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About this paper symposium
| Panel information |
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| Panel 24. Technology, Media & Child Development |
| Paper #1 | |
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| From theory to practice: Applying the science of learning to children’s media in crisis contexts | |
| Author information | Role |
| Dr. Jennifer M. Zosh, Ph.D., Penn State University, Brandywine, United States | Presenting author |
| Abstract | |
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While researchers and theorists argue about exactly what “counts” as play and the importance of play became debate in educational settings, the reality is that children navigate through a dynamic world in which their experiences vary widely and often in terms of the levels of agency, the role of adults (if any), and their role in play. A recent conceptualization of play as a spectrum of practices that ranges from free play (high child agency, little to no adult support), to guided play (high child agency, adult-supporting, with a concrete learning goal) and games (high child agency but constrained by rules, often with a learning goal) (Authors, 2018) served as one important step to encompass children’s varied experiences. These playful learning practices stand in contrast to more direct instruction pedagogies in which there is high levels of adult involvement and constraint with low child agency. Researchers have argued that playful learning practices are effective for learning because they naturally leverage the ways human brains are designed to learn via creating opportunities for active, engaged, meaningfully, socially interactive, joyful, and iterative thinking (Authors, 2015). But like the distraction that occurred when researchers focused solely on questions of theory relating to pedagogy, current research also needs to do a better job acknowledging and supporting children in reality – and that reality includes the 43 million children who are displaced globally (in addition to children facing poverty, illness, etc.,). This crisis creates an opportunity to consider how we can apply lessons from the science of learning to support children in all contexts, including those facing challenges in terms of basic needs. For example, in considering the educational benefits of guided play, one must acknowledge that guided play is privileged play. Guided play requires a caregiver or teacher to skillfully facilitate play towards a goal, with great demands on the adult to plan, facilitate, adjust, react, question, answer, and guide. But what happens when the external demands on adults are also great and guided play becomes limited or out of reach? One innovative approach to this very real challenge comes from those working in the space of children’s media. When children’s media is created with the science of learning evidence-base at its core, the potential exists to support children and families so that they can benefit from child-centered, playful practices even in difficult circumstances. The conceptualization of playful learning does not, however, currently encompass these kinds of third-person playful experiences that align with the characteristics of how human brains learn, but with an inherently different kind of agency. This talk will explore a new model that seeks to expand the spectrum of playful learning to include the types of media-based experiences that are inherent to many children’s daily lives and also serve as important resources for children and families in crisis, conflict, and stress. |
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| Paper #2 | |||
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| The intersection of playful learning, children’s media, and crisis contexts: Sesame Workshop’s Watch, Play, Learn | |||
| Author information | Role | ||
| Carolina Casas, Sesame Workshop, United States | Presenting author | ||
| Kim Foulds, Sesame Workshop, United States | Non-presenting author | ||
| Abstract | |||
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Designed for children ages 3-8, Watch, Play, Learn (WPL) is a set of 140 five-minute animated videos segments designed to reach young children with playful early learning content, with particular attention to the unique experiences of children affected by conflict and crisis. Using playful learning as its conceptual framework, WPL videos promote skills in four curricular domains of math; science; social-emotional learning (SEL); and child protection, health, and safety. WPL videos are designed to bring playful early learning to children everywhere, with particular attention to the unique needs of children affected by conflict or displacement, meaning that the content must be relevant to a global audience (Bhatia, Rodríguez García, & Sexton, 2022). To develop an educational framework for WPL, Sesame Workshop hosted a global education content seminar to guide the creation of the WPL curriculum, which included expert child development practitioners representing Bangladesh, Brazil, Colombia, India, Jordan, Lebanon, Mexico, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda. During the seminar advisors prioritized content area domains to support children impacted by humanitarian crises; leverage media for producing positive behavior change; and deploy content across a range of global contexts in the event of learning disruptions. With these parameters as guideposts and steered by the foundations of child development as well as the needs assessments findings, the group prioritized four key domains for children ages 3-6 years old affected by crisis and conflict: math; science; socio-emotional learning (SEL); and child protection, health, and safety Following the Sesame Workshop model (Fisch & Truglio, 2001), formative research played a critical role in content development and refinement, particularly given this focus on creating content that was both locally and globally relevant for children affected by crisis and conflict. To support refinement of content, we conducted 22 rounds of formative testing across nine countries and in 11 languages with 747 children and their primary caregiver. Geographies included Bangladesh, Brazil, Colombia, India, Jordan, Lebanon, Mexico, Nigeria, and South Africa. Languages tested include Arabic, Bangla, English, Hausa, Hindi, Kanuri, Portuguese, Rohingya, Sesotho, Spanish and Zulu. Our research questions focused on format, character, and storyline appeal and relevance, as well as comprehension of core educational messages. Our research measures included while-viewing child observations as well post-viewing child-directed and caregiver interviews. Formative studies ran from November 2020-May 2021, and, because of varying restrictions around COVID, as well as varying rates of digital connectivity, we used multiple methods household testing with individual families (Bangladesh, India); in-person focus group discussions (Brazil, Nigeria, South Africa); content delivered via WhatsApp with phone post-viewing interview (Colombia, Mexico); virtual focus group discussions (Jordan, Lebanon). Summary global findings indicated that families found all formats appealing and engaging, with parents placing high importance for each topic as part of children’s development. Comprehension findings showed greater variability than appeal and relevance across the geographies. Subsequent recommendations advocated for reimagining the science format; narrowing the number of characters per format; using more explicit visuals in math content; and increasing the number of references to the emotion regulation strategy in the SEL content. |
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| Paper #3 | |
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| Experimental impacts of social-emotional and math-focused media on Colombian and Venezuelan refugee and migrant children | |
| Author information | Role |
| Emily Franchett, New York University, United States | Presenting author |
| Priyamvada Tiwari, New York University, United States | Non-presenting author |
| Kate Schwartz, New York University, United States | Non-presenting author |
| Mariona Tres Vilanova, Innovations for Poverty Action, Colombia | Non-presenting author |
| Hirokazu Yoshikawa, New York University, United States | Non-presenting author |
| Kim Foulds, Sesame Workshop, United States | Non-presenting author |
| Abstract | |
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Educational mass media for children can positively impact multiple domains of young children’s learning and development, with promising results from evaluations in low- and middle-income countries as well as rich countries (for example, from evaluations of Sesame Workshop programs developed in US and global contexts; Mares & Pan, 2013). However, few studies have examined its effects in humanitarian contexts or through phone-based delivery. This study focuses on an area of Colombia with a high proportion of Venezuelan refugees and migrants. Following political and economic upheaval, over 7 million Venezuelans have fled that country in recent years, with over 2.9 million Venezuelans coming to Colombia (UNHCR, 2023). Additionally, Colombia has a large internally displaced population, with over 6.9 internally displaced persons (UNHCR, 2023). The current study investigates the impact of educational mass media with social-emotional and mathematics content delivered as video links through WhatsApp to Venezuelan and Colombian caregivers of 4-year-old children in Barranquilla. Intervention 38 10-minute videos (each consisting of two 5-minute segments, one with social-emotional content and the other with math content) were distributed over 19 weeks. These 38 segments came from a larger corpus produced by Sesame Workshop as Watch, Play, Learn (WPL) videos, from the Play to Learn initiative. Sample, Procedures, and Methods 1017 Venezuelan and Colombian caregivers of 4-year-old children were recruited in low-income municipalities in and around Barranquilla, Colombia. They were randomized to either receive WPL videos or an equivalent number of videos produced by Sesame Workshop but without social-emotional or math content (e.g. on daily routines or food). Baseline and endline parent surveys (for demographics and other covariates) and direct child assessments were conducted in community settings. Measures assessed expressive and receptive emotion identification from facial stimuli, emotion situation knowledge and emotion regulation strategies coded from social vignettes (adapted from an impact evaluation in Jordan; Moran et al., 2024), as well as shape identification, numbers and operations, measurement, and spatial skills (from Ginsburg, 2016; Pisani et al., 2018). Results and Discussion Preliminary results showed positive impacts on character recognition and liking characters (as reported by children and parents). Engagement with videos was moderate (65% of the sample opened the first video, declining to 30% by the last video) and did not differ by experimental condition. Positive impacts were found on expressive (but not receptive) emotion identification, as well as on emotion situation knowledge. No effects were found on emotion regulation strategies or early math skills. Results did not differ by Venezuelan vs Colombian origin, gender of child, or age of child. Effect sizes were in the .15 to .30 range. This is the second study of educational mass media conducted in a humanitarian context. Parents and children reported enjoying and engaging with the content; however, actual viewing rates were only moderate. Despite this, positive impacts were found on foundational emotional skills. There were no impacts on math; however, the majority of the sample were attending early childhood learning centers, and caregivers reported that their children were learning early math in those centers. |
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Sesame Workshop’s Watch, Play, Learn: Leveraging educational media for playful learning in crisis contexts
Submission Type
Paper Symposium
Description
| Session Title | Sesame Workshop’s Watch, Play, Learn: Leveraging educational media for playful learning in crisis contexts |