Parent Scaffolding of Young Children When Engaged with Mobile Technology

Taiwanese parents' perspectives on young children's use of information communication technology

Introduction

How parents think and feel about their children's use of technology can influence how their kids behave online. The family's socioeconomic status (SES) may also affect this influence. In light of this, this research emphasizes the need for more investigation into parental attitudes and the role of SES in shaping how children consume media.

Methods

This study surveyed 629 Taiwanese parents to explore their attitudes toward their young children's use of information communication technology (ICT), usage patterns, and the interplay with socioeconomic status.

Results

The findings revealed a significant disconnect: although approximately 50% of parents considered above six years old to be a suitable age for children to start ICT, over 80% of children had already engaged with ICT before that age, indicating a large disparity between parental expectations and actual initiation. Furthermore, parents highlighted "learning interest" and "various content" as the most positive impacts of children's ICT use, while "addiction and overreliance" emerged as their primary concern. Notably, parents, as a whole, tended to perceive their child's ICT use more negative than positively, with fathers displaying greater acceptance of negative viewpoints than mothers. Parental attitudes toward children's ICT use were categorized into five clusters, ranging from balanced and optimistic views to value emphasis, conservatism, and negative doubts. This classification underscores the intricate and multifaceted nature of parental perspectives, encompassing both positive and negative outlooks on children's ICT utilization.

Discussion

The findings underscore the nuanced character of parents' attitudes toward technology, shaped by the intricacies and challenges posed by the digital era. These insights emphasize that parental attitudes go beyond a simplistic positive-negative divide, reflecting a comprehensive response to the opportunities and complexities inherent in the digital age.

The association between screen media quantity, content, and context and language development

This study investigates the influence of the quantity, content, and context of screen media use on the language development of 85 Saudi children aged 1 to 3 years. Surveys and weekly event-based diaries were employed to track children's screen use patterns. Language development was assessed using JISH Arabic Communicative Development Inventory (JACDI). Findings indicate that the most significant predictor of expressive and receptive vocabulary in 12- to 16-month-olds was screen media context (as measured by the frequency of interactive joint media engagements). In older children (17- to 36-month-olds), more screen time (as measured by the amount of time spent using screens, the prevalence of background TV at home, and the onset age of screen use) had the highest negative impact on expressive vocabulary and mean length of utterance. These findings support health recommendations on the negative effects of excessive screen time and the positive effects of co-viewing media with children.

Language in educational apps for pre-schoolers. A comparison of grammatical constructions and psycholinguistic features in apps, books and child directed speech

Language in touchscreen apps could be useful as an additional source of children's language input, alongside child directed speech (CDS) and books. Here we performed the first analysis of language in apps, as compared with books and CDS. We analysed language in 18 of the most popular educational apps targeting pre-schoolers and compared their language content to children's books and CDS with respect to types of constructions and psycholinguistic features of words. We found that apps contained lower frequency words and had lower lexical diversity compared to CDS, and shorter utterances compared to books. Apps may thus provide an enriched supplementary form of input for young children, due to containing less frequent words. However, apps do not expose children to a high proportion of questions and complex sentences, both of which are crucial for supporting child's development of structurally rich constructions.

Early language outcomes in Argentinean toddlers: Associations with home literacy, screen exposure and joint media engagement

This study aimed to analyse the contribution of mothers' home literacy beliefs and practices and the quantity and quality of screen media exposure on Argentinean toddler's language. In addition, we considered parent-child joint engagement, as well as adult scaffolding behaviours during the use of electronic devices. A total of 465 mothers of 18-36 months old children completed an online survey including: the MacArthur Bates CDI, home literacy, screen exposure, joint engagement and scaffolding questionnaires. We observed positive effects of literacy beliefs, PC times and verbal scaffolding on language outcomes. TV exposure contributed negatively to vocabulary and, along with educational content, to sentence use. Shared reading and screen media experiences can be an opportunity for language stimulation, provided there is dialogue and joint engagement. Passive screen exposure and inadequate content may be detrimental for toddlers' language outcomes, probably by displacement of socially significant interactions.

Surveying Parents of Preschool Children about Digital and Analogue Play and Parent-Child Interaction

The addition of digital toys to the child's toy box has resulted in the development of the new 'digital play', which differs from analogue play. Research shows that digital toys are available from infancy onwards and are significantly changing the way children engage in play and communicate with parents during play. How this influences the child's development must be established. The choice of toys and the manner in which they are used depend greatly on the parents. In the present study, parents' opinions and experiences of their child's digital and analogue play were explored in order to gain insight into the parents' perceptions of the impact of different types of play on their child's development. We were particularly interested in the differences in a child's engagement with a toy and the child-parent interaction and communication. In this descriptive study, we administered a questionnaire in order to collect data from 306 parents of children of an average age of 3.6 years. The results show that parents perceived traditional toys as the most stimulating toys for a toddler's sensory, motor, cognitive, and socio-emotional development. During analogue play, significantly more parent-child interaction, as well as more language input from parents and toddlers, occurred. Parents also used different intervention and mediation strategies with different types of toys.

Parental Perceptions of Child's Play in the Post-Digital Era: Parents' Dilemma with Digital Formats Informing the Kindergarten Curriculum

Digital technology affordance has been recognized as a social and learning tool, and the requirements for digitalizing the kindergarten curriculum have been present for decades. Digitalization in a child's early years can present conflict with parents, as the societal and economic demands of digitalized society for a child's digital technology use are in dissonance with guidelines and recommendations of health organizations that caution against preschool children's technology use. Kindergarten curricular reform in Slovenia was conducted in the 1990s. In this period, the use of digital learning technology and digital play for the development of children learning predispositions and early literacy was already recognized. At the time of curriculum design, it integrated some elements of digital learning technology. Now, 30 years after the design of the new curriculum, we are facing the post-digital era. Learning technology in the early years is a matter of partnership with parents; accordingly, this descriptive survey study includes a non-randomized sample of 306 parents. We are considering how child's play is structured in the primary environment and how parents perceive digital technology in the current post-digital age of seamless, digitally saturated social practices. Parents are aware of the risks of technology and of its benefits for learning. The findings show correlations between a child's digital screen technology use and parents' attitudes and perceptions of digital play. Parents that offer digital screen technology to a child have less agreeable attitudes regarding its possible risks to a child.

Impacts of technology on children’s health: a systematic review

Objective:

To identify the consequences of technology overuse in childhood.

Data source:

A systematic review was carried out in the electronic databases PubMed (National Library of Medicine of the National Institutes of Health) and BVS (Virtual Health Library), considering articles published from 2015 to 2020, in English, Portuguese and Spanish using the terms “Internet”, “Child” and “Growth and Development”.

Data synthesis:

554 articles were found and 8 were included in the analysis. The studies’ methodological quality was assessed by the Strobe and Consort criteria, being scored from 17 to 22 points. The articles showed positive and negative factors associated with the use of technology in childhood, although most texts emphasize the harmful aspects. Excessive use of internet, games and exposure to television are associated with intellectual deficits and mental health issues, but can also enable psychosocial development.

Conclusions:

Preventing the use of the internet is a utopic measure ever since society makes use of technologies. The internet is associated with benefits as well as with harms. It is important to optimize the use of internet and reduce risks with the participation of parents and caregivers as moderators, and training of health professionals to better guide them.

Interviewing preschool children in Greece about their usage of mobile devices at home

The time children spend with mobile devices has increased in recent years. Preschoolers’ home usage of mobile devices has mainly been investigated through parents’ perceptions. Listening to the children’s voices can help us understand this matter more directly. Therefore, in this study, a convergent mixed methods approach was employed to help us investigate the home usage of mobile devices by young children, focusing on children’s comments. The participants were 55 Greek children aged 4–6, attending two public kindergartens in Patras. Children described in detail their activities on mobile devices, through semi-structured interviews. The results indicated that the most popular activity for the children was playing digital games. The children were able to demonstrate and describe activities for educational purposes (letters, numbers, digital puzzles, documentaries, etc.) during the home usage of mobile devices. The circumstances in which they are allowed to use their mobile devices is when their parents want to keep them calm during quiet hours or in public places. Implications for introducing mobile learning activities in Greek education are discussed.

Relationships between screen viewing and sleep quality for infants and toddlers in China: A cross-sectional study

AIM

Currently young children have more opportunity to access all kinds of media, while their sleep duration has been steadily decreasing. However, little is known about the relationships between screen viewing and sleep quality, and the reasons of screen viewing for children under three years old in China. This study aimed to describe the relationships between screen viewing and sleep quality of infants and toddlers in mainland China.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was conducted. Eight hundred twenty-seven children were recruited at a health care unit from a university affiliated hospital in China, and the questionnaires were completed by their parents. An extended Brief Infant Sleep Questionnaire and a Screen Viewing Questionnaire were used to collect information on children's sleep quality and screen viewing. Multivariate linear regression models were used to assess the relationships between screen viewing and sleep quality among infants and toddlers, adjusted for sociodemographic variables.

RESULTS

Of the 827 children, 26.9% of the infants and 61.4% of the toddlers did not comply with the World Health Organization (WHO) guideline on screen time. Even after adjusting for the sociodemographic covariates for both infants and toddlers, negative relationships between screen time and total sleep time (P < 0.001), and screen time and nighttime sleep (P < 0.001) existed. TV viewing time was negatively related to infants' total sleep time (β = -0.15, P < 0.001) and toddlers' nighttime sleep (β = -0.1, P < 0.05). Smartphone viewing time was negatively related to toddlers' total sleep time (β = -0.12, P < 0.05) and daytime sleep (β = -0.22, P < 0.05). Parents who offered screen media for children when they needed to do house chores were more likely to report that their children had less total sleep time (β = -0.1, P < 0.05) and shorter longest sleep episode (β = -0.1, P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

The majority of toddlers did not meet the WHO guidelines on screen time in China. Screen time was negatively related to total sleep time and nighttime sleep among infants and toddlers. Practical strategies, such as education programs on children's screen viewing, more outdoor exercises and indoor parent-child activities, providing other educational materials instead of screening, early sleep, restricted use of TVs and smartphones, and screen co-viewing, are needed to improve young children's sleep quality and promote their development.

Parent-child interactions during joint engagement with touchscreen technology: A comparison of younger versus older toddlers

With a plethora of touchscreen apps aimed at young children, parents are receiving mixed messages about the appropriateness of such technology for their toddlers. The American Academy of Pediatrics (2016) advises limited engagement with digital media for this age group and encourages parents to co-engage with children when they are using screens. However, very little is known about parent-child interaction in the context of joint engagement with digital screen media in the toddler years. This study observed 56 toddlers (M = 32.5 months old; 53 % female) and a parent (52 mothers; 4 fathers) performing a 3-minute drawing task on a touchscreen tablet (digital condition), and on an Etch-A-Sketch (non-digital condition) using a repeated measures design. Observations were analysed using global ratings of dyadic interaction, comparing warmth, cooperation and conflict between digital and non-digital conditions. A mixed MANCOVA analysis, controlling for levels of daily usage of touchscreens, revealed lower levels of parent-child cooperation and warmth in the digital condition compared to the non-digital condition. In addition, there was a main effect of age with younger dyads displaying less cooperation overall, particularly in the digital condition where interactions were also less warm. Results suggest that co-engaging with digital technology can be a challenging and potentially emotionally charged context for both parents and young children. Younger toddlers, especially, may be more likely to experience less cooperative interactions when co-engaging with digital technology with a parent. Results are discussed in relation to developmental differences between 2- and 3-year olds, and the need for more nuanced guidance for parents supporting young children's interaction with digital media.

The Observed Quality of Caregiver-Child Interactions With and Without a Mobile Screen Device

OBJECTIVE

This study investigated how caregivers' mobile device use influenced the quality of their interactions with their children. The associations between quality of interactions and the type of activity (eg, typing/swiping, looking at screen), setting, caregiver-child proximity, and child behaviors were also examined.

METHOD

Researchers anonymously and systematically observed and coded the behavior of 98 caregiver-child dyads in public settings (eg, parks, food courts) during real-time, naturally occurring interactions using time sampling.

RESULTS

Caregivers who used a mobile device for the entire observation engaged in less joint attention and were less responsive than caregivers who used the device some of the time. When looking at patterns within caregivers who used the device intermittently, the probability that they would engage in joint attention, initiate interactions with their child, talk, and display positive emotions was lower when they used a mobile device than when they did not. Child talking and positive affect were unrelated to caregiver device use. Activity type with the device, caregiver-child proximity and setting also related to interaction quality.

CONCLUSIONS

Caregiver device use was negatively associated with adult behaviors that are key components of high-quality caregiver-child interactions. Additionally, setting, activity type, and caregiver-child proximity are factors that should be considered because they relate to the quality of caregiver-child interactions in the context of mobile screen technologies.

Action coordination during a real-world task: Evidence from children with and without autism spectrum disorder

"Joint action"-the ability to coordinate actions with others-is critical for achieving individual and interpersonal goals and for our collective success as a species. Joint actions require accurate and rapid inferences about others' goals, intentions, and focus of attention, skills that are thought to be impaired in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Research to date has not investigated joint action abilities in individuals with ASD during real-world social interactions. We conducted an experimental study that required children with ASD and typically developing children to move tables by themselves or collaboratively through a maze. This involved developing innovative methodologies for measuring action coordination-a critical component of the joint action process. We found that children with ASD are less likely to benefit from the collaboration of a peer than are typically developing children, and they are less likely to synchronize their steps when moving the table. However, these differences were masked when scaffolded by an adult. There was no evidence that ASD differences were due to gross motor delays in the participants with ASD. We argue that action coordination is a highly adaptive social process that is intrinsic to successful human functioning that manifests as atypical synchronization of mind and body in children with ASD.

Child-Centered Design: Developing an Inclusive Letter Writing App

Everywhere there are children, there are screens, and child-computer interaction is ubiquitous. Despite their omnipresence, research on the impact of screens on children's learning lags behind the development of digital tools. Apple's App Store has an abundance of "educational" apps, but many of these apps' claims are unsubstantiated. Organizations responsible for vetting quality products for young people, such as the American Library Association, are developing resources to help identify the best digital products available, but they remain difficult to find, and there is limited guidance for app designers when it comes to designing apps for younger audiences. Our interdisciplinary, empirical study was inspired by "co-creation" (Sanders and Stappers, 2008) and "cooperative inquiry" (Druin, 2005). Starting with a seed grant from Kent State University's College of Communication and Information, our team sought to create a high-quality and inclusive alphabet app with haptic interactions and simplified gamification to reinforce the basic letter writing skills of young children. The app rewards a child's successful handwriting with an animation of a verb that corresponds with the letter they traced. Concrete animations and digital and verbal demonstrations connect the typographic letter to the handwritten counterpart. Librarian Claudia Haines' rubric (Haines, 2016) and the Dig Checklist (Kidmap, 2018.) guided our definition of "quality," and children served as co-designers in two qualitative user studies. Our young designers tested prototypes, completed task booklets, and were interviewed about their preferences and their feedback informed our design. Additionally, a focus group interview with kindergarten and preschool teachers provided further feedback about the typographic design, stroke order, and gaming rewards. To be inclusive, children in both our app design and user studies were selected from a diverse pool. Our research contributes to work on co-design and cooperative inquiry in the fields of User Experience Design, human-computer interaction, human information behavior, information science, interface design, motion design, typeface design and typography for children, and early literacy development. A post-study is planned upon completion of the app.

Children Can Learn New Facts Equally Well From Interactive Media Versus Face to Face Instruction

Today's children have more opportunities than ever before to learn from interactive technology, yet experimental research assessing the efficacy of children's learning from interactive media in comparison to traditional learning approaches is still quite scarce. Moreover, little work has examined the efficacy of using touch-screen devices for research purposes. The current study compared children's rate of learning factual information about animals during a face-to-face instruction from an adult female researcher versus an analogous instruction from an interactive device. Eighty-six children ages 4 through 8 years (64% male) completed the learning task in either the Face-to-Face condition (n = 43) or the Interactive Media condition (n = 43). In the Learning Phase of the experiment, which was presented as a game, children were taught novel facts about animals without being told that their memory of the facts would be tested. The facts were taught to the children either by an adult female researcher (Face-to-Face condition) or from a pre-recorded female voice represented by a cartoon Llama (Interactive Media condition). In the Testing Phase of the experiment that immediately followed, children's memory for the taught facts was tested using a 4-option forced-choice paradigm. Children's rate of learning was significantly above chance in both conditions and a comparison of the rates of learning across the two conditions revealed no significant differences. Learning significantly improved from age 4 to age 8, however, even the preschool-aged children performed significantly above chance, and their performance did not differ between conditions. These results suggest that, interactive media can be equally as effective as one-on-one instruction, at least under certain conditions. Moreover, these results offer support for the validity of using interactive technology to collect data for research purposes. We discuss the implications of these results for children's learning from interactive media, parental attitudes about interactive technology, and research methods.