We recently released Family Time with Apps: A Guide to Using Apps with Your Kids, a free interactive guide for parents and caregivers. The book features comic strips that parents and children can enjoy together, as well as tips on selecting apps that can help turn screen time into family time. Whether the challenge is preparing for a new experience like starting school, spending more time outside, connecting to distant loved ones, or reading together every day, the guide provides tips on how using apps together can support a child’s learning and development. It is available from the iBook Store.

We’ve invited some experts to share their own perspectives on the scenarios that we explore in Family Time with Apps. We are thrilled that our good friend Shelley Pasnik of the Center for Children and Technology and Education Development Center has agreed to share her expertise on a topic on almost every parent’s mind: the importance of routines in our daily lives.

I was asked to write about the last strip of the Joan Ganz Cooney Center’s new interactive book. Perhaps you know it? It’s the one about routines. That’s right: Routines. Those habits of mind, body and household meant to make life manageable. As the blurb above calls out, the good people at the Cooney Center are having different people write about each of the eight themes and Routines was my assignment.

If you’ve been to the iBook Store and downloaded a copy you may know it as burnt-orange routines. I could have gotten sizzling fuchsia’s “Preparing for new experiences,” dreamy lavender’s “Making travel more fun” or oceanic aqua’s “Connecting with distant family,” which enviably includes a pirate, but I didn’t. I got Routines. And not just any routines, but predictable ones.

For those of you who know me as a researcher this may make sense. Routines and research: both have to do with consistency and predictability. Both are known to be rather staid. Let’s give that one to Shelley! I choose to believe that I got Routines for the simple reason that the Cooney Center folks love me more than the seven other contributors. Or, it could be that the developers of this book were in on the secret: routines are the lifeblood of families. While they can be maligned as the boring or uninspired bits of daily living, slavishly bound to a clock and just too ho-hum to be of any real interest, those characterizations couldn’t be further from the truth.

It’s precisely because routines establish structure and minimize guessing when it comes to the larger container of an activity that they are useful. And I don’t mean useful from an efficiency standpoint, but from a creative one. Routines, much like research, are methodical so the people following them, in this case young people who are figuring themselves and their places in the world out, don’t have to be.  By having the adults draw the boundaries, routines lead to a safely held feeling of containment or offer up a clear— though just as safe—“push here” signal to a child, depending on her stage of development and temperament.

The illustration in the book is a light-hearted rendering of a model parenting technique: the calm countdown with ample warnings before the gentle, “Time’s up” arrives. As the text aptly notes, this kind of time management on the mom’s part supports the child’s emerging self-control. But, from a kid-as-growing-complex-person perspective, the Kapow! panel is the second-to-the-last where, bemused cat looking on, the child’s block-letter exclamation reads, “Look out!” At this point, parenting transcends time management. The mom’s measured approach has created a space for her child to be unapologetically engrossed. In this way, the constraints of routine function as design principles; at their best they liberate rather than narrow. Mom in a thin-striped shirt and daughter in a thick-striped shirt are in harmony, each holding her own.

Gateway to New Routines

This week my colleagues at EDC and SRI released a study we conducted as part of the CPB-PBS Ready To Learn initiative, which is a U.S. Department of Education program that seeks to develop and research how public media can improve children’s school readiness. We explored what young children learned after engaging with content from PEG+CAT, a transmedia property that emphasizes early mathematics and problem solving. Like all of Ready To Learn, which has at its core a commitment to equitable opportunities, the young learners who participated in the study come from low-income communities. We found positive signs of engagement among many of the 4- and 5-year-olds, strong positive parental impressions of the materials, and improvements in math learning, especially related to shape identification, an important early math building block. (You can read the full study here.)

So why do I mention all of this in the context of routines?

The nature of the study was to pressure-test the PEG+CAT materials, which includes video episodes, interstitial video, online games, and a tablet-based app that allows children and their families to engage with the same characters, settings, and narratives on multiple devices, across various physical and social settings. By design, the study took place in a lab over five weeks and didn’t intend to influence families’ home routines. The funny thing about routines is that as regimented as they are, they also are living and breathing evolutions. Some of the families, after experiencing the five-week routine of our study setting, told us they’d begun tinkering with the content at home. This kind of integration is where the real promise of the materials may be. (We hope to know more about this once we wrap up a 185-family Home Study of the same materials later this year.)

Not only can a routine give a child license to go deep on a particular morning, as happens in the interactive strip, or within the confines of a formal study session, as happened in our offices, but it also can be a mechanism for building momentum over multiple days, weeks and months. This combination of repetition and deepening exploration—what people in the learning sciences define as “successive interactions with specific concepts and skills” and moms and dads simply refer to as “the way we do it at home”—is crucial to learning.

What are some of your favorite tips or apps for family time? Share them in the comments below or via Facebook or Twitter with the hashtag #familytimewithapps, and we’ll publish highlights on the blog!

Shelley Pasnik is the Director of the Center for Children and Technology and a vice president of Education Development Center. Her research is devoted to understanding how cultural institutions—especially public media, private foundations, and corporate philanthropies—can use emerging technologies to support teaching and learning.

The Joan Ganz Cooney Center is accepting fellowship applications now through April 15, 2015. 

Fellows Program Overview

Cooney Center Fellows participate in a wide range of projects and, in doing so, develop broad exposure to scholarship, policy, and practice in the field of digital media and learning. This professional development program offers opportunities to:

The Cooney Center Fellows Program attracts a wide range of applicants with expertise in digital media and/or in the fields of communication, child development, education, learning sciences, psychology, computer science, design, and public policy. Current and former fellows have led research investigations and published reports and articles on digital media innovations, industry trends, and policy solutions. They have also developed public presentation and media outreach skills, organized major cross-sector convenings, and contributed to the overall growth of the Cooney Center.

Learn more about the fellowship, eligibility, and application process.

Read some insightful (and humorous) thoughts from past Cooney Center Fellows: Jason Yip and Sarah Vaala, Ph.D.

Our new report, Digital Media and Latino Families, takes stock of recent research that reveals widening use of digital media by Latino children, along with the multifaceted effects on their learning and their families. We find, empirically speaking, that the much discussed “digital divide” no longer hampers Latino families, as parents continue to buy mobile devices and computers shared with their children. But we also found that Latino parents report their children use electronic tools less often for school work or educational tasks, compared with middle-class (non-Latino) White peers. Is the divide of access becoming a different kind of divide, in which participation and usage become key factors to explore?

Recent national surveys find that 49% of Latino adults now own a smart phone, while nine in 10 own a cell phone of any kind, statistically equal to the proportions for White adults. The share of Latino adults reporting regular use of any online device climbed from 64% to 78% between 2009 and 2012, nine points behind White adults. These shares range higher among Latinos raising children, especially in English-speaking households.

We also detail the blizzard of digital content now aimed at Latino children, some designed for Spanish speakers. But the growing range of programs and apps penetrating into Latino communities rarely allow parents to teach their children about cultural heritage, social values and assets, or forms of social cooperation emphasized by many Latino parents.

The narrowing of basic access to mobile devices and the Internet, enjoyed by Latino adults and children of late, stem largely from interviews with nationally representative samples of Latinos with young children conducted by Northwestern University or the Pew Research Center. Anthropological work is beginning to reveal the ways in which children and parents increasingly wield digital tools either in isolation or learning and playing together.

Persisting Inequities, Uneven Learning Effects

Two digital disparities persist for Latino children, especially those raised in households with low incomes or headed by foreign-born parents. Fully three-fourths (77%) of Latino parents with annual household incomes over $50,000 now own a smart phone, compared with just two-fifths (40%) of Latino parents earning under $30,000 yearly. Similarly, 69% of parents in Spanish-dominant households owned a laptop or personal computer in 4, relative to 82% in English-speaking Latino households.

Heavier reliance on electronic media for entertainment among Latino children, not for educational purposes, manifests a second disparity relative to White peers. This applies to television viewing, not only the use of contemporary digital devices. Latino children use electronic devices (excluding TV) almost 90 minutes each day on average, when including smart phones, tablets, and personal computers, compared with just under 60 minutes of daily use among White peers. Latino children also watch two hours of television per day on average, one half-hour more than their White counterparts.

The type of mobile device purchased may condition the extent to which children engage educational contents. Almost one-half (46%) of White parents with a child under 8 years-old now own a tablet or e-reader, compared with 29% of their Latino peers. Such  disparities in the sophistication of the mobile devices selected by parents appear among income groups with ethnic populations as well. Still, little is known about how these digital tools are shared with children for educational or entertainment purposes.

Many parents–independent of ethnic background– share digital devices to occupy their young children or tap into games, cartoons, and movies. Initial national evidence shows that such entertainment goals often dominate in Latino households, where educational applications remain less frequent, compared with households headed by White parents. This starts with how parents use digital tools. Latino adults are significantly more likely to play games, access social-networking sites, and send photos on their smartphones than White peers, according to one national survey.

Just under half (45%) of Latino parents with children under 8 years-old report enforcing no rules for time spent on the Internet. The five most frequent activities in which young Latino children are engaged ‘often’ or ‘sometimes’ include playing games (65%), listening to music (49%), doing school homework (47%), watching YouTube or video clips (46%), and watching TV shows online (39%). This emphasis on entertain is correlated with maternal education levels, which tends to disadvantage a higher share of young Latino children than White peers. Low-income Latino parents expect stronger learning benefits digital tools, such as advancing their child’s reading or mathematical skills, relative to less sanguine expectations of middle-class Latino parents.

Thin Evidence on Learning Benefits

After searching the empirical literature we found few studies that examine even short-term learning effects stemming from this rising use of digital media by Latino children. Old-fashion learning theory – focusing on the individual child’s cognitive stimulation and processing – constrains how we conceive of learning and socialization in differing cultural contexts. The incidental effects of entertainment or social networking on novel behaviors or values, likely taken up by Latino children and youths, remain unexplored.

We do know that Latino youngsters, proficient in English, broker many public transactions for their parents and older kin members. Local studies now detail how digital media play a huge role in selecting child care or schools, locating health clinics or social services – often facilitated by children tapping digital tools. But evidence remains thin on whether their rising use of new media advances learning for Latino children or buoys their performance in school.

Overall, an unsettling irony emerges from our review. We know that digital tools increasingly shape the daily activities, social values, and daily upbringing of Latino children from toddlerhood forward. Yet we know little about the benefits and risks of online activities, games, and networking platforms. We have little evidence on the possible cognitive growth or novel social norms experienced by Latino youngsters. Nor do we understand how the child’s or teen’s relations with parents may be altered.

A Blizzard of Apps Aimed at Children

We also review the widening flurry of programs and digital apps that aim to capture the attention of children and families. What Latino children are learning is largely driven by the content that’s shaped by for-profit firms. Only a fraction of available programs aim to boost the learning for young Latino children; even fewer computer games or apps build from the language and socialization priorities of (diverse) Latino families. An increasing number of apps do offer versions in Spanish. But, more deeply, these applications rarely allow parents to teach their children about cultural heritage, social values and assets, or forms of social cooperation emphasized by many Latino families.

The report accents the rise of curation services offered by private and nonprofit firms that assess the breathtaking variety of games, educational programs, movies, and apps now aimed at pre-k and school-age children. We detail the weaknesses and lack of transparency of the ratings offered by major firms, which allege that they gauge educational content and benefits.

A handful of nonprofit organizations now offer more discerning curation services, at times taking into account the quality of content and developmental fit with the child’s age. Still, curators to date show little capacity to inform Latino or non-mainstream parents about the cultural relevance of digital offerings, even to carefully advance bilingual skills.

Do Digital Tools Recast Parental Authority?

The advent of television, going back to the 1950s, reshaped daily activities inside the home for children and parents alike. The rising use of digital tools similarly expands the amount of time in which children labor alone or with peers—playing games, watching new channels of entertainment, networking with friends, even occasionally pursuing educational topics.

One question on the scientific frontier: How do these new media further separate children from daily interactions with parents, and do the novel social norms and information delivered undercut traditional forms of parental authority commonly seen in Latino households? Beyond the growing evidence on how Latino children broker interactions for older kin, we know little about the effects of digital tools on social relations inside families.

Our report sketches what’s known about the pro-family values and stiff yet supportive discipline often practiced by Latino parents. How digital tools advance the learning of Latino children, while shifting parenting authority and social norms inside families, remains an intriguing question about which researchers know little.

This analysis was sponsored by New Journalism on Latino Children, an undertaking of the Education Writers Association, Latino Policy Forum of Chicago, and the University of California, Berkeley. Special thanks go to Diana Hess at the Spencer Foundation and Sara Slaughter, McCormick Foundation, for their generous support.

Bruce Fuller, José Lizárraga, James H. Gray

University of California, Berkeley

view Spanish translation

“Yeah, when [my daughter] doesn’t know something, I go to YouTube. I see the video. And once I understand how it is, then I’ll teach her. I explain it to her.”

Elena, mother to 9-year-old Alicia, describes how she learns important information from the Internet to help Alicia learn about fractions. Alicia is of Ecuadorian descent and lives in a media-rich home with TVs, cable access, DVD players, multiple smartphones, a tablet, high-speed Internet access, and computers. The family’s experience is highlighted in our new report, Aprendiendo en Casa: Media as a Resource for Learning among Hispanic-Latino Families.

Hispanic-Latinos are the largest minority group in the United States. However, the term “Hispanic-Latino” itself encapsulates groups of individuals with diverse backgrounds and experiences. Research focusing on Hispanic-Latino and other minority groups often adopt a deficit perspective, juxtaposing them against mainstream, dominant, White culture rather than examining knowledge and practices in these families as being important in their own right. This study was borne out of such a need, as well as the desire to better understand the role that media plays for learning among Hispanic-Latino families while taking unique circumstances, such as language (families that speak only Spanish vs. those that are bilingual, and those that speak only English), into account.  Based on an oversample of Hispanic-Latino families in a national survey, it examines the dimensions of access; children’s use of educational content on different media platforms and parents’ perceptions of that learning; the use of media for learning (among both parents and children); and joint media engagement between parents and children. Therefore, in addition to children’s media environment and media use, this study also considers parent-child interactions that have important implications for engagement and learning.

Not surprisingly, we found that Hispanic-Latino families have different levels of access to media. While some platforms—such as television, cable, and computers—were prevalent, other devices such as tablets, smartphones, and e-readers were less so. Limits in access impinge on both parent and children’s use of media for learning. Parents who had less access to digital tools (high speed Internet connection, tablet, or smartphone) were less likely to use the Internet for their own learning. Parents’ use of the web for learning is also related to their child’s use of educational content, underscoring the important associations among access, parents’ use, and children’s use of educational media.

Parents largely feel that their child has learned from educational media, but the degree of perceived learning varies by subject and platform. Among the range of media platforms, television is where children most commonly access educational content. Parents were most likely to feel that their child has learned reading and English from educational media. In addition to acknowledging the importance of educational content, the survey also centers on the dynamics that happen during and after the media encounter—joint media engagement, and the important conversations and activities that educational media can engender. This study found that educational content is often fodder for dialog, imaginative play, and asking questions regardless of the language spoken at home.  Spanish-only and bilingual families were also especially likely to report that their child taught them something they didn’t know after engaging with educational media.

We conclude the report with a set of implications for media designers, practitioners, and researchers in the hopes that this research will translate into concrete, actionable knowledge for parents and those who touch Hispanic-Latino families’ lives, whether they are educators and practitioners, or designers who create engaging content for young users. These include the importance of providing non-digital and Spanish-language resources; adopting an intergenerational approach to media design that considers children, parents, and perhaps grandparents in the media experience; and creating media that catalyzes conversations and interactions between children and parents. We also propose suggestions for a research agenda that builds on these findings. At a time when media offerings are expanding at a breathtaking pace, vying for children’s time and attention, it is especially important to bear in mind the unique needs of different audiences, including those of Hispanic-Latino families.

One of my favorite aspects of this report is that it draws upon qualitative work (from which the opening quote comes) conducted by colleagues from the Families and Media (FAM) Project. Based on ethnographic data from the northeast U.S. and California, the case studies illustrate important practices and interactions described in the survey results. The report is enriched by these vignettes, which bring practices such as Elena and Alicia’s to life. Such a blend of quantitative and qualitative approaches is still relatively uncommon in this field, particularly as it relates to populations in the non-majority culture. Colleagues from the Aprendiendo Juntos Council (AJC) also provided invaluable input on the report. Both the FAM Project and the AJC embody the close collaboration across disciplines and methodologies; this has proven incredibly fruitful in building knowledge in this field. It has also yielded rich opportunities (not to mention a great deal of fun!) to learn from one another, bound by our common interest in understanding and creating meaningful, rich media experiences for children and families.

 view Spanish translation

view English

“Ajá, cuando (mi hija) no sabe algo, voy a YouTube. Veo un video y una vez que entiendo, entonces le enseño y le explico las cosas a ella”.

Elena, mamá de Alicia (9 años), describe cómo obtiene información importante en internet para ayudar a Alicia con las fracciones. Alicia es de ascendencia ecuatoriana y vive en una casa abundante en medios, con televisiones, cable, reproductores de DVD, varios teléfonos inteligentes, una tableta, internet de alta velocidad y computadoras. La experiencia de esta familia se resalta en un reporte, de próxima publicación, titulado: Aprendiendo en Casa: Media as a Resource for Learning among Hispanic-Latino Families. (Los medios como recurso de aprendizaje entre familias Hispanas/Latinas).

Los Hispanos/Latinos son el grupo minoritario más cuantioso en Estados Unidos. Sin embargo, el mismo término “Hispano/Latino” incluye grupos de individuos de diversos orígenes y experiencias. La investigación sobre “Hispanos/Latinos” y otros grupos minoritarios adopta frecuentemente un enfoque limitado, poniéndolo a la par de la cultura blanca, establecida y dominante, en lugar de examinar el conocimiento y prácticas de estas familias como importantes por sí mismas. Este estudio surge de esa necesidad, así como del deseo de entender mejor el rol que los medios juegan en el aprendizaje de las familias Hispanas/Latinas, tomando en cuenta circunstancias únicas, como son el idioma (familias que sólo hablan español vs. aquellas que son bilingües y aquellas que sólo hablan inglés). El estudio, basado en una sobremuestra de familias Hispanas/Latinas de una encuesta nacional, examina las dimensiones del acceso; el uso de contenido educativo en distintas plataformas y la percepción de los padres sobre ese aprendizaje; el uso de medios para el aprendizaje (tanto entre padres como en hijos); y el uso significativo compartido entre padres e hijos (joint media engagement). Por lo tanto, además del ambiente mediático y uso de medios entre los niños, este estudio también considera las interacciones entre padres e hijos, cuyas implicaciones son importantes para la participación y el aprendizaje.

No nos sorprendió confirmar que las familias Hispanas/Latinas tienen diferentes niveles de acceso a los medios. Mientras algunas plataformas como televisión, cable y computadoras prevalecen, otros aparatos como tabletas, teléfonos inteligentes y lectores electrónicos o e-readers son menos recurrentes. Limitaciones en el acceso afectan el uso de medios para el aprendizaje, tanto en padres como en hijos. Los padres con menos acceso a herramientas digitales (internet de alta velocidad, tableta o teléfono inteligente) son menos propensos a usar el internet para su propio aprendizaje. El uso de la web para el aprendizaje, por parte de los adultos, también está relacionado con el uso que hacen los hijos de los medios educativos, subrayando las importantes relaciones entre acceso y uso de los medios educativos, tanto por parte de  los padres como de los hijos.

En su mayoría, los padres sienten que sus hijos han aprendido de los medios educativos, pero el grado de percepción del aprendizaje varía por tema y por plataforma. Entre la variedad de plataformas, es a través de la televisión donde los niños tienen más acceso a contenido educativo. Los padres tienden a sentir que sus hijos/as ha aprendido inglés y lectura usando medios educativos. Además de reconocer la importancia de contenidos educativos, la encuesta también se centra en las dinámicas que suceden durante y después de usar los medios–uso significativo en conjunto (joint media engagement), y las importantes conversaciones y actividades que los medios educativos pueden generar. Este estudio halló que los contenidos educativos son detonadores para el diálogo, juego imaginativo y formulación de preguntas independientemente del idioma hablado en casa. Las familias bilingües y aquellas que sólo hablan español fueron especialmente propensas a decir que, después de usar los medios educativos, sus hijos/as les enseñaron algo que no sabían.

Concluímos el reporte con una serie de recomendaciones para diseñadores de medios, expertos e investigadores con la esperanza de que esta investigación se traduzca en conocimiento concreto y factible para padres y aquellas personas involucradas en las vidas de familias Hispanas/Latinas, sean ellos educadores y expertos, o diseñadores creadores de contenido valioso para los jóvenes usuarios. Estas recomendaciones incluyen la importancia de proveer recursos no digitales y recursos en español; adoptar un enfoque intergeneracional en el diseño de medios que considere a los niños, papás y quizás abuelos en la experiencia mediática; y crear medios que catalicen conversaciones e interacciones entre niños y papás. También damos sugerencias para una agenda de investigación que profundice en estos hallazgos. En un momento en que  la oferta de medios crece a un ritmo acelerado, compitiendo por la atención y tiempo de los niños, es especialmente importante tener en mente las necesidades únicas de diferentes audiencias, incluyendo aquellas propias de las familias Hispanas/Latinas.

Uno de los aspectos que más me gusta de este reporte es que reconoce el trabajo de investigación cualitativa de colegas del proyecto de Medios y Familias [Families and Media (FAM) Project], ya que los estudios de caso están basados en información etnográfica del noroeste de Estados Unidos y California e ilustran importantes prácticas e interacciones descritas en los resultados de la encuesta. Además, el reporte está enriquecido con viñetas que dan vida a las interacciones como las de Elena y Alicia. Dicha mezcla de enfoques cualitativo y cuantitativo es relativamente poco común en este campo, particularmente porque está relacionada con poblaciones de cultura no mayoritaria. Los colegas del Consejo Aprendiendo Juntos (AJC) también proveyeron invaluables aportes al reporte. Así, tanto el proyecto FAM como AJC encarnan la cercana colaboración entre disciplinas y metodologías; esto ha demostrado ser increíblemente  fructífero en la construcción de conocimiento en esta área. También ha permitido buenas oportunidades (¡además de divertidas!) para aprender el uno del otro, unidos por nuestro interés común en entender y crear experiencias mediáticas significativas para niños y familias.

*En el original, el término Hispano/Latino y sus acepciones aparecen como Hispanic-Latino .

 view English

The Games for Change Festival (April 21-23 & 25), the largest gaming event in New York City, celebrates the positive power of games, again as part of the Tribeca Film Festival. From the most successful mobile games to cutting-edge virtual reality projects, this year brings the best Festival line-up yet.

Beyond Games

• Nicholas Kristof, NY Times columnist, Pulitzer Prize winner, author of A Path Appears
• Sheryl WuDunn, Pulitzer Prize winner, author of A Path Appears
• Morgan Spurlock, Acclaimed Filmmaker, Super Size Me
• Michael Abrash, Chief Scientist, Oculus VR

Game Makers

• Peter Vesterbacka, Rovio Fun Learning, Angry Birds
• Rami Ismail, Vlambeer, Ridiculous Fishing
• Meg Jayanth, Writer, 80 Days (Time Magazine’s Game of the Year)
• Jesse Schell, CEO, Schell Games
• Frank Lantz, Director, NYU Game Center
• Eric Zimmerman, Game Designer, faculty at NYU
• Colleen Macklin, Game Designer, Parsons the New School for Design
• Naomi Clark, Game Designer, Brooklyn Game Ensemble
• Adriaan De Jongh, Game Designer, Bounden
• Cecilia Dolk, Martin Ericsson, Bjarke Pedersen, Nordic LARP creators, Odyssé

The Festival continues to showcase a strong selection of learning games, curated in partnership with the Joan Ganz Cooney Center.

• Angry Birds Fun Learning. The hit mobile game that now has an animated series, educational books, and STEM-themed games is growing their Fun Learning program. With partners such as NASA, CERN, and the National Geographic Society, Angry Birds maker Rovio aims inspire children and feed their curiosity with wonders and challenges of the world.
• Scientific Exploration with NOVA Labs Games: Real science, real data, and you. Learn how NOVA’s latest game, Evolution Lab, tackles the big ideas and misconceptions about evolution and attempts to counter the efforts being made in some states to remove the teaching of evolution in science classrooms by working with their outreach partners.
• Social-Emotional Learning Games: Where are they now and why they’re our future. Hear from leading social-emotional learning (SEL) game developers and come away with a thorough knowledge of how SEL games bolster achievement on the Common Core and 21st-century skills, what’s next for research in this fast-emerging field, and what strategies can be taken for scaling these games in K-12 and informal learning environments nationally.
• From Concept to Market: Building games for schools. The story of Filament’s PLEx Science product is the story of one of the few major commercialization efforts in the games-based learning space. Learn about the entire life cycle of a contemporary learning game – from development to research to launch – and about the philosophies and practices of the largest dedicated learning games developer in the U.S.

Registration is open with a 20% early-bird discount through February 20. Get an additional 10% off with the code 10cooney. Register now.

For the latest information on the Festival, please visit www.gamesforchange.org/festival/

A Collaborative Experiment

On January 23, 2015, researchers, educators, and digital media professionals spent the day at Stanford’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (aka the d.school) to imagine how to better support the needs and interest-driven learning of families with children through digital media. The “Designing Media for Underserved Families” event, funded by the National Science Foundation’s Cyberlearning and Future Learning Technologies program, continued in the cross-sector collaborative spirit of the LIFE Center and the Families and Media consortium, in which researchers from Stanford University, Northwestern University, the Joan Ganz Cooney Center, Rutgers University, and Arizona State University conducted ethnographic research to more deeply understand the ways in which children and families learn together with and around digital media and technology.

Gabriel Adauto (Motion Math) and Lori Takeuchi (Joan Ganz Cooney Center)

The design workshop brought together a blend of experts from universities, think-tanks, children’s media production companies, and child advocacy organizations, including among many others, representatives from Common Sense Media, Sesame Workshop, WGBH, KQED, PBS KIDS Digital, Google, SRI International, Launchpad Toys, Motion Math, Kidaptive, and the Center for Children and Technology at EDC.

This event was the second of two workshops arranged in order to cultivate future interdisciplinary work among researchers, educators, designers, and industry professionals who all wish to utilize the potential of digital media to contribute to children’s learning. While the first workshop, hosted by co-PIs Reed Stevens and Ellen Wartella, focused on research methods, the second workshop, hosted by co-PIs Brigid Barron and Roy Pea, focused on design. Barron framed the day as an experiment to see whether and how deep, case-based ethnographic research could be used in a rapid design process to both generate fresh design ideas and catalyze new collaborations among researchers, educators, and designers.

Ethnographic Research + Design Thinking

Event organizers Dr. Brigid Barron (Associate Professor, Stanford GSE), Dr. Amber Levinson (postdoctoral scholar, Stanford GSE), and Dr. Susie Wise (Director, K12 Lab Network) divided approximately fifty workshop participants into seven teams to eventually work on a set of design challenges prompted by case studies of young Hispanic-Latino children and their families. In addition, because each group had varying experiences with design thinking, each team had a design thinking coach to guide them through the process (several coaches were former or current Stanford graduate students). Design groups warmed up their collaborative thinking with “Yes, but” versus “Yes, and” conversations, and were encouraged by their coaches to build upon each other’s ideas and to refrain from judgment in order to optimize the creative process. Then, they were introduced to the steps of the design thinking process that they would follow for the day: (1) Empathize (with the family), (2) Define (the issues), (3) Ideate (idea generation), (4) Prototype, and (5) Test.

The case studies used for the Empathy stage were drawn from cases from Amber Levinson’s dissertation, TAPPING IN: Understanding How Hispanic-Latino Immigrant Families Engage and Learn with Broadcast and Digital Media (Levinson, 2014). Though Levinson’s mixed-methods research with mostly Spanish-speaking, low-income families in the San Francisco Bay Area included six months of ethnography, workshop organizers needed to find a way to present rich representations of the families for the purposes of a one-day event. In addition to thoughtfully representing each family, they also wanted to be mindful of demonstrating the diversity within the Hispanic-Latino community. To do this, they presented descriptive video clips of three of Levinson’s seven families, and also created laminated ethnographic research “case-mats” for each group that included in-depth information on each family’s daily life, immigration story, interests, strengths, stressors, and values.  The “case-mat” design was originally developed for educator workshops by PI Barron and a member of her YouthLab team, Caitlin Kennedy Martin, and based on ethnographic cases focused on interest-driven learning.

Each group was tasked to design for a single individual within an assigned family. For example, one team was assigned to a mother in a family who recently immigrated from Yucatán, Mexico, speaks primarily Spanish, and takes her son to the library to read e-books in order to improve his English skills. Another team designed for her son, who greatly enjoys comic books and drawings, but the books that align with his interests unfortunately do not have content at his reading level. Using the video clips and “case-mats” as guides, group members discussed their potential product user’s lifestyle, hobbies, and possible needs to be addressed. After thoroughly familiarizing themselves with the family’s interests, needs, and circumstances, workshop participants worked together through each of the remaining design steps in a flurry of post-it notes and marker-covered whiteboards. Finally, groups shared out their design solutions to participants in other groups.

Reflections

Left to Right: Lori Takeuchi (JGCC), Chris Bishop (PBS Kids Digital), Christen Sottolano (Stanford Graduate School of Education), Chris Murphy (Common Sense Media), Rosalia Zarate (Stanford Graduate School of Education), Andy Russell (Launchpad Toys), and Briana Pressey (JGCC)

After a long day of design thinking and teamwork, workshop participants had the chance to debrief with the event organizers about what they had learned, aspects of the day that they enjoyed, and next steps for designing the next iteration of this experiment. In general, there was great enthusiasm for the use of the ethnographic case research for design. Participants enjoyed seeing the clips and “case-mats” which provided a window into each family’s life, and allowed the groups to attempt to meaningfully address different topics including language-learning, interest-driven learning, asynchronous and distance learning, and community-based learning.

Workshop attendees also raised several questions and points to consider: A primary consideration was the nature of longitudinal ethnographic research, which can be very time consuming and expensive and, may not directly align with the design process, which requires very rapid thinking and iterations. How can the next iteration of this workshop push the research-design partnership even further?  How can ethnographic researchers choose the most important aspects of their large bodies of work to present to designers? In addition, how do the varying experiences of researchers and designers play into group dynamics when designing together? Exemplifying a common challenge in interdisciplinary collaborations, some researchers noted that they held back some of their contextual knowledge for the sake of the rapid process, while some designers held back their creative expertise for the sake of the those very new to design-thinking. Several participants noted that it would be ideal to have more than one meeting to best capitalize on the distributed expertise of the workshop participants.  The organizers also reflected on a need for ways to rapidly summarize basic research on learning in forms that design teams can productively utilize.

Finally, workshop attendees were excited to think about future ways in which this process could be refined and improved for even more impactful results. Suggestions included workshops in which designers help researchers design products based on their research findings, as well as workshops in which researchers advise developers on redesigning existing products to make them more culturally relevant and usable to a wider range of families.

For more information on the design thinking process used at the workshop, click here.

We recently released Family Time with Apps: A Guide to Using Apps with Your Kids, a free interactive guide for parents and caregivers. The book features comic strips that parents and children can enjoy together, as well as tips on selecting apps that can help turn screen time into family time. Whether the challenge is preparing for a new experience like starting school, spending more time outside, connecting to distant loved ones, or reading together every day, the guide provides tips on how using apps together can support a child’s learning and development. It is available from the iBook Store.

We’ve invited some experts to share their own perspectives on the scenarios that we explore in Family Time with Apps. We’re thrilled to kick off this series with a guest post by Toca Boca‘s Play Designer, Jens Peter de Pedro, who shares his own perspective on playing—and learning—with his daughters.

Click to view larger image

We had a mouse problem in our home, a common occurrence when one lives in New York City. Luckily, I’m not afraid of mice; there really is no reason to be. No mouse has ever seriously hurt a human being. Still, my wife is terrified of them. She won’t enter a room if a mouse was spotted in it. I think this must be learned behavior because I cannot imagine a prehistoric homo sapien in his right mind running away from a mouse.

I got rid of all the mice. It wasn’t scary, just sad. However, we still have a mouse problem of sorts: my daughters are holding onto their fear of mice. They are not as terrified as my partner is, but they don’t trust that mice are not all that dangerous. They dread the day the little fluffy rodents return.

Photo courtesy of Jens Peter de Pedro

I’ve tried to quench their misgivings by showing them videos on mice. We’ve learned about how many offspring they have— 10 to 12 per litter. What their natural habitats are—forests and grasslands. We all agree on their level of cuteness—extremely high. Yet despite this, my family still remains suspicious towards the species.

My youngest daughter, Sasha, nurtures another suspicion as well.

“Is this book about letters?” she asks with squinting eyes, piercing at me sideways.

Sasha is wary of any book or app that appears to teach reading or writing. How this happened I don’t know. Both my wife and I believe that learning to read can happen anytime and there is no proven benefit to learning early. Unless, of course, you are in “the learning race” and you start suspecting that you are among the last in your heat, but we didn’t enter our daughters into that competition. They are not in school. Still, I admit I have downloaded a couple of apps about letters and numbers for her in case she is interested, and it is possible that she felt I wanted her to learn. I do, of course! Maybe I even harbor a little unchecked fear somewhere that she will be behind her friends who do go to school? If so, perhaps I subconsciously transferred this fear onto her?

Have I made Sasha afraid to learn letters? It’s possible. The pressure on kids to perform, and on parents to have them perform, is so huge that it is difficult to escape. Perhaps my emotions have transferred onto her. Emotions do enter the mind quicker than information does. This is true for grownups, but especially for small children who often stop at feeling a situation when they don’t completely understand it.

Such is the case with the tutees of my friend, Larry the Math Teacher. He tutors children in Manhattan, often after their parents’ botched attempts. Larry tells me he wishes the parents had never tried to help their children with mathematics. They use the wrong methods, and what’s worse, they make their children feel inadequate. It is not that the children aren’t smart enough or that the math is too advanced, rather panic and misgivings of letting down their parents blocks their minds as soon as a mathematical problem is put in front of them. Adding to an already dire situation, parents often unknowingly transfer their own fears of math onto their children.

“Perhaps the greatest of all pedagogical fallacies is the notion that a person learns only the particular things he is studying at the time. Collateral learning in the way of formation of enduring attitudes, of like and dislikes, may be and often is much more important than the spelling lesson or lesson in geography or history that is learned…the most important attitude that can be formed is that of desire to go on learning” – John Dewey

Collateral learning is one of the things tests cannot measure. It is completely possible to get a good grade in something while learning that the subject studied is a total waste of time. “I aced that chemistry test! Hated every minute of studying for it.” That’s not a contradiction. And while the knowledge gained from this type of learning will be gone in a week, the negative feelings associated with the subject could last a lifetime. Chemistry sucks. Lesson learned.

That’s why it is so dangerous to coerce children into learning something, as dictated by our current learning paradigm. Learning should be about love for a subject. If the interest isn’t there, isn’t it safer to wait to introduce it?

At Toca Boca we are aware of collateral learning. We put a lot of effort in making our apps gender neutral. This is to avoid having children inadvertently learn that chopping carrots is for one sex and driving cars off of ramps is for another.

Learning is not so much about the transfer of information, as it is the transfer of culture. To that end, culture is really just the answer to “Who cares about what?” Your children will care about what you care about, and later about what their friends care about.

It’s when you let yourself go into a state of pure play, where your true emotions show, that the most important kind of learning will happen, because your child will get a glimpse of your soul and be able to see what you truly care about.

You see, I could wipe out all the mice, teach my youngest all the letters, or help my oldest squash her math problems, but if I transfer my fear of mice, illiteracy or algebra onto them, I might as well be the one standing on that living room chair.

Last week I found a note on the dinner table. Sasha had written her name for the first time!

Ƨ A Ƨ H A

I have no idea how she learned and that’s okay, because I trust that whatever got her there will keep her going. I just gave her the freedom to play and somehow she ended up overcoming what was holding her back. There are no lazy kids.

“What is called laziness is either lack of interest or lack of health. A healthy child cannot be idle; he has to be doing something all day long.” – A.S Neill, founder of Summerhill, the world’s oldest Democratic School

Sasha wanted to learn to write her name, so she did. I’m sure she could tell by my smile I was happy for her.

Her curiosity had recovered!

What are some of your favorite tips or apps for playing games together? Share them in the comments below or via Facebook or Twitter with the hashtag #familytimewithapps, and we’ll publish highlights on the blog next week!

Jens Peter de Pedro

Jens Peter de Pedro is Play Designer at Toca Boca, the leading children’s digital toy app developer. Mr. de Pedro is the Play Designer behind apps such as Toca Hair Salon, Toca Band, Toca Kitchen, Toca Train and Helicopter Taxi. He has worked for organizations such as The United Nations, WGBH Boston, and Swedish Television.

Mr. de Pedro has a master’s degree from New York University in Interactive Telecommunications and a bachelor’s degree from Stockholm University in Psychology, Education and Children’s Culture.

Mr. de Pedro likes cheap food, playing basketball and going for walks in desolate industrial areas. He also enjoys rhyming to a beat under the pseudonym Dude’s a Rapper. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and two daughters.

His name is pronounced Yens.

Flickr / Jenny Downing

A growing number of children across the country are exposed to media and interactive technology on a daily basis, and more and more parents are accustomed to communicating via mobile phones and other tools. Many early learning initiatives are beginning to determine how they might harness these tools to engage with parents, work with teachers, or otherwise augment efforts to help children develop early literacy skills.

Over the next few months, New America’s Education Policy Program and the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop are collecting information to create a map of where these programs may be located and how they are going about their work.  This map is part of a broader effort called Map, Link, and Rethink: Early Learning in a Digital Age, which aims to identify, categorize, and examine initiatives underway across the country targeted at supporting young children (ages 0 to 8).  This particular survey is focused on early literacy, and we are asking  early learning programs and literacy programs experimenting with tech tools to complete our questionnaire by March15, 2015.

We invite any program that promotes children’s language development, emergent literacy skills, basic reading skills, or reading comprehension skills to complete this survey. We also encourage you to complete the survey if you are exposing children to specialized vocabulary through a science- or math- focused program. School districts are also encouraged to participate, if the district has a project or initiative that incorporates technological tools to serve families, educators, or young children. We are eager to hear from you!

The data collected from the survey will be analyzed and depicted on a free interactive map to be published this summer.  It is intended to help policymakers and educators become aware of the challenges and benefits of using various types of new technologies in diverse settings, and to jumpstart conversations about what research is needed to determine what works. The project was born in an early childhood working group meeting at the Clinton Global Initiative America in Denver in 2014 and was announced during presentations at the White House event on “Bridging the Word Gap” and was highlighted as an upcoming project at the White House Summit on Early Learning later that year. Map, Link, and Rethink is funded by the Alliance for Early Success.

If you have questions about this survey, please review our FAQs. And if you have any further questions, please email Shayna Cook: cook [at] newamerica.org.

Thank you in advance for your participation in this survey and we look forward to hearing about all of the literacy initiatives across the country that are utilizing technology. If you are interested in reading more about our analysis of technology and reading, visit Seeding Reading: Investing in Children’s Literacy in the Digital Age page, at EdCentral.