For many years, the “digital divide” signaled a split between people with access to the internet and those without. The term expressed concerns about those who may fall behind in the highly digitized economy of the 21st century. But with internet service now present in most U.S. homes, the gap has become more nuanced. Today, […]
Monthly Archives: October 2016
Doctors Prescribe More Big Bird, Less Brainless “Screen Time” for Young Kids
October 26, 2016
This post was originally published on The Hechinger Report and appears here with permission. Over the past several years, at the same time that the words “screen time” became shorthand for children zoning out, several researchers and educational experts have been taking an entirely different track. They have been studying how and at what age children […]
Sparking a Love of Lifelong Learning Early at the Public Library
October 24, 2016
During a recent visit to a local public library, a kindergarten class took over the children’s room. Many in the group were already familiar with the space thanks to storytimes and regular visits with family members to check out books or DVDs. For others, this visit was not just fun, but also a vital introduction […]
A New 21st-Century Job: The Media Mentor
October 24, 2016
The following is an excerpt from an article originally published on EdCentral.org and appears here with permission. New job descriptions are born in the wake of new technologies. Now, as humankind absorbs two decades with the web and one decade of touchscreens and on-the-go internet, many new positions are taking shape, one of which could […]
Moving Beyond the Screen Time Debate: The Road Out of the Digital Wild West
October 21, 2016
Today’s announcement by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the joint statement of the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on “media use and young minds” is a timely response to a hot debate in parenting and early childhood circles: When and how often should young children use […]
Who Plays Which Games? And What Does That Say About Our Culture?
October 20, 2016
The Joan Ganz Cooney Center’s newest Digital Games and Family Life infographic looks at the game genres and titles that kids and their families play. Not surprisingly, there seems to be a generational gap. There is also a curious gender distinction. When it comes to age, puzzle/strategy games, first person shooters and role-playing games have […]
Digital Games and Family Life: The Games Families Play
October 20, 2016
As part of our Families and Media Project, the Joan Ganz Cooney Center conducted a survey of nearly 700 parents whose 4-13-year old children play video games. We are pleased to present this data as a series of infographics, each featuring a particular facet of video games and family life. Here, we explore the genres and titles […]
Announcing a Tap, Click, Read Toolkit to Promote Early Literacy in a World of Screens
October 3, 2016
Over the past several years, New America and the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop have become known for our book Tap, Click, Read and for our joint research and analysis on how digital technologies could be used to improve, instead of impede, early literacy. Now our two organizations are going a step further: […]