KQED News Mind/Shift – Deborah Farmer Kris
“The digital landscape of American childhood is in flux, according to surveys: Most children under the age of 8 now have access to mobile devices in their homes. In the last five years, children have spent less time watching television, but more time tapping on tablets and smartphones. And recently the American Academy of Pediatrics has softened its zero-screentime recommendation for children under 2. Given the increased access to digital media, there’s a greater opportunity to pay closer attention to how children use devices and ways that parents and educators can use media as a tool to help children learn, according to Lisa Guernsey and Michael Levine, authors of “Tap, Click, Read: Growing Readers in a World of Screens.” What does it mean to be literate in a world where screens are ubiquitous? Literacy traditionally includes reading, writing, speaking and listening skills. But children growing up in a “world of information overload” must acquire strong media and critical literacy skills, argue Guernsey of New America and Levine of the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop. Kids need to be able to “read” and analyze information presented in a variety of formats — from videos to images to multimedia texts.”(more)