Behind the Headline: Survey: For Young Children, Mobile Devices Now a Mainstay

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For Young Children, Mobile Devices Now a Mainstay
10/28/13 | Washington Post

Behind the Headline
Toddlers and Tablets
Winter 2013 | Education Next

A survey released today by Common Sense Media finds that the vast majority of young children in the U.S. are using mobile devices (like tablets and smart phones) and for much longer periods of time. Children younger than 8 are spending triple the time on mobile devices that they did in 2011, with playing games, using educational apps and watching videos among their most popular activities, the study reports.

In “Toddlers and Tablets,” an article in the latest issue of Education Next, Alex Hernandez writes about the apps now being developed for preschoolers. The best new apps are pushing the boundaries of learning science and early child development in the areas of executive function, creativity, number sense, and phonemic awareness, he writes. Hernandez argues that because the developers of early childhood apps are trying to please parents and kids rather than school bureaucracies, we could see higher-quality apps emerge more quickly in this sector.

-Education Next

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