at the beginning of the questionnaire. You can contact the researcher with your code to withdraw from the study. The researcher will delete the responses you have provided from the collected data. Withdrawing from the study will not affect you in any way.

5. Possible risks and benefits of participation

Participating in the research is not anticipated to cause you any disadvantage or discomfort. The potential for physical and/or psychological harm or distress will be no more than any experienced in everyday life. Whilst there are no immediate benefits for those people participating in this study, it is hoped that this research will increase educators’ knowledge about the role of mobile devices in the daily lives of children with learning difficulties which in turn could provide them with a foundation to support these children’s development through mobile devices. Also, it is expected that the result of this study could guide policymakers in their decisions regarding educational technology.

6. Method and demands on Participants

Participants of this study will be asked to complete a web-based questionnaire regarding their child’s mobile device usage at home. The questionnaire will take approximately 20 minutes to complete. The questionnaire consists of questions which related to your child’s mobile device usage at home and your experiences and opinions about this usage.

In order to achieve a more meaningful result, the aim is to maximise the number of participants in the study, if you know any person who might be appropriate for the study, it would be greatly appreciated, if you could forward the study information.

At the end of the questionnaire, there is a question that asks whether you would be interested in participating in the second part of the study which involves follow up interviews with participants. You will also be given a link to mail the researcher the option to register your interest to:

• Participate in the second stage of the study and/or
• Receive a copy of the survey

7. Privacy and confidentiality

All information collected through this questionnaire is provided anonymously. No personal identifiable information will be requested in the study. You will not be able to be identified or identifiable in any reports or publications of this research. For information about the University of Nottingham’s obligations with respect to your data, who you can get in touch with and your rights as a data subject, including, the right to request details of the personal data the University holds, or the right to rectify, object or raise concerns about its use, please use the link: Research privacy notice.

8. Data storage and protection

All the data collected through this study will be stored in a secure, password-protected database on a server hosted by University of Nottingham. Only the researcher will be able to access this database. The data will be kept for 7 years in the line with the University Code of Research Conduct, after which they will then be destroyed securely and confidentially. Your responses will be anonymous, stored securely and will not be passed on to any third parties. The University may store your data for up to 25 years and for a period of no less than 7 years after the research project finishes. The researchers who gathered or processed the data may also store the data indefinitely and reuse it in future research.

Thank you very much for sparing the time to read this information leaflet. If you have any questions, I am ready to explain the study in more detail. My contact information and that of my supervisors are given below. The details of the School of Education Research Ethics Coordinator are given below should you have any complaints about how the research is conducted.

Contact Information:

The researcher:

Yunus Saracoglu- This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Supervisors:

Dr Anne Emerson- This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Dr Debra Costley- This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

School of Education Research Ethics Coordinator: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.