Dr Lorna Arnott’s research focuses on very young children’s lived experiences and play, particularly in relation to digital technologies. Her work focuses primarily on children under five years old, and more recently she is increasingly interested in research with children under three years old. She takes a broad ecological perspective about how technologies are positioned in children’s lives, learning and society.

Lorna’s experiences include leading the Scottish data cohort as part of a UK wide research project, funded by the ESRC, Toddlers, Tech and Talk (0-3-year-old children’s language and literacy learning at home in a digital age).

Lorna is particularly interesting in working directly with children, particularly very young children, through participatory research methods that are inspired by play pedagogy.

Earliest digital memory

My dad had a Pink Triangle record player for as long as I can remember. He loved it so much that I realised how technologies can be valued by people and bring joy to someone’s life.