Digital Media for Young Children:

Vast Wasteland or Learning Oasis?

Southern Early Childhood Association

Dr. Michael H. Levine

February 2012

HistoryReel.wmv

Sesames Origins and The Cooney Center

Literacy and STEM Challenges

Trends in Childrens Media Consumption

The Modern Family Media Ecology

Digital Media and Learning Research

Lessons From The Street

Overview

About Sesames Origins Joan Ganz Cooneys 1966 report to Carnegie Corporation, The Potential Uses of Television in Preschool Education

How can emerging media help children learn?

Afghanistan

Bangladesh

Brazil

China

Denmark

Egypt

Germany

Netherlands

India

Indonesia

Israel Japan

Jordan

Gulf

Mexico

Northern Ireland

Palestine

South Africa

Namibia

Botswana

Lesotho

Swaziland

Tanzania

Nigeria

Colombia

Pakistan

Spain

Ghana

(teacher training)

USA

Australia

New Zealand

Sesames Global Footprint

Pioneering Research in Childrens Media

1969 2012

The Screen Evolution

The Cooney Centers Mission

To foster innovation in childrens learning through digital media

What we care about

Middle childhood (5 to 11-year-olds)

Improving literacy: old and new

Underserved populations

Learning ecologies across formal and

informal environments

About the Cooney Center

Activities

Convene: Activate public discussion and cross-sector sharing

Research: Support and conduct studies on digital media and learning

Communicate: Translate research into design & programming recommendations

Influence: Challenge industry/policy to produce and invest in high-quality media

Literacy: Americas Overlooked Crisis

Sources: NAEP, 2008.

Average

Score

Year

US 4th Grade Reading Scores

STEM: Changing Leadership in a Global Economy

Source: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), 2009.

United States Science Score 502

STEM: Changing Leadership in Global Economy

Source: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), 2009.

United States Math Score 487

Preparing Children

to Succeed in the

21st Century

Digital media are a key part of childrens

lives and can promote key 21st C Skills!

National STEM Video Game Challenge 2011 Youth Winners: Participation Matters!

STEM_youthPrize.mov

National STEM Video Game Challenge 2011 Youth Winners: Participation Matters!

The Modern Media Landscape

Kaiser Family Foundation, 2010, 8- to 18-year-olds

Joan Ganz Cooney Center, 2011 0- to 11-year-olds

The Modern Media Landscape:

Trends Shaping Childrens Media Consumption

1. Even very young children are frequent digital

media users.

2. There continues to be a substantial digital divide,

including both computers & mobile devices.

3. Children under two spend twice as much time

watching TV as they do reading books/being

read to.

4. TV continues to dominate young childrens media

use.

5. Broadcast TV is the most accessible & widely

used platform for educational content for kids in

low-income homes.

6. Media use varies significantly by race & socio-

economic status, but not much by gender.

Trend 1: Starting Earlier and More Often!

48%

42%

80%

73%

91%

92%

Trend 1: Digital Divide: Computer & Internet Access

A home computer

High speed Internet access

Among 0-8 year-olds, the percent with:

Less than $30,000/year $30,000 to $75,000/year More than $75,000/year

Source: Gutnick, Robb, Takeuchi & Kotler, 2011

Trend 2: Digital Media Use Increases at about Age 8

2010: Kids were squeezing 10:45 hours of media exposure into 7:38 (Rideout, Foehr & Roberts, 2010)

Trend 3: Media Overload and Multitasking,

Kaiser Family Foundation Research: Kids Ages 8-18

Heaviest media users struggle the most

Trend 3: Media Overload and Multitasking,

Kaiser Family Foundation Research

Families Matter: How to engage the

children likely to be left behind?

Sources: Bronfenbrenner, 1977; Takeuchi, 2011

It Takes A Village: Learning Happens Across Settings!

Government Agencies

Mass Media

Parents Work

Digital Media Market

Local School System

Church, Library, After-school

Spaces

Home, Parents, Siblings

School, Teachers,

Peers

Digital Media Spaces

Attitudes & Ideologies of the Culture

The Neighborhood

Quality Time, Redefined April 29, 2011

The modern family ecology

Younger children enjoy using digital media to connect

more closely with their parents (Takeuchi, 2011)

JGCC Digital Media Research:

Responding to the Challenges

Family values powerfully shape childrens experiences

Two-thirds of parents restrict kids media use on a case-by-case basis, while 80 percent view tech fluency as critical

A third of parents have learned something technical from their child

Parents call for more balanced consumption for children, but most dont believe own kids are at risk

Source: Takeuchi, 2011

Digital Media: Families Matter

Learning: Is there an app for that?

Usability Study

How much access do young children have to

smart mobile devices?

To what extent do young children like smart

mobile devices?

How adept are young children at using smart

mobile devices?

Learning Study

How adept are young children at using smart

mobile devices?

To what extent do young children learn from

apps?

How can apps successfully sustain young

childrens interest and learning?

Parent Survey

What is the role of parents in the mobile media

revolution?

Cooney Center Reports on Video Games and Apps

What is the new coviewing?

to intergenerational play and learning

Lori Takeuchi Joan Ganz Cooney Center

@ Sesame Workshop

Designing for learning through joint media engagement

What is the new coviewing?

From coviewing on older media

What is the new coviewing?

to joint media engagement (JME).

Lessons from the Street

Teaching and Learning in a Digital Age

Priority 1: Invest in Early Childhood

Learning

Break down barriers to using technology (NAEYC Technology Policy, 2012)

Normalize a childs early digital experiences

Focus on 5 key elements:

Personalize while building a community of learners

Connect home and school experiences

Link basic literacy to complex STEM literacies

Target heavy media consumers who are slumping

Modernize Head Start and Pre-K (Sesame Learning)

P 2. Teacher Quality in a Digital Age

Recent reports: new

vision for modernizing

teaching

Focus on life-long,

deeper learning

Closing literacy gaps

Priority 2: Key Challenges in Teacher Ed

Pre-Service challenges

Lack of interest by faculty in schools of education

Lack of time to promote, research new models

In-Service challenges

Fear and lack of experience using technology

Lack of infrastructure, technical support, software

Lack of reliable information about what is good

Technocentric models of professional development

Digital Age Teacher Preparation Council

Members:

Brigid Barron

D. Blumenthal

Sue Bredekamp

Tom Carroll

Susan Gendron

Herb Ginsberg

Rob Lippincott

Shirley Malcom

Jeff Mao

Ellen Moir

Susan Patrick

Sharon Robinson

D. Strickland

Ron Thorpe

John Wilson

Susan Zelman

Report authored by:

Brigid Barron

Gabrielle Cayton-Hodges

Laura Bofferding

Carol Copple

Linda Darling-Hammond

Michael H. Levine

Council Chairs: Linda Darling-Hammond Michael Levine

Five Key Levers for Change

45

Common Core standards to move from the morass of state standards to greater curricular coherence and emphasis on 21st century skills

Progress is being made in developing assessments to test higher-level skills along with fundamental knowledge in K-12, next stop ECE?

Policy and business sectors have increased commitment to learning in early childhood with new infrastructure in place in many states and expanded investment that will likely grow in the decade ahead

New incentives like Race to the Top are encouraging states to develop comprehensive plans that include crucial elements such as rating systems, teacher support and professional development with ECE links

A wealth of public media assets are creating new possibilities for transforming teaching and learning. High-quality video segments designed to teach many concepts and skills can be used in new interactive formats and contexts in and out of the classroom.

Take a Giant Step: Recommendations

46

Advance technology R&D, integration and infrastructure - The President

and Congress should expand scientific R&D, broadband policies, and

technology integration efforts to modernize public early ed programs.

Modernize professional learning programs and models National policy

reforms should promote proven technology supports in preparation and

ongoing training for early learning programs

Expand public media use as a cost-effective asset for teachers - given

their low cost, research-based development, but current limited use, create

more partnerships to design and distribute public media assets widely

Bolder Experimentation (eg. Digital Teacher Corps) - a new entity should

be designed to support a corps of teachers whose goal is to integrate

technology and best teaching practices to address the fourth grade reading

slump that afflicts over 1 million young children.

Lessons from the Street: 5 Ps

The SECA could:

Promote NAEYCs Evolutionary Tech Policy

Partner on a new public engagement strategy to

champion kids interests in digital age

Pioneer a modern early literacy campaign

Partner with public media to embed low cost

resources in center and family programs

Prompt policy action to promote public-private

partnerships that support usable R&D

47

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