ABSTRACT
Technology is increasingly part of society's institutional fabric (Van Dijck, 2013), and is changing communication (Kitchin et al., 2013), how social space is produced, and how lives and geographies are represented. The advancement of a digital age (Walshe and Healy, 2020) has sparked debates about the opportunities and challenges these changes bring. Livingstone and Bovill (2002) conceptualise these debates as existing between optimists (who perceive that technological advancements offer opportunities for the evolution of democracy), and pessimists (who raise concerns about challenges to traditional authority and systems). These debates are often of particular concern when considering children and technology. This chapter examines how the evolution of, and access to, technology (specifically Web 2.0, including social media) has changed children's geographies. To do this it draws on both academic debate and my doctoral research, endeavouring to include and represent young people in these discussions. It then critically considers how, and why, these changes (and children's geographies more broadly) are of value to geography education in schools.
