Category Archives: Research

In the last five years, there has been mounting public interest in the relationship between digital technology use and children’s wellbeing. New policies and legislation aimed at promoting children’s rights and/or safety online are being proposed across North America and around the world at an unprecedented rate. Despite their popularity among children of all ages, however, digital games are often left out of the conversation. As is children’s vast knowledge, insights, and willingness to discuss the positives and negatives that…

As a researcher focusing on AI and child development (and also as a parent of two), I have seen many instances of kids talking to conversational AI agents like Siri, Alexa, or ChatGPT. It seems that kids turn to AI agents to satisfy their curiosity, asking things like what six plus six equals, how far away black holes are, or how to make an invisible potion. And sometimes kids engage in what feels like social chitchat: they share their favorite…

We talk about kids and AI, and we talk about creativity and AI. But while we know that creativity impacts children’s development, identity formation, and learning, children’s creative experiences with AI are often left out of the conversation. Conversations around AI and kids tend to focus on AI literacy – teaching them the skills they need to understand and use AI in their everyday lives. Certainly these skills are important as AI continues to be integrated into our everyday lives,…

When I was a fourth-grade teacher, a minor scandal broke out when a student—who had proudly shared his private password with several friends—logged into our school library platform to find that all of his contacts and corresponding book recommendations had been deleted. This wasn’t due to a system glitch or the accidental click of a button—instead, a nascent classroom hacker had used that freely shared password to play a practical joke on her classmate. Looking back, this incident might have…

Key ideas and recommendations for edtech developers Children aren’t small adults. This might seem obvious to parents and educators, but, as we learned in our research for the recently released whitepaper, Context Is Everything: Reimagining Edtech for Early Learners, some designers (and purchasers) of edtech tools for elementary learners neglect this basic fact – which may explain in part why 70% of teachers in a recent Seesaw survey indicated that the edtech tools they use in their classrooms do not…

The importance of play for children’s development and learning has long been recognized by parents, educators and researchers.1 Much of our lives are now being lived in digital contexts, and this is true for children as well. With the global popularity of video games such as Minecraft and Angry Birds, a great deal of children’s play these days includes digital games. This has raised some concerns about possible negative effects of digital technology, and it is important that parents help…

A new report from SRI Education describes the quality of educational YouTube videos for prekindergarten- and kindergarten-age children. Findings point to surprising differences from educational television shows, including less use of characters and plot to help kids learn. Many parents question the quality of YouTube video content. So do researchers. According to the 2020 Common Sense Media Census, children are spending more time watching videos online than in any other format. Streaming sites like YouTube have surpassed even television viewing.…

According to NAEP only 14% of U.S. students reported reading for fun almost every day in 2023 – 13 percentage points lower than 2012 – and average reading scores have declined for most sub-groups of 8th graders since 2020. Tackling this crisis in reading requires a multi-pronged approach to understand and address the challenges. The Advanced Education Research & Development Fund (AERDF) initiative Reading Reimagined has embarked on this work, in particular through funding research on how older children (ages…

In the tech world, kids’ ideas are often unnoticed and invisible. Even worse, when they voice their ideas, they might be dismissed or laughed at because we, as adults, may not know how to respond to their imagination. In partnership with the Cooney Center’s Sandbox initiative, we at The GIANT Room are working to give kids a seat at the design table of real products. We believe that this is not only beneficial for the kids themselves, but also for the…

Along with rolling heat waves, rising gas prices, and the occasional new social media site, the recent news cycle has been dominated by commentary on the potential risks, harms, and benefits children may encounter when interacting with technology. States have made bold attempts to ban social media sites, parents are wondering how to talk to children about A.I. chatbots , and platforms are adding risk-reduction tools. However, it is rarely discussed how to increase children’s well-being in the digital ecosystem…