Algorithmic Children
These portraits were shot on location during class time in a local primary school and were made to document the introduction of wireless tablets as standard into the school curriculum. For this first time, children were free to move around the school building and – theoretically – to be networked into the wider world around them during class time. The school – often thought to be the final frontier of device-free time for young children – was now fully co-opted in to a networked world of 24/7 access
Project Information
Algorithmic Children (2013) was produced in collaboration with a local class of eight and nine year olds and these portraits were part of an ongoing investigation into the introduction of the computer into early years education. This study began in the late 90s with the introduction of the BBC microcomputer into the school curriculum (Computer Class i & ii, 1997) and subsequently the introduction of the Internet and the integration of mobile handheld computing into children’s lives several years later (Games Hall, 2007). In Algorithmic Children, I wanted to photography children’s use of computer tablets, which had recently been introduced into the standard curriculum. Whilst mobile computing of this type had been available for several years outside of school, the introduction into the national curriculum of this technology was significant.