Toddlers Using Tablets: They Engage, Play, and Learn

Home Learning Environment and Screen Time Differentially Mediate the Relationship Between Socioeconomic Status and Preschoolers' Learning and Behavioural Profiles

Environmental variables related to the home context, including home literacy and numeracy, screen exposure and Socioeconomic Status (SES) are potential risks or protective factors for children's academic achievements and behaviour. The present multi-informant study aims to contribute to this issue by investigating SES's direct and indirect relationships in early learning (i.e., literacy, numeracy, and cognitive) and behavioural skills within a large sample of young children. One parent and one teacher for each of 1660 preschoolers filled out a questionnaire investigating SES, tablet and TV use, home learning activities, behavioural problems/strengths (parents' questionnaire), and children's learning skills and behaviour (teachers' questionnaire). Results of path analysis showed that tablet time and home learning environment mediate the effect of SES on early learning as assessed by teachers; as for the home learning environment, it was also a mediator of the relationship between SES and behavioural problems. Implications of these results for research in the field and educational policies are discussed.

Compliance with the 24-hour movement behavior guidelines and the impact of sleep methods among toddler, preschool, and school-aged children enrolled in the Guelph Family Health Study

Canadian movement guidelines focused on physical activity (PA), sleep, and screen time support childhood development and reduce the risk of chronic disease. Accelerometers are often used to capture these behaviors; however, they are limited in their ability to record daytime sleep due to potential misclassification.

OBJECTIVES

The objectives of this study were to 1) determine the prevalence of children enrolled in the Guelph Family Health Study who met the guidelines and to 2) compare the impact of different sleep measurement methods.

DESIGN/METHODS

Toddlers (1.5-<3 years; n = 128; valid data for all movement behaviors, n = 70), preschoolers (3-<5 years; n = 143; valid data for all movement behaviors, n = 104), and school-aged (5-<6 years; n = 49; valid data for all movement behaviors, n = 31) children were included. Screen time and sleep habits were obtained through parental report and published normative data. PA and sleep were recorded using accelerometers (wGT3X-BT ActiGraph; right hip).

RESULTS

It was found that 66 % of toddler, 44 % of preschool, and 63 % of school-aged children met the screen time guidelines. Further, 63 % of toddler, 98 % of preschooler, and 80 % of school-aged children met PA guidelines. Sleep guideline compliance ranged from 3 % to 83 % in toddler, 27 % to 92 % in preschooler, and 32 % to 90 % in school-aged children. These proportions were found to be significantly different (Cochran's Q and McNemar's tests).

CONCLUSIONS

Nearly all children met PA guidelines. In contrast, less than half to two-thirds met screen time guidelines. Compliance with sleep guidelines varied substantially with measurement method, highlighting the need for standardization.

Validation of an open source, remote web-based eye-tracking method (WebGazer) for research in early childhood

Measuring eye movements remotely via the participant's webcam promises to be an attractive methodological addition to in-person eye-tracking in the lab. However, there is a lack of systematic research comparing remote web-based eye-tracking with in-lab eye-tracking in young children. We report a multi-lab study that compared these two measures in an anticipatory looking task with toddlers using WebGazer.js and jsPsych. Results of our remotely tested sample of 18-27-month-old toddlers (N = 125) revealed that web-based eye-tracking successfully captured goal-based action predictions, although the proportion of the goal-directed anticipatory looking was lower compared to the in-lab sample (N = 70). As expected, attrition rate was substantially higher in the web-based (42%) than the in-lab sample (10%). Excluding trials based on visual inspection of the match of time-locked gaze coordinates and the participant's webcam video overlayed on the stimuli was an important preprocessing step to reduce noise in the data. We discuss the use of this remote web-based method in comparison with other current methodological innovations. Our study demonstrates that remote web-based eye-tracking can be a useful tool for testing toddlers, facilitating recruitment of larger and more diverse samples; a caveat to consider is the larger drop-out rate.

Reexamining models of early learning in the digital age: Applications for learning in the wild

Young children are growing up in an increasingly complicated digital world. Laboratory-based research shows it is cognitively demanding to process and transfer information presented on screens during early childhood. Multiple explanations for this cognitive challenge have been proposed. This review provides an updated comprehensive framework that integrates prior theoretical explanations to develop new testable hypotheses. The review also considers the how the research can be generalized to the "wild" where children engage with multiple commercial products daily. It includes real-world applications for improving children's learning and memory from screen-based media by adding supportive cues and reducing distraction and interference. The review concludes with a call for future collaborative research between researchers, content developers, and families to better understand age-related changes in both short-term and long-term learning from digital media. Finally, policy makers need to be involved to ensure equitable access and to create a safe digital space for all families.

Screen time and preschool children: Promoting health and development in a digital world

COVID-19 transformed the family media environment and spurred research on the effects of screen media exposure and use on young children. This update of a 2017 CPS statement re-examines the potential benefits and risks of screen media in children younger than 5 years, with focus on developmental, psychosocial, and physical health. Four evidence-based principles-minimizing, mitigating, mindfully using, and modelling healthy use of screens-continue to guide children's early experience with a rapidly changing media landscape. Knowing how young children learn and develop informs best practice for health care providers and early years professionals (e.g., early childhood educators, child care providers). Anticipatory guidance should now include child and family screen use in (and beyond) pandemic conditions.

Interactive technology use and child development: A systematic review

BACKGROUND

There is mixed evidence regarding the impact of interactive digital devices on child development. Tentatively some studies suggested that the use of digital devices may correlate negatively with language, executive function, and motor skills. However, attempts to amalgamate this evidence has been limited related to the available number of experimental and cohort studies that have evaluated the impact of digital technology use on child development. We conducted this review to determine the impact of interactive digital devices on child development among children aged 7 years or younger. Interactive technology has been defined as methods, tools, or devices that users interact with in order to achieve specific tasks.

DATA SOURCE

To carry out this systematic review, databases CINAHL, MEDLINE, Embase, PsychINFO, Scopus and Google Scholar were searched for relevant studies.

STUDY SELECTION

We used the Joanna Briggs Institute methodology for systematic reviews.

DATA EXTRACTION

Data extraction and synthesis was carried out by two reviewers and checked by a third reviewer. Studies were stratified into tiers depending on the level of evidence provided and the domain of development assessed.

RESULTS

Fifty-three studies were eligible for inclusion in the review, 39 Tier 1 (randomized controlled trials and quasi-experimental studies) and 16 Tier 2 (descriptive studies). Children's use of interactive digital technology was positively associated with receptive language and executive function and negatively associated or unrelated to motor proficiency. Other critical aspects informing the evidence, such as dose of exposure, intensity, or duration, were inconsistently reported, making estimates of exposure tentative and imprecise.

CONCLUSION

The studies included in this review were predominantly correlational or comparative in nature and focuses on cognitive domains of learning rather than a specific developmental outcome. It is difficult to generalize our findings beyond the digital devices or applications that have been evaluated by earlier studies. The contextual factors that may moderate the relationship require elaboration in future studies.

To Game or Not to Game? Efficacy of Using Tablet Games in Vocabulary Intervention for Children with DLD

The adoption of tablets by young children has raised enthusiasm and concern among speech and language pathologists. This study investigated whether tablet games can be used as effectively as real play objects in vocabulary intervention for children with developmental language disorder (DLD). A randomized, controlled non-inferiority trial was conducted with 70 3-year-old children with DLD. The novel intervention group (n = 35) received 12 10-min scripted intervention sessions with symbolic play using a tablet game spread out over 8–9 weeks. The standard intervention group (n = 35) received the same amount of intervention with real objects using the same vocabulary scripts. In each session, children were exposed to 22 target words. The primary outcome was the number of new target words learned. This was measured using a picture selection task including 22 target words and 22 control words at 3 time intervals: before the intervention, immediately post-intervention, and 5 weeks later. In both intervention groups, the children learned significantly more target words than control words. No significant differences in gains between the two intervention conditions were found. This study provides evidence that vocabulary intervention for toddlers with DLD using a tablet game is equally as effective as an intervention using real objects.