Dr Fiona Scott is a Lecturer in Digital Literacies in The School of Education at The University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom, where she is Director of the Literacies and Language Research Cluster a a co-Director of the Digital Society Network’s Global Digital Popular Culture Hub. She specialises in research and teaching focused on the digital lives of children.

Fiona’s research focuses on children’s engagements with digital technologies and digital texts, particularly in the context of families and communities. She has collaborated with a range of external partners in research, including LEGO, UNICEF and CBeebies.

She is an Editor of the Journal of Early Childhood Literacy. She also frequently shares expertise through relevant networks, such as Early Childhood Australia, and invited media appearances, including national and regional television and radio (BBC News Channel, BBC Radio 5 Live) and articles aimed at public engagement, such as her recent pieces in The Conversation.

Earliest digital memory

Playing Granny’s Garden on a ZX Spectrum computer (c. 1992) at home and peeling the perforated edges off the old green and white striped printer paper at school. Digital games made rare appearances in my childhood, but when they did, I found them mysterious and captivating. These early experiences drove a love of anything digitally creative – I loved making interactive Powerpoints (!) as a child and, later, teaching myself basic HTML to use on my beloved Neopets.com