Huw’s research combines social theory with mixed, digital and ethnographic, methods to help critically re-evaluate how we approach young people’s digital literacies.
Email: huw.davies@oii.ox.ac.uk- Profile
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The Oii and Oxford City Council have collaborated on the Home Access Project to offer disadvantaged young people from the Oxford area laptops and access to the Internet. Huw is currently working with Rebecca Eynon to support these young people as they explore the web’s affordances. The project’s empirical data has some powerful implications for how we address digital inequality in educational contexts.
After his undergrad degree in Sociology, Huw worked in the IT industry. Then, following seven years as a teacher, Huw did his Master’s degree and his PhD in Web Science at the University of Southampton which has given him a technical grounding in the latest web and data technologies. Huw is convenor of the BSA’s Digital Sociology Study Group which seeks to provide a platform for sociologists who are using digital methods and critically examining digital technology’s impact on society. Huw is also on the BSA’s research ethics committee.
Research interests
digital sociology, web science, cultural and social practice theory, digital methods, STS, Bourdieu, Foucault, research ethics, educational inequality, digital inequality, digital literacies
Positions held at the OII
- Researcher, June 2015 –
Latest blog posts
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From private profit to public liabilities: how platform capitalism’s business model works for children
Date Published: 14 September 2017
Authors: Huw Davies
Young people choose to use platforms for play, socialising and expressing their identity. Image by Brad Flickinger (Flickr: CC BY 2.0) Two concepts have recently ... Read More From private profit to public liabilities: how platform capitalism’s business model works for children
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How and why is children’s digital data being harvested?
Date Published: 10 May 2017
Authors: Huw Davies
“Whether your child is an artist, a storyteller, a singer or a scientist, I’m the lovable little friend that will bring that out!” says ... Read More How and why is children’s digital data being harvested?
Current projects
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Child safety on the Internet: looking beyond ICT actors
Participants: Dr Vicki Nash, Dr Huw Davies
This project will map the range of non-ICT companies engaging digitally with children and identify areas where their actions might affect a child’s exposure to online risks such as data theft, adverse online experiences or sexual exploitation.
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Skills formation and skills matching in online platform work: Practices and policies for promoting crowdworkers’ continuous learning (CrowdLearn)
Participants: Professor Vili Lenhdonvirta, Professor Anoush Margaryan, Dr Isis Hjorth, Dr Huw C. Davies
Despite the rapid growth of online platform labour, little is known about how crowdworkers acquire and develop their skills. This project seeks to address this important gap in our knowledge.
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Using graph databases to conceptualise social class: a proof of concept study
Participants: Professor Rebecca Eynon, Dr Huw C. Davies
This study will critically examine the value of graph databases for the social sciences through a focus on social class.
Past projects
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Tackling Digital Inequality Amongst Young People: The Home Internet Access Initiative
Participants: Professor Rebecca Eynon, Dr Huw C. Davies
This participatory research project explores a two year initiative that provides all year 10 students with a laptop and Internet connection if they require one at home in three secondary schools.
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Transmedia Literacy
Participants: Professor Rebecca Eynon, Dr Cristobal Cobo, Dr Huw C. Davies
The transliteracy project aims to examine how young people use technology to learn outside formal educational settings.
Chapters
- (2015) "Young People and the Web: Understanding Their Engagement with Online Information through the Concept of Habitus" In: Bourdieu, Habitus and Social Research: The Art of Application. 167-182.
- (2015) "Young people and the web: Understanding their engagement with online information through the concept of habitus" In: Bourdieu, Habitus and Social Research: The Art of Application. 167-182.
Conference papers
- (2012) "Digital Natives? Investigating young people's critical skills in evaluating web based information", Proceedings of the 4th Annual ACM Web Science Conference, WebSci'12. volume 78-81.
Journal articles
- (2017) "Learning to Google: Understanding classed and gendered practices when young people use the Internet for research", New Media & Society. 146144481773232.
- (2017) "Addressing digital inequalities amongst young people: conflicting discourses and complex outcomes", OXFORD REVIEW OF EDUCATION. 43 (3) 332-347.
- (2017) "Neoliberal gremlins? How a scheme to help disadvantaged young people thrive online fell short of its ambitions", INFORMATION COMMUNICATION & SOCIETY. 20 (6) 860-875.
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From private profit to public liabilities: how platform capitalism’s business model works for children
14 September 2017
Author: Huw Davies
Young people choose to use platforms for play, socialising and expressing their identity. Image by Brad Flickinger (Flickr: CC BY 2.0) Two concepts have recently ... Read More From private profit to public liabilities: how platform capitalism’s business model works for children
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How and why is children’s digital data being harvested?
10 May 2017
Author: Huw Davies
“Whether your child is an artist, a storyteller, a singer or a scientist, I’m the lovable little friend that will bring that out!” says ... Read More How and why is children’s digital data being harvested?
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Why education is the only antidote to fake news
19 February 2018 The New Statesman
Opinion piece by OII's Dr Huw Davies on how education may be the only way to combat disinformation, and what provisions currently exist in England and Wales
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Five ways politicians can win over young voters
25 June 2017 BBC News
Surveillance, misuse of data, privacy and hacking are all issues that Dr Huw Davies of the Oxford Internet Institute believes young voters of the future will be concerned about.