Giving Compass' Take:

• Here are four key takeaways from research indicating that students can learn STEM concepts such as science and engineering with increased screen time. 

• How can this research help inform school administrators and educators on how edtech can be useful?

• Here is a guide for donors on how to support STEM education. 

Having studied educational technology for more than two decades, I’ve seen how quickly reactions to children’s media swing from affection to panic and back again. Take, for example the release in November of A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood — which renewed attention to Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, a popular kids’ TV show for over 50 years — while other headlines decried the damaging effect of screen time on brain development.

However great the pull of these two poles are, the middle is where we find families making daily decisions about media use. It’s also where we discover sensible solutions to ongoing educational challenges, like how to give young children a meaningful start in science and engineering learning. That’s certainly the case with a study my colleagues and I recently released, an eight-week randomized controlled trial designed to investigate the effect of digital media platforms on young children’s science and engineering learning.

To understand whether the study resources affected the children’s understanding of science and engineering concepts and practices, we used a variety of measures, including an externally developed and validated science assessment (Lens on Science), a performance-based assessment, back-end data from the tablets, parent interviews, surveys and media logs.

Here are some key takeaways:

  • Media can do much more than sell and entertain
  • STEM opportunity gaps are not inevitable
  • Digital learning experiences can jump the screen, even for young children
  • These resources are available to everyone

Read the full article about how screen time helps kids learn STEM by Shelley Pasnik at The 74.