Category Archives: Research

National and local efforts to get low-income families online have emphasized that without consistent, quality connections to the Internet, families are missing out on important opportunities. Children’s learning, both in and out of school, increasingly requires developing digital skills. For parents, the Internet can help with finding information on everything from advice about raising healthy children, to finding a job. As more and more resources migrate online, broadband connectivity and meaningful engagement with digital technologies are being recognized as key…

This spring, Oxford University Press released an important new contribution to the literature of media and developmental psychology with Media and the Well-Being of Children and Adolescents, edited by Amy B. Jordan and Daniel Romer. The volume examines the role that media play in the daily lives of families with children, from “traditional” media such as television and film as well as “new” digital media, including video games and mobile devices. Together, the research that comprises this volume provides an…

The Aprendiendo Juntos (“Learning Together”) Council is a multi-sector group of researchers, practitioners, and policy experts who seek to identify new models and practical strategies to improve educational outcomes for Hispanic-Latino families, through the wise deployment of digital technologies. In June 2012, the National Center for Families Learning, the Joan Ganz Cooney Center, and the National Council of La Raza convened the first Hispanic-Latino Families and Digital Technologies Forum to discuss the ways in which Hispanic-Latino families engage with and…

Michael Levine recently appeared on WQED’s IQSmartParent with host Angela Santomero to discuss kids, apps, and the digital divide.

The technology available to the youngest children is evolving rapidly, according to the results of a new survey from Common Sense Media. The survey of more than 1400 parents of children 8 and younger found access to mobile devices and time spent on those devices had increased dramatically from the last survey done two years ago. Common Sense Media produced an infographic that has the highlights of the survey. According to some within Common Sense Media, the results should be…

On Tuesday, June 4, the Center on Media and Human Development Northwestern University released Parenting in a Digital Age: A National Survey. Alexis Lauricella, one of the report’s co-authors, shares some of the findings here.

Recently in one day, I witnessed two expert panels discussing critical issues for our educational system: the first one was on implementing the Common Core for English-language learners, the second was on how games offer an exciting new frontier for student learning and engagement. In the morning, I listened in to an Alliance for Excellent Education panel including Stanford professor Kenji Hakuta and Carrie Heath Phillips, director of Common Core implementation at the Council of Chief State School Officers. That…

As readers of this blog already know, many people are hopeful about the opportunities that online environments can provide for children. There is great promise for learning technical literacies, developing social skills and contributing to our shared culture through participation in online sites. And indeed, kids are participating in growing numbers on online social sites, both at school and at home. Meanwhile, commercial companies and educational non-profits alike are eager to provide new spaces for such participation, even though that…

The Cooney Center has just kicked off an exciting multi-sector partnership with experts in neuroscience and learning, seasoned video game designers, and impact game publisher E-line Media to create an innovative video game that teaches fundamental math skills. This “Gut Sense” team brings together some of the world’s foremost experts in learning, brain plasticity, and videogames (Daphne Bavelier and Sean Green); number sense and its relation to school math achievement (Justin Halberda); children’s media (Michael Levine and Lori Takeuchi); media law (George Rose); designing action videogames (Sean Vesce and Mike Wikan); and publishing of learning games (Mike Angst and Alan Gershenfeld). This all-star cast is poised to create a videogame for children ages 7-11 that develops the brain’s numerical intuitions.

At Launchpad Toys, we’re working to inspire creativity in children through play with digital toys and tools like our flagship storytelling app, Toontastic. As tablet usage in young children increases year after year (NPD showed 13% growth between 2011 and 2012), it has become more important than ever to provide kids with quality learning tools that maximize their time on touchscreen devices. Still, in the immortal words of former President George W. Bush, “Rarely is the question asked: Is our…