“Research Findings From Learning at Home: Families’ Educational Media Use in America”

Q & A With Lori Takeuchi: Research Findings From Learning at Home: Families’ Educational Media Use in America is from the Harvard Family Research Project.

Here’s the part most useful to educators:

How can practitioners support families in selecting and using educational media?

We know that teacher endorsements are one of the main ways that parents get recommendations for educational media. However, among parents of children who are in a preschool or school setting, just 40% say their children’s teachers “often” or “sometimes” assign, recommend, or suggest media for use at home. This means that there is a real opportunity for practitioners, teachers, and others who work with families and children to provide parents with more information about age-appropriate TV shows, games, apps, and websites that have true educational value. Practitioners can also tell parents about organizations like Common Sense Media and the Children’s Technology Review, which provide ratings for many media titles. And, importantly, practitioners can help remind parents that educational-media use should be a limited part of a wide range of activities that support children’s learning and development. Based on our survey results, this type of guidance has the potential to be especially helpful for low-income, Hispanic-Latino, and less highly educated parents.

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