From Viewing to Doing: Supporting Young Children’s Learning Through Joint Engagements With Media

• In Event: Media and Technology in Early Childhood

Abstract

This paper draws from the implementation of a media-rich preschool science curriculum supplement to expand understandings of how media elements, curricular materials in which they are embedded, and instructional practices can promote ‘joint engagements with media.’ Our analysis unpacks interactions between adults and children that are mediated by media artifacts, and identifies specific discourse moves that can scaffold learning. Theoretically, this paper extends the research on joint engagement by demonstrating how media can be a resource for situated meaning making. More practically, our findings, which include an initial typology of interactions and examples, offer strategies for using media to foster discourse and interactions, especially in domains like science that tend to be under-emphasized in early childhood education.

Authors

• Savitha Moorthy, SRI International

• Hannah Lesk, SRI International

• Carlin Llorente, SRI International

• Ximena Dominguez, SRI International