Navigating How and When to Use Tech When Teaching Young Children

Early childhood educators make thousands of decisions each day. Among them are decisions around technology use with their young learners, which are too often shaped by policies and pedagogies that lag behind the latest research and the abundance of available options. In January and February, New America’s Learning Sciences Exchange program and Early and Elementary Education policy program partnered to host a two-part webinar series, helping educators, policymakers, and parents navigate the latest guidance. During the first webinar, Jenny Radesky, author of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ policy statements on digital media use in early childhood and associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Michigan Medical School, highlighted the AAP’s recently released 5Cs of Media Use. That framework, rooted in the science of child development, focused on the importance of considering each child’s interests and learning needs, ensuring that the content they’re engaging with is high-quality and designed for the age and developmental stage of the child, and evaluating technology use around the context of a child’s whole day.