One of the most common questions that we are asked is whether or not kids can learn from screen media. The short answer is yes…but it depends.

There are a number of factors that influence whether, what, and how much your child can learn from screen media. Our fellow mom and media researcher Lisa Guernsey breaks down these factors into buckets that she calls The Three C’s– content, child, and context. 

IT DEPENDS ON…THE CONTENT 

Think of content as the “what” in the learning situation–specifically, what your child is consuming down to the type of device your child is using and what lesson the screen is trying to teach them. 

Receptive vs. Interactive Media

The first aspect of content is whether your child is using receptive or interactive media. Receptive media is when the screen is observed only, like television, movies, or streaming videos. Interactive media is when the child is actively interacting with the screen, such as playing a digital game or using an app on a touchscreen. This distinction is important because research has shown that children learn differently from receptive media than they do from interactive media. 

Educational Goal of the Show

The second aspect of content is whether or not the screen media your child is using was designed to teach. Research on children’s learning from screens has largely focused on educational media explicitly created to teach a certain type of content or lesson. Children have shown the ability to learn specific skills and knowledge in math, vocabulary, early literacy, science, and socioemotional domains from educational media. However, whether or not kids learn also depends on how well the content is designed to teach the lesson. This includes the way that the educational content is integrated into the media experience and how well it directs attention, aids comprehension, and enables children to transfer the lesson into their daily life. 

IT DEPENDS ON…THE CHILD

Think of your child as the “who” in the learning situation–specifically, who is learning, and what are their unique individual characteristics that influence the learning experience. 

All kids are different. Each individual child experiences media in a unique way. Individual differences like age, developmental level, cognitive skills, past experiences, preferences and interests influence how your child engages with media and what they learn (see our post on The Video Deficit for an overview of a common barrier to early learning from media). Children are more likely to learn from educational media that aligns with their interests. If a child is curious about the topic they will be more engaged with the content and likely pay better attention. Attention skills are a particularly important aspect of your child’s media learning experience. Children need both selective attention (looking at the right area of the screen) and sustained attention (looking for long enough to see the lesson without being distracted) to learn from media. 

IT DEPENDS ON…THE CONTEXT

Think of the context as the “when”, “where”, and “why” of the learning situation. When refers to what time of day and what part of your child’s daily schedule the media time fits into. Where includes the physical environment of the space as well as other people using media with your child. Why depends on your reasons for giving them screen time. 

Context refers to the situation in which the media is consumed. A key aspect of the media context is you as the parent. How you interact with your child before, during, and after their media use has a large impact on both what they notice and what they learn. This is referred to in the research as joint media engagement. 

While this week’s topic is specifically related to educational goals and learning from screen media, we want to make one thing clear. Education is not the only meaningful reason for your child to use media. If education is your goal from screen time, there is plenty of fantastic educational content out there! However, there are many other valuable reasons that parents may choose to use media for their child. Media can be playful, entertaining, exciting, relaxing, and engaging for young children without necessarily needing to achieve an educational goal. 

Come back Wednesday for an overview of the cognitive processes through which children learn from media, and on Friday for some actionable tips for helping your child make the most of their educational screen experiences.