Getting the most educational benefit out of videos

In two short weeks, I will be part of a great day, filled with sharing of resources and knowledge at a Tech Fair for Young Children.  The event is hosted by a local Early Childhood Family Education program.  The goal of the event is to empower parents, caregivers, and educators of young children to make informed, developmentally appropriate decisions related to the use of technology with young children.  I am providing three different sessions, one of these is on the use of video with young children.  This post summarizes the first part of our discussion on how video can be educational and what adult’s can do to maximize the impact on learning.  

Why use video with young children?

Video is engaging and attractive to young children.  Videos can provide experiences a child might not otherwise have.  If a child is asking what the inside of a bee hive looks like, a hands on experience may not be available but you might be able to find a fascinating video of the inside of a bee hive.  You could explain what you know about bee hives, but with video they can hear it and see it, much more powerful.  Educators can use video to expand content and flatten the classroom walls. Another opportunity videos offer is a novel way to provide needed repetition of some skills that require it.  

Some child development experts worry that when children are watching videos, they are not engaging in activities that we know are good for their development such as playing, engaging in physical activities, or playing outside.  Intention and balance are the key.  Mindful, informed, developmentally appropriate use of video can support and encourage all of these other things we know are good for children.  Watching a video of the bee hive might encourage a child to go outside and count how many bees he can find in the garden or lead to a cooking activity with honey.  Video will be much more educationally rich when combined with "unplugged" developmentally appropriate activities to help the learning stick.  Here are some tips and strategies for getting the most educational bang out of videos.  

1. Follow the child's lead.  Why do pigs like mud?  Do baby kangaroos really live in a pouch?  Children ask so many wonderful questions.  These questions lead to teachable moments and are opportunities for you to spark that sense of wonder and inquiry.  You can answer by saying, "let's find out" and model the research process.  Video can be a great tool to answer some of these questions and provide experiences that will lead to expansion and more inquiry. If you just visited the fire station and your child is buzzing about the experience, finding a video about fire stations encourages further reflection.

   

2.  Preview the content: Always watch videos all the way through to make sure the content and the way it is delivered is developmentally appropriate.  It is important that an adult is guiding young children through this experience by making responsible choices regarding content.  

3.  Watch the video with the child:  This is the tip that can have the greatest impact on increasing the educational value of the experience.  There have been numerous studies finding that children get greater educational benefit from engaging in the use of digital media with someone else.  Talking about the content with someone else increases recall and understanding, co-viewing encourages narration skills, and acquisition of new vocabulary. The Fred Rogers Early Learning Environment is home to an informative video that demonstrates very specific strategies adults can use while watching videos with young children.  Adults are encouraged to treat videos like they would a book by pausing the video, asking questions, commenting, expanding on the child's comments and helping the child make connections. 

4.  Set Limits:  Children need support in establishing and following limits. If needed, use a support such as a timer.      

5.  Keep the learning going, provide extension activities that will help make the learning stick:
     Connect digital and real life experiences: After viewing the video together, turn to an “unplugged” activity to help make the learning stick.  If your child watched a video of a bulldozer leveling dirt, get a bulldozer, head out to the dirt pile or sandbox and give it a try.  If a child watches a video of Mr. Rogers visiting the stage of STOMP, head to the kitchen to see what you and your child can find to make music.  After a child watches a video about boomerangs, challenge him or her to make one with paper and tape, or other materials, then take it outside and see if it works.
     Model other forms of research and inquiry:  Go to the library and find books about bulldozers. Go to the zoo and watch the kangaroos. Visit a local beekeeper and ask questions about bee hives.  

     Create: Now that you have acquired some new learning, create a product that demonstrates that learning.  Documenting and revisiting experiences in a different way will help the new learning stick.  Draw a picture of a bee hive or make a bee hive out of clay. Create a video of the Stomp production in your kitchen and share it with Grandma.  

The next part of the discussion will be where to find educational videos and how to provide the safest experience possible.  Did I miss any strategies?  

 

Evaluating apps for young learners, my class assignment.

When I am considering the use of a particular form of technology, whether it is a web based game or an app, I look at it from the point of view of an early childhood teacher and a special education teacher.  As part of an assignment for the Technology and Authentic Assessment class I recently completed, I chose to develop a rubric for evaluating educational apps for young children.  I started by brainstorming all of the questions I ask when evaluating the app.  The tricky part was making these questions fit in a crazy rubric and having to come up with different criteria for each consideration.  I am glad that I don’t have to create rubrics on a regular basis, they make my head hurt!  Here is the list of questions I used as a basis for the rubric.   

Is the content (skills, instructions) developmentally appropriate?

I have tried apps that have appropriate content but the instructions were only provided in writing.  Umm, my students can’t read.  Delete app.  

Is the interface (navigation) developmentally appropriate?

I just used an app the other day where the menu button was at the bottom and the child’s wrist kept hitting it, returning to the main menu as a result.  It wasn’t long before her frustration level was elevated and she was ready to try a different app.  The learners I work with need very salient cues for navigation.  The interface can not be too subtle.

Does the learner receive helpful feedback?

Avoid dead silence, annoying clapping and syrupy praise.  Does the app know when a child is stuck and provide an appropriate prompt?  

Does it engage the learner? 

Most of my students have difficulty regulating their attention to a task, so this can be a challenge.  

How many and what type of skills can be targeted? 

I want a lot of bang for the buck or if it covers only a few skills, I expect that it does it very well. I like open ended apps that allow for creation of materials or lessons that can support skills across all domains. 

Does it provide a parent guide or other support for parents? 

Apps that do this get huge bonus points in my book.  I am always looking for apps that will help in building the capacity of parents in supporting their child’s development.  

Does it promote co-engagement (multiplayer, turn taking, etc.)?

Again, this is a big bonus and many times these are the apps I go to first.  

Can the tool be adjusted to the learner's level, challenging but not too frustrating?

Obviously I have students who vary greatly in their developmental needs, therefore I need apps that also vary.  If the learner is stuck, please adjust the task, giving a salient cue, so we don't have a tantrum!  

Can data be collected?

I am a special education teacher, I like data. 

Can a product be created and shared?

A product is data, something I can share with others to demonstrate the child’s progress and learning. Additionally, products created by these creative, curious minds and little hands and voices are adorable and parents love to get them.    

Can this technology promote and support play skills? Physical activities? Social engagement? Problem solving? Reflecting?  Planning?

If an app can help me teach play, pretend, and social skills, I am all for it.  Apps that encourage outdoor exploration, physical activity, problem solving and collaboration are a beautiful thing.  

So taking all these things into consideration, here is a link to the rubric.  I included links on the document to other resources regarding this topic.  This is a draft, I would appreciate feedback that would make this rubric more useful.  If I could fine tune it, maybe our EC staff could use it when selecting apps.  As it stands right now, I think it is way too lengthy to be useful so I might need to whittle it down.  Do you have more questions you consider when selecting apps for young learners?  Were some of the criteria redundant?  Which ones were more important, which ones were less important?  Please leave comments on the Google Doc or comment on this blogpost. 

Skill Set for 21st Century Parents of Young Children

As an early intervention teacher, an important part of my job is supporting parents in their understanding of child development.  Parenting is a undoubtedly a tough job, and these little ones do not come with a manual.  Parents are navigating the world of tantrums, potty training, biting and picky eating.  Parenting in the 21st century brings the additional daunting task of learning to navigate through the world of technology that is permeating our lives and the lives of our children.  In my experience, much like educators, there are parents who embrace technology and those who see it as inherently evil.  Either way, technology can not be ignored and parents need to be media smart.

Working on an assignment for my technology course prompted me to write this blog post.  I am creating a lesson plan that is supported by technology.  I chose parents as my students.  The objective of my lesson is to provide parents of preschoolers and toddlers information about using video with their children.  On the lesson plan template, I was instructed to list learner standards that are addressed through my lesson.  The International Society for Technology in Education, ISTE, provides standards related to technology skills for teachers and students, but I couldn't locate any formal standards for parents.  My findings included many suggestions that I could adapt into a standard like statement, but, a majority of these suggestions were meant for parents of older children and were frequently specific to social media.  In this post, I wanted to create my own list of skills, specific to parents of preschoolers and toddlers.  I was going to call these, "standards", but then realized that sometimes the word "standards" conjures up a negative image and feeling in educators.  Instead, I decided to call this a skill set. Here is my recommended skill set for parents of preschoolers and toddlers related to technology.  I have included a parallel skill set for educators who support parents of young children.

1.  Parents need to have a foundational knowledge of what is developmentally appropriate for their child so that they are using appropriate technology in an appropriate way.  Parents of children with special needs need to have a strong understanding of their children's needs and learning styles so that they can be successful in using technology to support their child's learning.

Implications for parent educators:  Helping parents understand their child's unique strengths and needs is often the primary focus of early interventionists.  This process should be well established so it can be applied to discussions around the use of technology to support learning.  Educators need to know how to apply all that we know about supporting children's development to the use of technology.  Educators need to know how to model developmentally appropriate use of technology and teach parents guiding principles for selecting appropriate digital media and technology.

2.  Parents need to understand the impact technology can have on their child's development and learning.  Basically they need to know the good, the bad and the ugly.  Parents need to understand how the proper application of technology can enhance and support their child's development.  They also need to understand how uninformed decisions can lead to inappropriate use which can have a negative impact on their child's development.

Implications for parent educators:  Educators need to be involved in the ever increasing discussions that are occurring in our field related to technology.  There is a great deal of conflicting, confusing and sometimes controversial research and opinions related to this topic.  Educators need to access current information and discussions so that they can provide parents with  assistance in sorting through all the hype, and developing guidelines for the use of technology that they are comfortable with and can support in their home.  A great starting point for educators is becoming familiar with the recently released joint position statement from the National Association for Education of Young Children and the Fred Rogers Center for Early Learning: Technology and Interactive Media as Tools in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children from Birth through Age 8.   

3.  Parents need to know how their children will be using technology. They need to know how to use the technology.  It is very difficult to monitor and guide the use of the technology a child is accessing if you do not know how to use it.

Implications for parent educators:  Educators need to have a basic understanding of a variety of technology so they can guide parents.

4.  Parents need to know how to find reputable sources for information related to technology so that they can make informed decisions.

Implications for parent educators:  Educators need to filter and collect information to share with parents, building a broad base of resources to pull from in order to support the parent.  Educators need to teach parents how to filter and collect information.

5.  Parents need to know how to set limits, monitor use, and provide the safest experience possible for technology use.  

Implications for parent educators:  Educators need to provide training to parents in these strategies and/or lead them to resources so they can learn this on their own.

6.  Parents need to be appropriate role models in their use of technology in order to get their toddler or preschooler started on the journey towards being a good digital citizen.  Parents need to model balance and moderation.  They need to be aware of what they are viewing in their child's presence.  They need to understand the value of and model "unplugged" alternatives to media use such as creative play, reading, outdoor activities, and family time away from technology.

Implications for parent educators:  Educators need to encourage balance and moderation, highlighting the importance of "unplugged" activities in child development.  Educators need to guide parents in finding interactive uses of technology.  Educators should develop examples of ways in which technology might be used to support outdoor play, art, creative play, and other tried and true ingredients to a happy, healthy childhood.

I know this is just the beginning of a list of skills that would be helpful for a 21st century parent of young children to possess.  This same set of basic skills applies to parents of children with special needs, yet there may be some additional considerations for these parents.  Maybe that will be a topic of a future post. What skills would you add to this list?