MEDIA AND YOUNG CHILDRENS LEARNING

-->
-->

Research paper by Heather L. Kirkorian, Ellen A. Wartella and Daniel R. Anderson

Survey of Literature:

Kirkorian, Wartella and Anderson (2008) explore the impact educational media has on under 2’s and preschool children. The author’s detail the importance of content, and the subsequent effects both ill considered and beneficial content can and has had. They include their opinion on what can be done to maximize the benefit of educational media by practitioners, supervising adults and the curriculum, drawing upon existing research, studies and theories.

Kirkorian, Wartella and Anderson (2008) refer to children’s television and programs when mentioning educational media, but raise many points that hold high relevancy for my paper and question.

The authors state the detrimental effect inappropriate content can have on children under 2 years of age, they draw upon an experiment whereby children under 2 were left watching programs not geared towards them in terms of content, as were a group of children of aged 3 and above, the desired audience. The results showed a lack of response in eye movement from the under 2’s which remained unchanged regardless of scene change, character movement and progression within the story, whilst the relevant age group responded accordingly. This proves under 2's having no interaction or understanding from said program, they were unaffected by pivotal changes of format within the program.

3-5 years  - preschool children

The authors explore the importance of content and the effects it can have on children and their development both immediately and later on in life. They conclude early exposure to programs filled with entertainment and violence, such as Batman, conclusively leads to attention problems later in life, as well as a decrease in self-regulation. They reveal exposure to pro social programs are directly associated with an increase in task persistence and have more long lasting positive effects. Although they make clear all studies can be accurate to a certain point only, and disregard the format of programs and shows, the scene changes, camera angles and medias, such as animation vs. real life play.

They constantly refer to the lack of research and studies providing definitive, unarguable results. In regards to Television as an educational media, it’s hard to conclude from research due to the amount of variables; it’s dead hard to measure content.

The authors clarify their opinion on what can be done to maximize the positive effects of educational media and enhance the value, including the use of sound effects, camera pans and changes, scene changes and the use of adult voices, which studies show attract and maintain the attention of children more so than the sound of a child’s voice. They emphasize the importance of parent and child co-viewing, whereby parents are able to draw attention to relevant points or aspects of a show that may hold particular value, as well as asking questions to deepen understanding. Having said this, they write clearly the value of the child being in charge of the overall experience.

Integrating the narrative of the media or experience, with the educational value and content is an ideal promoted by Shalom Fisch, referenced in the document. He states that rather than the two be in direct competition, there should be a considered relationship whereby the elements work together to enrich the experience, perhaps by completing an educational task in order to progress to the next level or chapter. He explains the importance of a child being able to transfer to real life the understanding and knowledge or skill that they have gained from their show, program or experience, and suggests the best way of doing so being repetition of a certain task, in as many different ways possible, increasing the flexibility of the child’s approach.

-->

KIRKORIAN, H., WARTELLA, E., ANDERSON, D., 2008. Media and Young Children’s Learning. Ph.D. thesis, University of Massachusetts-Amherst.