Imagine two dozen football fields packed with stuffed animals, dolls, games, puzzles, craft kits, art supplies, wooden toys, sporting goods, trains, cars, an ocean of plastic, and, yes, lots of tech-enabled toys. I attended the world’s largest toy and hobby show to speak at its Toys 3.0 Business Forum on “Interactive Media as Family Connectors.” I was confident in my examples...
Read MoreWhen Fred Rogers died 10 years ago today at age 74, there was no question that his legacy would endure. What's perhaps more surprising is just how frequently he continues to pop up in the American cultural landscape. Here are just a few of the ways Mister Rogers has continued to touch our lives: The Fred M. Rogers Center for Early Learning...
Read MoreSome 54% of U.S. children aged 2 to 13 are reading e-books, according to a new study by Digital Book World. Yet the jury is still out on whether it makes sense to use these interactive tools with young children, and if so, how to use them. What makes an optimal e-book experience? Writing at Slate, Lisa Guernsey and Michael Levine say...
Read MoreHow do you find good apps for your children? Read iPad Apps For Kids For Dummies, that's how! With over a half-million apps in the App Store and that number growing, this great new guide cuts through the clutter and points parents in the direction of the best apps for kids of all ages. From apps for dinosaur lovers to...
Read MoreTeachers are quite worried that digital media are harming children’s learning, according to two 2012 studies on teachers’ views on digital media—one by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project and the other by Common Sense Media. Matt Richtel of the New York Times summarizes their concerns: There is a widespread belief among teachers that students’ constant use of digital...
Read MoreDigital media has infiltrated every aspect of our lives, how we communicate, shop, organize and get our news. It’s also invading the world of play as touch screen tablets, eBooks, smartphones and mobile apps are defining virtual toy chests for children as young as tots learning to walk and talk. [q_button type='transparent_button' size='medium' text='Read More' icon_pack='font_awesome' fa_icon='' fe_icon='' icon_color='' link='http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/2013/02/15/choosing-tech-toys-for-tots-no-small-parent-feat/' target='_self'...
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Content, context, and the needs of the individual child. This triad of considerations – drawn from journalist Lisa Guernsey’s 2007 book, “Into the Minds of Babes” – forms the core of the Fred Rogers Center’s Framework for Quality in Children’s Digital Media. Under this rubric, the generic term “screen time” ceases to be a useful measuring stick for young children’s media...
Read MoreSupport for children in early childhood is still a priority in Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. In fact, the Pittsburgh area has become a center for those who care deeply about supporting learning for very young children and exploring the potential for early learning with technology and digital media. In Melissa Butler’s kindergarten classroom at Pittsburgh Allegany, an elementary school on the city’s...
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Ellen Wartella believes media do have learning potential in early childhood. And she should know. Wartella has been a senior fellow here at the Fred Rogers Center since 2006. She is professor of communication and human development and social policy at Northwestern University and has been studying the impact of media on children for more than 30 years. Wartella says that...
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