Abstract
Drawing on the outputs of a wider democracy of online reviewers presents the academic study of children’s literature with opportunities and challenges, and can enhance critical discussion. As it is now easy to locate a large number of online reviews, it is argued that children’s literature studies needs to make room for a wider range of critical voices. This article reports on the work of two cohorts of over a thousand students. Each cohort, in consecutive years, researched online reviews as part of their studies in contemporary children’s literature on a one year part-time module at a distance learning university. Despite the perceived lack of status of non-academic, non-professional critiques, students’ and tutors’ experiences of these tasks showed the value of researching online reviews. This work also allowed for alternative forms of writing and assessment alongside more conventional academic essays, and encouraged students to develop their skills of critical digital literacy. Module leaders recommended basic initial research methods for student use, but for more extensive or larger scale research it will be important to address methodological issues and understand how online reviewer communities operate. Such changes in approaches to teaching and learning also need to take into account the issues surrounding social media usage, ownership and control.
Highlights
The first part of this article argues for a role within children’s literature studies for a wider range of critical voices
In the second part I report on the work of a large cohort of students at one university who researched online reviews as part of their studies in contemporary children’s literature
The final section examines what the wider democracy of online reviewers can add to the critical discussion of sample texts, and the wider opportunities and challenges this presents for the academic study of children’s literature
Summary
The first part of this article argues for a role within children’s literature studies for a wider range of critical voices. At a time when universities often need to foster critical digital literacies and are under pressure to adapt traditional assessment methods, requiring students to research, compile and analyse non-academic online reviews gives scope for achieving both of those aims Resistance to using such informal resources may come from more than one direction. Other possible resistance to utilising online reviews could derive from concerns about the quality and authenticity of data retrieved from commercial platforms Such reservations are well justified but the diversity, scope and potential volume of data mean it can still be studied without misrepresentation as evidence of the discussion of children’s literature at large and in public, provided the platforms’ constraints are understood and taken into account. In dealing with such concerns teaching must be grounded in critical understanding of new media infrastructures
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