Examining the prevalence, content, and demographic and time use correlates of children’s educational media use

• In Event: Using and studying technology in research involving children and families

Abstract

Educational content is prevalent in children’s media and both seminal and recent research show that children can learn from it (e.g., Bogatz & Ball, 1971; Hurwitz et al., 2018; Mares & Pan, 2013). However, asking caregivers how much educational media their child uses is problematic due to social desirability and more detailed methods like time diaries can be burdensome for families. Thus, we created a novel measure and coding scheme to better understand the educational content used by a socioeconomically diverse sample of first graders. Using this measure, we examine the extent to which educational media is reported, the educational domains that are most common, and demographic and time use correlates of educational media use.

Participants were 346 first graders (Mage = 85.1 months; SD = 4.6; Maternal education: 48.1% High school diploma or less; 78.0% White, 8.5% Multi-racial). Caregivers responded to an open-ended item asking them to report on 3 to 5 TV show/videos and apps/games their child uses most. These were coded for educational content and domain (math, language/literacy, science, social studies, social/emotional). Educational media proportion was calculated for each child by dividing the number of examples coded as educational over the total number of examples given. Caregivers also reported overall media use and time spent reading using a series of items asking about use at different times of the day and the week (Dore et al., 2020).

On average, 12.7% of the examples caregivers provided were coded as educational, but with wide variability (SD = 20.0; Range = 0% to 100%). Of these, math content was most frequent (8.2%), followed by science (7.5%) and language and literacy (5.7%). Social studies content (4.4%) and social emotional content (2.1%) were less common. Mixed effects regression models controlling for classroom showed that caregivers of girls reported a higher proportion of educational media (16.4%) than caregivers of boys (9.8%), B = .065, p = .003. However, maternal education was not predictive, p = .51. Higher educational media proportions were related to less overall media use (B = -0.003, p = .001) and more reading (B = 0.005, p = .016). These links hold when controlling for maternal education.

These findings suggest that educational content makes up a small but potentially meaningful portion of first graders’ media use, with STEM content emerging as most prevalent. The substantial gender difference in educational media reported suggests that existing content may be more attractive to girls or that caregivers may encourage more educational media for girls. That maternal education was not related to educational media was an unexpected but potentially positive finding, suggesting that this content may be reaching families across socioeconomic status levels, in line with intentional efforts by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Educational media content does not appear to contribute to more “screen time” or replace reading activities. These findings are critical, as they may inform efforts to promote educational media use and create educational media that will appeal to different populations and cover diverse domains of content.

Authors

• Rebecca Dore, Ohio State University
  Presenting Author

• Kelly M Purtell, Ohio State University

• Tzu-Jung Lin, Ohio State University

• Laura M. Justice, Ohio State University