Children and young people are growing up in a digital society where social media and artificial intelligence are omnipresent. It offers many opportunities and makes their lives easier and more enjoyable. But there are also risks to their safety and well-being. Communication scholar Prof Esther Rozendaal researches what children and young people need to successfully seize the opportunities of the online world while effectively dealing with its risks. She has been appointed professor of Digital Resilience at Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) from 1 June 2023.
Children and young people are growing up in a digital society where social media and artificial intelligence are omnipresent. It offers many opportunities and makes their lives easier and more enjoyable. But there are also risks to their safety and well-being. Communication scholar Prof Esther Rozendaal researches what children and young people need to successfully seize the opportunities of the online world while effectively dealing with its risks. She has been appointed professor of Digital Resilience at Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) from 1 June 2023.
In the coming years, Rozendaal will investigate what children and young people need to cope with rapidly changing digital opportunities and threats and media literacy's role in this regard. To answer that question, she integrates insights and methods from different scientific disciplines, such as communication science, psychology, pedagogy, education science, sociology, public administration, and artificial intelligence.
Esther Rozendaal "In my research, I work closely with children and young people, parents, schools and various organisations with a shared interest in the digital resilience of young media users. In this way, I strive not only to discover new scientific perspectives but also to contribute to solutions that enable children and young people to cope with the opportunities and risks of digital media, now and in the future."
About Esther Rozendaal
Prof. dr. Esther Rozendaal was an Associate Professor of Communication and Behavioural Change at EUR from 2020. She researches the digital resilience of children and young people. She received an NWO Vidi-grant for a 5-year research project on how teenagers can be empowered to handle digital media safely and responsibly. She is actively involved in making connections between science and practice. For instance, with her colleague Prof Moniek Buijzen, she founded the platform Bitescience.com and is a member of several advisory boards. In addition, she is dean of the Erasmus Graduate School of Social Sciences and the Humanities.
The Chair is part of the Communication and Behavioural Change strategy group, also known as the Movez Lab, to Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences (ESSB).
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Marjolein Kooistra, communications ESSB, +31 6 83676038 | kooistra@essb.eur.nl
