Media Literacy in
Early Childhood Report
Framework, Child Development Guidelines,
and Tips for Implementation
Jenna Herdzina, MS, and Alexis R. Lauricella, PhD
This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) #LG-98-18-0052-18
Technology in Early Childhood Center
Table of Contents
Executive Summary 2
Project and Partners 3
Introduction 6
Media Literacy in Early Childhood Framework 8
Child Development 101 10
Media Literacy in Early Childhood Implementation Plan 15
Sustaining the Work of Media Literacy Education in Early Childhood 34
Conclusion 45
References 46
Additional Resources 49
Acknowledgments 50
Appendix 1: Tips for Practitioners 51
Appendix 2: Tips for Caregivers 52
This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) #LG-98-18-0052-18
Suggested Citation: Herdzina, J. & Lauricella, A. R. (2020). Media Literacy in Early Childhood Report.
Chicago, IL. Technology in Early Childhood (TEC) Center, Erikson Institute.
2 | Erikson Institute | Media Literacy in Early Childhood Report
Executive Summary
The TEC (Technology in Early Childhood) Center at Erikson Institute in partnership with
the National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE), the Association for
Library Service to Children (ALSC), and the Association of Children’s Museums (ACM)
was awarded a grant by the Institute of Museum and Library Sciences (IMLS) in 2018
to host two national forum meetings to discuss media literacy in early childhood with
experts and practitioners with the objective of developing materials to support the
understanding and teaching of media literacy in early childhood.
This report recognizes and builds upon the extensive media literacy educational
materials, books, research, and policies that have been developed to date. The
framework builds upon many existing media literacy-focused frameworks including
Teaching Tolerance’s Digital Literacy Framework (2017) and Project Look Sharp’s
Process of Media Literacy (2018). The child development and children’s media use
findings bring together decades of research from various fields in order to understand
media literacy in early childhood. The cultural considerations, activities, and tips
highlight existing educational materials and concerns raised by practitioners who serve
children in a variety of settings. The barriers and solutions to sustaining this work shed
light on the challenges practitioners and caregivers face daily.
The intention of this Media Literacy in Early Childhood Report is to utilize media literacy,
child development, and early education knowledge to develop educational materials and
advocate for support for media literacy education in early childhood. This report provides:
1. an updated definition of media literacy in early childhood;
2. an explanation of developmentally appropriate media literacy education for children
under age 8;
3. background on the developmental abilities and expectations of young children with
regards to media use and media literacy; and
4. guidelines to support media literacy in early childhood.
3 | Erikson Institute | Media Literacy in Early Childhood Report
Project and Partners
(University of Michigan), and other organizations.
At the end of the forum, participants made
suggestions on how to develop a definition that
was aligned with NAMLE’s existing definition. Based
on this input, the definition used at the National
Practitioners Forum utilized many elements of
NAMLE’s definition, such as describing media
literacy as an “ability to access... evaluate, create”,
with developmentally appropriate additions such
as “engage”, “critically question”, and “inquire”.
The key ideas and conversations from the National
Leadership Forum guided the planning of the agenda
and objectives for the National Practitioners Forum.
National Practitioners Forum (April, 2019)
TEC Center, with support from partners, hosted
a two-day National Practitioners Forum, which
took place in spring 2019, with approximately
35 practitioners. TEC Center worked with ALSC,
ACM, and NAMLE to create a list of invitees who
represented a variety of early childhood settings,
i.e. libraries, museums, home-based programs;
geographic settings i.e. rural, suburban, or urban;
as well as demographics including race, ethnicity,
gender, and years of experience working in
prominent media literacy organizations.
During this forum, national practitioners were
assigned working groups to develop a framework
that collaborating partners and other stakeholders
could use to support family media literacy education
and broaden the media literacy ecosystem in
communities. National practitioners discussed a
framework of media literacy in early childhood, the
skills needed to support various media literacy
actions (six of which emerged from discussion as
being fundamental), activities/lesson plan examples
for practitioners and caregivers, as well as
recommendations for sustaining the work.
About the Media Literacy in Early
Childhood Project
In June 2017, the TEC (Technology in Early
Education) Center at Erikson Institute hosted
The Media Literacy in Early Childhood: A Critical
Conversation pre-conference (NAMLE, 2017) in
partnership with the National Association for Media
Literacy Education (NAMLE), to start a conversation
about the importance of media literacy in early
childhood. In September 2018, the TEC Center at
Erikson Institute, in partnership with the National
Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE),
the Association for Library Service to Children
(ALSC), and the Association of Children’s Museums
(ACM), was awarded a grant by the Institute of
Museum and Library Sciences (IMLS) to host two
national forum meetings to discuss media literacy
in early childhood with experts and practitioners
with the objective of developing materials to
support the understanding and teaching of media
literacy in early childhood. This report is a direct
result of the support provided by IMLS and the
lessons learned through these two national forum
meetings held in 2019.
National Leadership Forum (January, 2019)
TEC Center, with support from ALSC, ACM, and
NAMLE, hosted a one-day National Leadership
Forum to discuss the development of a shared,
actionable definition of media literacy in early
childhood. TEC Center worked with ALSC, ACM, and
NAMLE to create a list of invitees who are recognized
as media literacy and/or child development leaders.
The 20 national leaders who attended the National
Leadership Forum represented organizations such
as American Academy of Pediatrics, International
Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), Common
Sense Latino, higher education institutions, Public
Broadcasting Service (PBS), academic institutions
4 | Erikson Institute | Media Literacy in Early Childhood Report
About Technology in Early
Childhood (TEC) Center, Erikson
Institute
The Technology in Early Childhood (TEC) Center
at Erikson Institute is dedicated to creating a better
world for children’s technology use. The TEC Center
is dedicated to research, practice, and collaboration
to ensure that families and practitioners are informed
and supported in decisions to use technology
with their young children. The TEC Center conducts
research to scientifically answer critical questions
regarding the role of technology on young children’s
learning and development. Using evidence-based
resources and real-world examples, the TEC Center’s
professional development programs strengthen
educators’ digital literacy and their ability to
intentionally select, use, integrate, and evaluate
technology in the classroom and other early
childhood settings. Finally, the TEC Center recognizes
the necessity of collaboration in this digital world
and welcomes researchers, practitioners, educators,
and technology developers to communicate
and connect through conventions and meetings
hosted by the TEC Center.
The TEC Center is housed within Erikson Institute,
which is a premier independent institution of
higher education committed to ensuring that all
children have equitable opportunities to realize their
potential. Erikson Institute is recognized for
its groundbreaking work in the field of early
childhood. Erikson Institute uniquely prepares
child development, education, and social work
leaders to improve the lives of young children and
their families. Erikson’s impact and influence
is further amplified through its innovative academic
programs, applied research, knowledge creation
and distribution, direct service, and field-wide
advocacy.
About Our Partners
The Association for Library Service to Children
(ALSC) is the world’s largest organization dedicated
to the support and enhancement of library service to
children. Driven by
its national membership,
13 member Board of
Directors, and eight
full-time employees,
ALSC is a dynamic force for positive change. From
creative programming and best practices to
continuing education and professional connections—
ALSC members are innovators in the field of children’s
library service. ALSC’s network includes more than
4,000 children’s and youth librarians, children’s
literature experts, publishers, education and library
school faculty members, and other adults dedicated
to engaging communities to support ALSC’s vision to
build healthy, successful futures for all children. For
this partnership, Aimee Strittmater, Executive Director
and Angela Hubbard, Program Ocer, Projects and
Partnerships led ALSC’s work with additional support
provided by Alena Rivers, Deputy Director.
The Association of Children’s Museums (ACM)
champions children’s museums and supports
450 members in 48 states and 20 countries with
professional development
programs, publications,
and other resources.
Children’s museums are
cultural institutions committed to serving the needs
and interests of children by providing exhibits and
programs that stimulate curiosity and motivate
learning; more than 31 million people annually visit a
children’s museum. Started in 1962, ACM provides
leadership, professional development, advocacy, and
resources for its member organizations and
individuals. For this partnership, Victoria Garvin, Sr.
Director, Professional Development led ACM’s work,
with additional support provided by Laura Huerta
Migus, Executive Director.
Project and Partners
5 | Erikson Institute | Media Literacy in Early Childhood Report
The National Association for Media Literacy
Education (NAMLE) is a professional association
for educators, academics, activists, and students
with a passion for
understanding how the
media we use and create
aects our lives and the
lives of others in our communities and in the world.
The NAMLE mission is to help individuals of all ages
develop the habits of inquiry and skills of expression
that they need to be critical thinkers, eective
communicators, and active citizens in today’s world
by expanding the practice of media literacy
education around the country. NAMLE’s vision is to
see media literacy be highly valued by all and widely
practiced as an essential skill for the 21st Century. For
this partnership, Michelle Ciulla Lipkin, Executive
Director and Tony Streit, NAMLE Board of Directors
President led NAMLE’s work.
About the Authors
Jenna Herdzina, MS
is the Program Manager
of the TEC Center
at Erikson Institute.
Jenna’s work focuses on
connecting policy and
research to practice for
the adults in children’s
lives. She is passionate about understanding how
technology and media platforms impact early civic
identity development. Jenna served as a Project
Manager and Policy to Practice Intern with the TEC
Center, advocating for technology use with children
and families to be culturally and socio-economically
sensitive and inclusive. Previously, Jenna was the
Early Childhood Education Policy Intern at Latino
Policy Forum where she participated in local, state
and national ECE advocate workgroups focusing on
state accountability and EL components of ESSA,
preschool suspensions and expulsions, Illinois
Children’s Cabinet project, and ECE Workforce
Development. Jenna has worked with children and
families for over a decade in a variety of settings
including early childhood education centers, a crisis
nursery, and a hospital. Jenna earned her Master’s in
Child Development from Erikson Institute.
Alexis R. Lauricella, PhD
is an Associate Professor
at Erikson Institute
and Director of the
Technology in Early
Childhood Center
at Erikson Institute.
Dr. Lauricella earned
her Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology and
her Master’s in Public Policy from Georgetown
University. Her research focuses on children’s
learning from media technology and parents’
and teachers’ attitudes toward and use of
media technology with young children. Recent
publications include empirical research articles
in Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology,
Journal of Children and Media, Media Psychology,
Journal of Early Adolescence, Journal of Infant
Behavior and Development, New Media and Society,
Computers and Education, Public Health,
and multiple reports for Northwestern University’s
Center on Media and Human Development, as well
as for the Fred Rogers Center and Common
Sense Media.
Project and Partners
6 | Erikson Institute | Media Literacy in Early Childhood Report
Introduction
for practitioners, and encourage all of those working
with young children to recognize the potential to
support media literacy at very early ages.
Media and Young Children
Young children have always been key consumers
of media, thus media literacy has always been
important for them. Media literacy encompasses
all media, including print, but most attention and
urgency around media literacy today centers on
digital media technologies. In recent decades,
technological advancements have resulted in
digital media devices being even more kid-friendly,
such as the touchscreen capabilities of current
smartphones and tablets, and even more content
being intentionally created for young children,
including children’s television programming and
interactive games. There is consistent evidence
that young children (those under age 8) are regular
and frequent media users, engaging with a variety
of platforms and content for close to two hours
per day (Rideout, 2017). Moreover, schools are
increasing their use of technology in classrooms
with many purchasing one to one (1:1) technology,
enabling each student access to their own device.
Even informal learning environments, including
libraries and museums, are increasing their use
and incorporation of digital media into their spaces
(Association of Children’s Museums, 2015; Clark &
Archer Perry, 2015).
This generation of children growing up with near
universal access to newer, digital, interactive and
mobile technologies are often referred to as “digital
natives” (Prensky, 2001) because their entire
existence has been in the presence of these
technologies. While they may in fact be digital
natives, that does not suggest that they are digital
media experts, nor that they have the skills for
analysis, evaluation, and creation that define literacy
Young children are regularly engaging with media
in their homes, schools, and outside of school
experiences including museums and libraries. All of
these environments oer an opportunity to support
and develop young children’s media literacy skills.
However, there is a lack of consensus about what
media literacy education for young children means
and includes, what media literacy experiences in
both informal and formal early childhood settings
should look like, and how to empower parents
and other adults as media literacy role models
and mentors. In order to create this report, we
collaborated with partners from the National
Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE),
the Association for Library Service to Children
(ALSC), and the Association of Children’s Museums
(ACM) and hosted two national forum meetings
to discuss media literacy in early childhood with
experts and practitioners.
The objectives of this Media Literacy in Early
Childhood Report are threefold:
1. to provide a clear understanding of
developmentally appropriate media literacy
education for children under age 8;
2. to provide parents, educators, and other adults
with background on the developmental abilities
and expectations of young children with regards
to media use and media literacy; and
3. to develop a framework with guidelines to support
media literacy in early childhood.
We hope that this report we will make media literacy
in early childhood a concept that more key
stakeholders understand and feel confident in
implementing and supporting in their work with
young children. We believe these resources will help
to expand the number of organizations and
individuals committed to integrating media literacy
into programs for families, support and enhance
outreach and professional development programs
7 | Erikson Institute | Media Literacy in Early Childhood Report
in using media, whether it is digital or analog. These
children still need support from adults to develop a
foundation of skills that they can build upon as they
use technology and become media literate. Older
children are increasingly taught media literacy skills
in their classroom environments particularly in middle
and high school years. It’s imperative to begin media
literacy education in early childhood years because it
lays the foundation for being children media literate
throughout life. To date, there has been little explicit
recommendation or support for how to teach media
literacy to younger children and thus we often see
this group of media users lacking the support and
education to build their media literacy skills. Published
media literacy frameworks, education materials, and
professional development for practitioners and
caregivers who support children ages birth through
age are scarce. Yet with reports of children using
technology at high levels earlier than kindergarten,
it is imperative that media literacy education begin
before entering the K-12 education system and is
supported in the K-3 grades.
Media Literacy Defined
Media literacy is focused on helping young
children begin to understand the role of media
and preparing them to be creative and healthy
consumers and creators of media throughout their
lives. One of the most widely used definitions of
media literacy in much of media literacy research
and practice is from NAMLE, who defines media
literacy as “the ability to access, analyze, evaluate,
create, and act using all forms of communication”
(National Association for Media Literacy Education,
n,d). For the purposes of this Media Literacy in Early
Childhood Report, we utilized aspects of NAMLE’s
definition in a new definition which highlights
unique aspects of media literacy that are relevant
and important during early childhood including
comprehension, engage, and explore, but are still
aligned with NAMLE’s definition for older children
in order to provide a continuum. The blue words
within the definition represent words that vary from
NAMLE’s media literacy definition.
Media Literacy in Early Childhood
is the emerging ability to access, engage,
explore, comprehend, critically inquire,
evaluate, and create with developmentally
appropriate media.
About this Report
This report recognizes and builds upon the
extensive media literacy educational materials,
books, research, and policies that have been
developed to date. The framework builds upon
many existing media literacy-focused frameworks
including Teaching Tolerance’s Digital Literacy
Framework (2017) and Project Look Sharp’s Process
of Media Literacy (2018). The child development
and children’s media use findings bring together
decades of research from various fields in order to
understand media literacy in early childhood. Tips
for Adults are included in Child Development 101,
to provide age-specific tips, as well as included in
the Implementation Plan for action-specific tips.
Additionally, there are two printable documents,
Tips for Practitioners and Tips for Caregivers,
which can be found in the appendix. The cultural
considerations, activities and tips highlight existing
educational materials and concerns raised by
practitioners who serve children in a variety of
settings. The barriers and solutions to sustaining
this work shed light on the challenges practitioners
and caregivers face daily.
The intention of this report is to utilize media literacy,
child development, and early education eorts to
propel media literacy in early childhood eorts by
developing education materials and advocating for
support at micro-, meso-, and macro-level impacts of
a young child’s life.
Introduction
8 | Erikson Institute | Media Literacy in Early Childhood Report
Media Literacy in Early Childhood Framework
Media literacy must occur and develop in a
developmentally appropriate way. This means
applying a strong child development lens while
thinking about how young children engage with
media (see Child Development 101, pages 10–14).
Given our developed definition of media literacy
in early childhood:
M
edia Literacy is the emerging ability
to access, engage, explore, comprehend,
critically inquire, evaluate, and create
with developmentally appropriate media
We break down this definition into the six actions
that young children should develop to become
media literate. The six fundamental actions include:
(1) access, (2) engage and explore, (3) comprehend
(4) critically inquire, (5) evaluate, (6) and create. In
this framework, definition, and report, we use the
term “fundamental actions” because they are
overarching and describe a set of “supporting skills”
(listed as a.-d. in the framework) children develop
to become media literate.
Fundamental Actions of Media Literacy
in Early Childhood
To gain media literacy skills, young children need
to be given support to:
Access: to eectively locate, use, and select media
Engage and Explore: to intentionally use media
for purpose and enjoyment
Comprehend: to understand media messages and
practices and transfer that knowledge appropriately
Critically Inquire: to question and analyze
media messages
Evaluate: to ask “is this media right for me
or my task?”
Create: to make media with intention
A child must be able to access media in order
to become media literate. Young children need
opportunities to engage and explore media to
develop awareness and skills to intentionally
and appropriately use media. Children must
comprehend media content and media intentions
to shift from a consuming media to questioning
and creating media. Children must critically inquire
to further dissect the intention and purpose of the
media messages. Children must evaluate media
to determine if it is right for them and for their
goals. Finally, children must develop the skills to
create and make media with intention. These six
fundamental actions and the supporting skills are
things children would be expected to do when
supported and guided by caregivers and educators.
This framework is intended to be used as a
reference point to understand media literacy for
children ages birth through 8. This framework builds
upon existing work including Teaching Tolerance’s
Digital Literacy Framework (2017) and Project Look
Sharp’s Process of Media Literacy (2018) and
encompasses the necessary actions, abilities, and
skills that young children (birth to age 8) must
engage in or possess in order to emerge as media
literate. There are examples later in this report
(see Child Development 101 and Implementation
Plan) that demonstrate how the fundamental actions
can be supported in developmentally appropriate
ways. In the next section, we describe each of the
fundamental actions in more detail and describe the
skills that may be support these fundamental skills.
9 | Erikson Institute | Media Literacy in Early Childhood Report
Media Literacy in Early Childhood Framework
These six fundamental actions are described in
detail below. It is expected that children will be
supported and guided by caregivers and educators
as they develop the skills necessary to master each
action. Each of these fundamental actions are
critical to media literacy. See Implementation Plan
for examples of how adults can help support these
actions and skills in practice.
1. Children will learn to intentionally access, select,
and manipulate media. To master this action,
children should develop the following skills:
a. manipulate the tools eectively and eciently;
b. understand the features of a given piece of
media or digital tool, including a sense of how
it may make them feel or whether it helps them
learn and grow;
c. critically think about why they are choosing
media and for what purpose; and
d. seek help and assistance from caregivers,
librarians, and other educators who serve as
media mentors, providing access to and use of
media, technology, or other digital tools.
2. Children will learn to engage and explore with
media in a way that is supportive of their overall
development and learning. To master this action,
children should develop the following skills:
a. explore and engage with content of media in ways
that gives them a sense of agency and control;
b. follow curiosities and develop a flexible,
growth-mindset while playing with technology
through open-ended exploration, embracing
opportunities to take risks and fail; and
c. engage in social play and exploration to learn
from and with others when using media or
technology tools;
3. Children will learn to comprehend media
messages and practices. To master this action,
children should develop the following skills:
a. interpret content and information gathered
while using media;
b. transfer information gathered from one media
source or technology tool to another context or
situation; and
c. understand commonly used visual, editorial,
and technology design processes to
communicate information (e.g., cuts, zooms,
weblinks, etc.).
4. Children will learn to critically inquire about
media and their use of media. To master this action,
children should develop the following skills:
a. demonstrate knowledge of the inquiry process
which includes posing questions, seeking
information from a variety of sources, asking
for evidence and providing evidence for their
own conclusions, interpreting and analyzing
information, and documenting;
b. decipher the elements that make media
accurate, appropriate, reliable, fact/fiction, real
and/or pretend;
c. consider media’s point of view and potential
bias and critically question the development of
media content; and
d. inquire about media’s intended audiences and
the impact of media on dierent people.
5. Children will learn to evaluate the content and
impact of media in a developmentally appropriate
way. To master this action, children should
develop the following skills:
a. identify and compare types of media sources;
b. choose media that matches and supports their
goal/task;
c. understand that a media source that is reliable
for one thing is not necessarily reliable for
everything; and
d. reflect on their experiences with media.
6. Children will learn to create and express ideas
using media. To master this action, children should
develop the following skills:
a. see themselves as creators and active
influencers of media;
b. explore, brainstorm, and convey ideas through
creation, hacking, remixing, tinkering, and/or
destruction;
c. explain intention of decisions throughout the
creation process and reflect on process after; and
d. connect media content created to the
broader world.
Media Literacy in Early Childhood Framework
10 | Erikson Institute | Media Literacy in Early Childhood Report
Child Development 101
In order to eectively support media literacy skills
in early childhood, it is critical to understand child
development and how young children experience
media. This section provides a brief background
of child development relevant to media use at four
selected stages: 0-2 years, 3-4 years, 5-6 years, and
7-8 years. This section seeks to provide a practical
overview of child development from birth to age 8
within the context of media use.
Ages 0-2
Between the ages of birth
and 2 years old, children are
experiencing rapid brain growth,
dramatic changes in physical
development, and vast improvements in cognitive
and language development. Throughout infancy,
children are building their understanding of the
world around them through their experiences. Prior
to age 1, infant physical development is focused
on large motor skills like sitting up, crawling and
walking, and basic fine motor skills like pointing and
pinching objects. Around age 1, children may have
produced a few words (e.g., Momma, Dadda). By
age 2, children produce 50-200 words and are using
two and three word pairs to communicate. Parent
interaction between the ages of 0 and 2 is critical
for language comprehension and production.
Between 18-24 months, children are able to
identify images of themselves and familiar people.
By this age, they also enjoy solitary play, begin
communicating emotions and causes of emotions,
and begin to demonstrate an awareness of others’
points of view.
Media Use and Eects
While young infants are not initiating digital media
use directly, infants are likely encountering a range
of media throughout their day starting as early as
birth. Ninety-eight percent of families with a child
under the age of 8 own a mobile device (Rideout,
2017). Caregivers are regularly using digital
cameras, mobile phones, and tablets to capture
images and videos of their children and often show
the child the resulting image on their digital device.
Adults are regularly using media themselves,
thereby modeling the use of these tools for children
starting at birth.
Throughout infancy and toddlerhood, children are
encountering print media (e.g., books), as well as
digital media including music players, television/
video, smart home voice assistants, tablets,
smartphones, and others. Book reading (with adults
reading and children responding) is especially
important in infancy and toddlerhood (High & Klass,
2014) and has been shown to be associated with
better language skills and increased interest in
reading in later years (Payne, Whitehurst, & Angell,
1994). For very young children, understanding the
content and messages from a screen can be very
hard (Anderson & Pempek, 2008). Features like
interactivity, familiar characters, verbal language
cues, social contingency (such as a conversation
with authentic responses that are contingent on
each other), and repetition have been shown to
support young children’s ability to learn from screen
media (e.g., Barr, Muentener, Garcia, Fujimoto,
& Chávez, 2007; Barr & Wyss, 2008; Howard Gola,
Richards, Lauricella, & Calvert, 2013; Lauricella,
Howard, & Calvert, 2011; Roseberry, Hirsh-Pasek,
& Golinko, 2014). Children under 3 years learn more
from computers or interactive touchscreens when
they receive contingent responses from the devices
(Choi & Kirkorian, 2016; Lauricella, Pempek, Barr,
& Calvert, 2010; Kirkorian, Choi, & Pempek, 2016).
Tips for Adults
• Recognize that these early interactions and
experiences influence children’s media literacy
skills. In infancy and toddlerhood, co-access,
co-engagement, and co-viewing of media with
young children is paramount to support young
children in their mastery and understanding of
basic media literacy skills.
11 | Erikson Institute | Media Literacy in Early Childhood Report
Child Development 101
• Encourage exploration of sensory materials and
hands-on activities. For example, discuss with
and model for children how picture books work
by showing the cover, pointing out illustrations
and turning the pages to support children’s
comprehension of the media content and device.
• Play is learning; encourage exploration and
discovery.
• Respond to and talk with the child about what
you are doing together. Narrate what you’re
doing when you engage with the child and ask
questions out loud. Notice the child’s non-verbal
communication (e.g., smiles, coos, etc) and use
that as a moment to narrate.
• Recognize that toddlers’ signs, facial expressions,
and the act of pointing are children’s ways of saying
what they like and don’t like; this is the first stage
of them engaging with and evaluating media.
• Acknowledge and encourage creations. Use
language such as, “You did this! You are a painter.”
• Narrate and name the process of creation.
• Enhance social interaction with family members
using face-to-face interactions in person and
digitally.
• Recognize and reflect on your own media and
technology use and how you are modeling use in
front of your young children.
• Use media as a tool to support, enhance, and
engage in communication, interaction, and inquiry
with your very young children. For example, narrate
what you are doing when you go to your phone,
“Look, sweet baby, I can use the phone to check
the weather before we go outside to we know if it is
warm or cold so we can wear the correct clothes to
stay comfortable. And it will only take a moment!”
Ages 3-4
Between the ages of 3 through
4 years old, children's cognitive
development, language, and
social emotional learning flourish
as they enter preschool years. Preschool children
still think very concretely about the world around
them and struggle with abstract thought and
abstract concepts including reality and fantasy
distinctions which can make processing fictional
storylines sometimes challenging. By the preschool
years, they are understanding themselves and
understanding those around them in more complex
ways. For example, by 3 years old, children have
a concrete sense of self such as name, physical
attributes, gender, and abilities. Children around
age 3 can identify some basic emotion words such
as “happy”, “sad”, etc. and comprehend that there’s
a connection between thoughts and emotions.
During this time, children are also beginning to
understand that other people experience thoughts
and emotions that dier from their own. By 4 years
old, children begin to understand that others can
believe or know something contrary to what they
know or understand, this is the beginning of theory
of mind development.
Media Use and Eects
Preschoolers are frequent media users and since
the creation of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood
and Sesame Street, preschoolers have been
heavily researched with regard to media use
and media eects. Parents report that children
ages 2 to 4 spend an average of 1 hour and nine
minutes watching television, 58 minutes using a
mobile device, 30 minutes reading/being read
to print media (Rideout, 2017). Teachers are
also incorporating digital media for educational
purposes (Pila, S., Blackwell, C. K., Lauricella, A. R.,
& Wartella, E., 2019).
12 | Erikson Institute | Media Literacy in Early Childhood Report
As children enter preschool years, their cognitive
ability to process information improves from toddler
years, allowing them to process information more
eciently. As a result, preschoolers can and do learn
from high quality educational television programs
(Anderson, Huston, Schmitt, Linebarger, Wright,
2001; Crawley, Anderson, Wilder, Williams, &
Santomero, 1999; Fisch, Truglio, & Cole, 1999;
Friedrich & Stein, 1975) and educational apps (Aladé,
Lauricella, Beaudoin-Ryan, & Wartella, 2016; Huber et
al., 2016; Schroeder & Kirkorian, 2016). Certain digital
media programs, such as Daniel Tiger’s
Neighborhood, have been shown to support social
emotional learning such as empathy, ability to
recognize emotions, and confidence in social
situations, but only when their caregiver talks with
them about what’s on television (Rasmussen, Shafer,
Colwell, White, Punyanunt-Carter, Densley, & Wright,
2016). We are beginning to understand the role of
interactive technology and games on preschoolers
learning and are finding that while their ability to
process information is better than toddler years,
there may be some cognitive challenges of learning
from a screen and interacting with it at the same time
(Alade et al., 2016; Anderson & Davidson, 2019).
Tips for Adults
• Due to children’s increase in media use in the
preschool years and their cognitive development,
children continue to benefit from facilitation and
guidance by caregivers while using media.
• Children are beginning to understand their
emotions so caregivers may focus on the child’s
body language and help them become aware
of what media content makes them happy, sad,
angry, and scared.
• Help children dierentiate between reality and
fantasy when engaging in media, especially when
the media is frightening.
• Children are developing curiosities as they
engage in print and digital media so caregivers
can utilize media to document and follow their
curiosities.
• Children may want to read or engage with media
repeatedly. This is because they are processing
the content and understanding more each time
and their requests and choices to read books (or
watching shows) over and over is an instance
of them having some agency over their own
learning.
• While children at this age are using print and
digital media as tools to learn, it’s important for
adults to support their learning about the media.
Help children learn and discover that media is
constructed by somebody with an intentional
purpose for an audience. This can be as simple
as mentioning a book author’s name and the fact
that there are books for adults and books for
children.
• Help guide children in accessing and making
selections about what media to use. Provide
conversations about the benefits and limitations
of dierent media for dierent purposes.
• Allow and encourage preschoolers to explore and
critically question the media they are using.
Child Development 101
13 | Erikson Institute | Media Literacy in Early Childhood Report
Ages 5-6
From 5 through 6 years old,
children generally begin formal
schooling. This means their
weekdays are focused more on
academics while being surrounded by peers. During
play, they’re able to share and take turns most
of the time, as well as work together to achieve
a common goal such as building a tower. Their
play is also more organized; children understand
the rules of a game and may even alter the rules.
By age 5, children are able to evaluate their own
characteristics and accomplishments. Five- and
6-year-olds are beginning to be able to read
others’ emotions through their actions and facial
expressions. Children are also learning new skills
such as reading simple picture books on their own
and writing simple sentences as well as mastering
mathematical concepts.
Media Use and Eects
Children are engaging in media both at home
and in the classroom. Children ages 5 to 8 spend
a daily average of 2 hours and 56 minutes using
screen media (Rideout, 2017), mainly split between
television (1 hour and 4 minutes) and mobile device
(1 hour and 2 minutes). Children ages 5 to 8 spend
a daily average of 26 minutes reading and/or being
read to print media (Rideout, 2017). Sixty percent of
Kindergarten to 2nd grade teachers report teaching
digital citizenship competencies (Vega & Robb,
2019). Children’s cognition at these ages enables
them to begin to understand more complex aspects
of media including correctly labeling the type
of message, such as news or a commercial for a
product, and comprehending the message content
of child-focused commercials and developmentally
appropriate educational content (Blosser & Roberts,
1985). Between ages 5 and 6, children should be
able to tell short stories and write, creating their
own media. Media impacts a child’s attitudes
regarding gender stereotypes (Signorielli, 2011),
which is important to keep in mind as children are
increasingly engaging in media as they grow older.
Tips for Adults
The adult’s role becomes more focused on
supporting children to understand abstract
concepts such as narrative elements, media
representation, and authorship.
• Provide children opportunities to reflect on and
question media using concrete examples such as,
“Do the children in this advertisement look like
you or your friends? What toys are they playing
with? What type of home do they live in?”
• Explain that every story has a teller and all media
content has a maker. Discuss how media is created
and that media are a portrayal or one view.
• Provide accurately representative media to
combat the impact of media stereotypes on
children’s understanding of themselves and
others and talk openly about the representation
and lack of representation in media being used.
• Proactively use multiple types of media such
as books, advertisements, and apps to foster
conversations to explore cultural diversity.
• Ask children about the media they are using
and assess their success at comprehending the
storyline and messages. Just like reading literacy
and reading comprehension can have a mismatch,
children’s media processing and comprehension
may also not line up.
Child Development 101
14 | Erikson Institute | Media Literacy in Early Childhood Report
Ages 7-8
From age 7 through age 8,
children are becoming
increasingly independent as their
cognitive abilities become more
sophisticated. Children at this age are now aware
that others have dierent thoughts than them.
They are experiencing an increase in concentration,
which is very helpful for school and participating
in afterschool sports and groups. Children are
beginning to develop moral rules and behavior,
questioning fairness and equality. They are now
able to look at situations from multiple perspectives
and consider multiple solutions to problems. By
age 8, children typically are able to read simple
sentences and longer words. Confidence and
belonging is critical during this age.
Media Use and Eects
As children develop their independence and
cognitive abilities, their media use increases. Fifty-
nine percent of children ages 5 to 8 years old have
their own tablet and 7% of their own smartphone
(Rideout, 2017). Young children from 5 through
8 years old play video games for an average of
42 minutes per day (Rideout, 2017) and 62% of
children ages 8 to 12 report watching TV every day
(Rideout, 2015). At 8 years old, children typically are
reading to learn and for entertainment as they are
reading with more ease. Children are not only using
media dierently but also understanding and being
impacted by their increased media use.
During these ages, children are able to dierentiate
elements of stories such as the plot and the setting.
The majority of children ages 7 and 8 years old can
describe advertising intent (Carter, Patterson,
Donovan, Ewing, & Roberts, 2011). After viewing clips
of women in stereotypical careers, girls ages 6 to 9
years old report interest in stereotypical careers and
are less likely to draw women as scientists than girls
in a comparison group who viewed clips of women in
science, technology, engineering, and math careers
(Bond, 2016).
Tips for Adults
The adult’s role for children ages 7 and 8 years old
is as a facilitator and guide, allowing children to
have more independence, more responsibilities, and
more opportunities to collaborate with their peers.
It’s essential to support children as they become
independent in their media engagement.
• Guide children in learning how to evaluate and
decide what is “good” or “just right” media for
them.
• Allow children to investigate and compare media.
• Take the time to discuss topics such as media
representation and accuracy, privacy, and safety
while using digital media sources.
• Give children control by encouraging them to act
as media mentors by helping and teaching others
how to engage with and choose media.
• Introduce tools that children can use to express
themselves and create their own media.
• Support their creation of media by focusing less
on the end product and focusing more on the
process, eort, and intentions of the child.
Child Development 101
15 | Erikson Institute | Media Literacy in Early Childhood Report
Media Literacy in Early Childhood
Implementation Plan
This implementation resource consists of supporting
skills, tips, and activities for the six actions of media
literacy in early childhood with explicit cultural
awareness and considerations. The contents within
this implementation document have been developed
by the attendees at the National Practitioners
Forum. During the National Practitioners Forum,
over 40 practitioners identified promising practices
for the six fundamental actions of media literacy in
early childhood. These practitioners represented
early childhood learning settings such as libraries,
museums, and school-, center-, and home-
based programs. The practitioners identified the
knowledge and experiences educators need to
model and teach media literacy skills to children and
their families.
Practitioners should embed media literacy across
curricula and in current, daily interactions and
practices. Practitioners do not need to squeeze in a
new curriculum in order to support media literacy for
the children they serve. Librarian and practitioner
participant Claudia Haines explained, “These aren’t
lesson plans. They’re moments.” The majority of
these tips and activities may be used in all child
settings including: library, museum, and school-,
center-, and home-based programs.
Throughout the National Practitioners Forum,
participants came up with many practices that
should be woven into all of the six fundamental
action-related practices. These common practices
include prioritizing child development, valuing
the adult’s role, and realizing that practice is
influenced by culture.
Of course, as early childhood practitioners, it is
imperative to prioritize child development first.
During implementation, this means arranging
activities that are developmentally appropriate
and that do not expect children to think and act
beyond their abilities. This prioritization of child
development must be reflected in all practice,
regardless of the area of education and pedagogy.
Another practice that is common across all media
literacy actions is the valuing of the adults’ role, both
the caregivers’ and practitioners’. The adults’ role is
to model and provide opportunities to learn, which
includes sometimes taking a step back and allowing
children to explore without verbal or physical
intervening. In media literacy, this can look like adults
reflecting on their own media use and how they are
modeling appropriate behavior while encouraging
children to take the six fundamental actions.
The final practice that should be applied across
all media literacy actions is realizing that practice
is influenced by culture. Practitioners reflect their
culture through their practice, and practitioners
must take into consideration the child’s culture while
engaging with that child. Cultural considerations are
included for each of the six actions in this Media
Literacy in Early Childhood Implementation Plan.
Six Fundamental Actions
of Media Literacy
Access page 16
2
Engage and Explore page 18
3
Comprehend page 22
4
Critically Inquire page 25
5
Evaluate page 28
6
Create page 31
16 | Erikson Institute | Media Literacy in Early Childhood Report
Access
Definition
Access: to eectively locate, use, and select media
Supporting Skills
1a. Manipulate the tools eectively and eciently
1b. Understand the features of a given piece of media or digital tool, including a sense of how it may
make them feel or whether it helps them learn and grow
1c. Critically think about why they are choosing media and for what purpose
1d. Seek help and assistance from caregivers, librarians, and other educators who serve as media mentors,
providing access and use of media, technology, or other digital tools
Tips for Adults
• Curate high quality, educational media for children to learn uses of tools and media that nurtures joint
media engagement.
• Develop a system such as a loaning library for sharing tools, devices, and materials with other libraries,
museums, practitioners, and educators.
• Create a network of media mentors for yourself and for the children you serve. Media mentors are those
who help and teach others how to engage with and choose media.
• Provide multiple entry points into a game, activity, or tool. For example, if the activity is to create
a book, provide many tools for children to create with such as cameras, voice recording devices,
a book creating app, paper and crayons. Providing many tools can support children gaining experience
with a variety of tools.
• Encourage children to teach adults how to use media and technology, especially apps and artificial
intelligence.
Activities
ACCESS ACTIVITY 1: Create a low-risk environment for children to
learn how to use and select technologies such as makerspaces, STEM
activities, or a technology “petting zoo.” Allow children to explore these
spaces and materials without requiring a specific product as an outcome.
AGES: All
CONTEXT: Museum, Library,
School/Center-Based Program
SUPPORTING SKILLS: 1a, 1b
ACCESS ACTIVITY 2: Build or make a physical place for adults and older
children to model how to use, select, critically and thoughtfully question,
and manipulate tools and provide opportunities for children to recreate
the modeled practices.
AGES: All
CONTEXT: Museum, Library,
School/Center-Based Program
SUPPORTING SKILLS: 1a, 1b, 1d
Media Literacy in Early Childhood Implementation Plan: Access
17 | Erikson Institute | Media Literacy in Early Childhood Report
ACCESS ACTIVITY 3: Discuss common symbols, colors, and images
from the media and their culturally relevant meanings. Show pictures
of signs from their
neighborhoods including
transportation, grocery
store and park signs. For infants and toddlers, begin this practice by
labeling symbols, colors, and images.
AGES: All
CONTEXT: Museum, School/
Center-Based Program, Home
SUPPORTING SKILLS: 1a
ACCESS ACTIVITY 4: When using devices with many choices of content
such as tablets, support the learning of the tools by choosing to have
one app open/available at a time. This will allow children to focus on
mastering one activity at a time. For example, there are many apps which
can enable book making. Choose one so that children can master this
one app without becoming overwhelmed by choice.
AGES: 3-4, 5-6, 7-8
CONTEXT: All
SUPPORTING SKILLS: 1a
ACCESS ACTIVITY 5: Assign media mentors in your class/program. Media
mentors could be older children, children who are more experienced
with technology and media, or children who are more comfortable
taking risks and tinkering with technology and media. Introduce “media
mentor” as a job which may change each week. Encourage children to
ask the media mentor for help before asking an adult.
AGES: 3-4, 5-6, 7-8
CONTEXT: School/Center-
Based Program
SUPPORTING SKILLS: 1d
ACCESS ACTIVITY 6: Pose questions for children to answer by allowing
them to select from available media such as books, information
pamphlets, digital media devices, etc. Make sure to include a range
of media that has been designed for dierent ages and levels of
comprehension. Discuss which media they used to find information and
how to use each available media to find the information. For example,
for an information pamphlet for adults, point out the type size, word
lengths, and images to explain why it is for adults or older children and
the need to ask an adult or older child for help to use that media.
AGES: 3-4, 5-6, 7-8
CONTENT: School/Center-
Based Program
SUPPORTING SKILLS: 1b, 1c
Cultural Considerations
There are many cultural considerations which aect the media children have access to, how they access
media, and how the adults in their lives perceive the role of media. Practitioners must gain information about
the families served, such as media and technology experiences, access, expectations, and typical media
practices. Practitioners can obtain this information by creating a survey or hosting family focus groups and
interviews with caregivers or by asking some general questions of caregivers.
When implementing access tips and activities, it’s important to utilize tools that families already have
(e.g., smartphone, Facetime, and the games they play) or tools they can easily access such as tools through an
existing loaning library or free wifi. It’s also incredibly important to understand the caregivers’ values, goals, and
perceptions of media access for their children. This should guide the teaching and supporting of media literacy.
Media Literacy in Early Childhood Implementation Plan: Access
18 | Erikson Institute | Media Literacy in Early Childhood Report
2
Engage and Explore
Definition
Engage and Explore: to intentionally use media for purpose and enjoyment
Supporting Skills
2a. Explore and engage with content of media in ways that gives them a sense of agency and control
2b. Follow curiosities and develop a flexible, growth-mindset while playing with technology through open-
ended exploration, embracing opportunities to take risks and fail
2c. Engage in social play and exploration to learn from and with others when using media or technology tools
Tips for Adults
• Don’t expect children to be media experts or engage and explore with overt purpose right away. Slow
down. Pause. Give children space. This is very important.
• Support questioning throughout exploration and engagement. Acknowledge and value children’s
questioning. Model questioning language while using picture books and stories.
• Recognize intrinsic motivation by avoiding awards and points.
• Try to use some guided discovery teaching techniques, such as modeling student ideas and sharing
exploratory work, while designing engagement and exploration.
• Align the materials provided to the learning goals.
• Explore how engagement impacts the experience and use of the tool.
• Encourage the use of media as tools to connect to others. When choosing media to incorporate, assess
how collaborative the media type is and what it was designed for.
• Incorporate media into traditional early childhood activities such as sensory stations and dramatic play. Allow
children to take apart old technology tools or destroyed books as a sensory experience. In the dramatic play
area, incorporate a digital camera for children to take pictures and videos throughout their play.
• Support families too. Create “I wonder” cards which contain open-ended prompts for caregivers to
support their children’s engagement and exploration.
• Give caregivers an opportunity to learn about “cognitive load”, a term in the learning sciences that refers
to the total amount of mental activity that the brain can manage at a given time.
Activities
ENGAGE AND EXPLORE ACTIVITY 1: One way to introduce print or
screen media into playtime at early ages is to verbally label and draw
connections. Point out a familiar concept or element in the media
and name it such as “bus”, “dog”, “Mom”, etc. Additionally, vocalize
a connection between the 3D world to 2D media for example, a
stued elephant in the room and an elephant in a book. Labeling and
mentioning these connections to a child may be the first step to the child
incorporating media elements into their exploration.
AGES: 0-2
CONTEXT: School/Center-
Based, Home
SUPPORTING SKILLS: 2a, 2c
Media Literacy in Early Childhood Implementation Plan: Engage and Explore
19 | Erikson Institute | Media Literacy in Early Childhood Report
ENGAGE AND EXPLORE ACTIVITY 2: Enable video chats during a whole
group time. Libraries, School/Center-Based, and Home-Based Programs
can use video chat to connect with professional experts, authors and
illustrators, and partake in virtual tours in zoos and museums. Learn how
Brooklyn Public Library’s TeleStory program utilizes televisiting, or video
conferencing, to connect incarcerated caregivers with children.
AGES: All
CONTEXT: Library, School/
Center-Based Program, Home
SUPPORTING SKILLS: 2a, 2c
ACTIVITY 3: Allow children to take apart old technology tools or
destroyed books as a sensory play experience. For infants and toddlers,
this can be destroyed books of various materials or broken keyboards.
For preschool-age children, this can be technologies such as VCR tapes,
broken digital cameras or broken robotics. For school-age children, this
can be technologies such as broken computers or music players. For
all ages, provide examples of the tool not destroyed or taken apart so
children can see that the tool can be made as well as taken apart. The
Huntington Branch Library’s (Shelton, Connecticut) Computer Part Art
Program Model is one specific model for libraries and museums.
AGES: All
CONTEXT: Library, Museum,
School/Center-Based Program,
Home
SUPPORTING SKILLS: 2a, 2b
ENGAGE AND EXPLORE ACTIVITY 4: Incorporate child-led coding
activities with and without technology. With technology may include
coding with programmable robotics such as Code-a-Pillar and Ozobots
or coding with apps such as Scratch Jr. Learn about Gombert Elementary
School Library’s (Aurora, Illinois) Maker Monsters program where
children create and program their own robotic monsters. Without
technology, children can code an adult to dance or to make a peanut
butter and jelly sandwich.
AGES: 3-4, 5-6, 7-8
CONTEXT: Museum, Library,
School/Center-Based, Home
SUPPORTING SKILLS: 2a, 2b, 2c
ENGAGE AND EXPLORE ACTIVITY 5: Combine digital and non-digital
media throughout storytime. Utilizing e-books, apps such as Book
Creator, DoodleCast, and reading e-books created by the children
and their families can diversify storytime while exposing children to
more ways to read, hear, and create stories. For School/Center-Based
Programs, and reoccuring storytime programs such as Prime Time
Family Reading Time, ask children and their families to create a book
using multiple types of media, and share their book at storytime with
other children and families. Want to try something new? Films, videos,
and podcasts are also ways to tell read, hear, and create stories.
AGES: 3-4, 5-6, 7-8
CONTEXT: Library, School/
Center-Based Program, Home
SUPPORTING SKILLS: 2a
Media Literacy in Early Childhood Implementation Plan: Engage and Explore
20 | Erikson Institute | Media Literacy in Early Childhood Report
ENGAGE AND EXPLORE ACTIVITY 6: Scaold mixed media exploration
opportunities by having children solve a challenge using many types of
media. Provide books, magazines, tablets which contain apps, printed
photographs, and field guides for children to find and use information in
their exploration. Challenge children to use media to create a boat that
floats or a ball that rolls down a ramp. Encourage children to take risks
and recognize that failing is part of learning.
AGES: 5-6, 7-8
CONTEXT: Library, Museum,
School/Center-Based Program
SUPPORTING SKILLS: 2a, 2b
ENGAGE AND EXPLORE ACTIVITY 7: Add stop motion animation to
playtime. Stop motion animation includes using props such as clay,
puppets, or blocks and combining pictures taken of the props to form
a movie such as the famous films, Coraline, Chicken Run, and James
and The Giant Peach. Children can learn about stop motion animation
while playing with various apps and props and take on roles and
responsibilities while playing with other children. Read about Evansville
(Ind.) Vanderburgh Public Library’s Pixilation Animation Technique
program model.
AGES: 5-6, 7-8
CONTEXT: All
SUPPORTING SKILLS: 2a, 2b, 2c
ENGAGE AND EXPLORE ACTIVITY 8: Host a family night for families to
explore together. Include intergenerational activities such as creating
family photo albums, books, and oral histories using various types of
media. Encourage families to share, play, and learn together. Learn about
PBS KIDS’ Family Creative Learning program as a model for creating
engaging family exploration experiences.
AGES: 5-6, 7-8
CONTEXT: All
SUPPORTING SKILLS: 2a, 2c
ENGAGE AND EXPLORE ACTIVITY 9: Build children’s sense of agency by
giving them more control over their exploration time. Provide media
materials to be used but allow children to create their own rules.
Encourage children to work together to negotiate throughout the
rule-making process. For example, if there are tablets, allow children to
discuss the turn-taking and sharing rules. Should each child be allowed
to explore one app for five minutes? If two children are exploring with an
app together, should they be allowed to explore for 10 minutes?
AGES: 7-8
CONTEXT: School/Center-
Based Program
SUPPORTING SKILLS: 2c
ENGAGE AND EXPLORE ACTIVITY 10: Use media engagement to sustain
communication and relationships. In ongoing programs such as School/
Center-Based Programs, use activities such as Flat Stanley and postcards
from pen pals to support collaboration and engagement across distance.
AGES: 7-8
CONTEXT: School/Center-
Based Programs
SUPPORTING SKILLS: 2c
Media Literacy in Early Childhood Implementation Plan: Engage and Explore
21 | Erikson Institute | Media Literacy in Early Childhood Report
Cultural Considerations
Early childhood practitioners must consider cultural aspects of young children’s engagement and
exploration with media. Ensure that there are diverse media mentors who can model and support media
engagement and exploration with young children. Include diverse print and digital collections that reflect
culturally pluralistic society. Additionally, ensure caregivers are valued and seen as partners by not only
considering the school/library/museum/center-to-home connection, but also thinking about the home-
to- school/library/museum/center connection. How do the child’s family’s values, beliefs, and experiences
impact the child’s engagement and exploration with media in this context? Cultural aspects such as gender
roles and stereotypes impact how families engage and explore with media together. Include families in the
implementation of media engagement and exploration through various activities, such as games that are
nostalgic and familiar to caregivers.
Media Literacy in Early Childhood Implementation Plan: Engage and Explore
22 | Erikson Institute | Media Literacy in Early Childhood Report
3
Comprehend
Definition
Comprehend: to understand media messages and practices and transfer that knowledge appropriately
Supporting Skills
3a. Interpret content and utilize information gathered while using media
3b. Transfer information gathered from one media source or technology tool to another
3c. Understand commonly used visual, editorial, and technology design processes to communicate
information (e.g., cuts, zooms, weblinks, etc.)
Tips for Adults
• Remember that processing and understanding media is hard for children and takes cognitive eort
and while it may look like children are understanding what they are engaging with, often times they are
not fully grasping the content.
• Slow the media use down and explain what is happening in terms of storyline and content but also
what is being done with regard to the development of the media (e.g, special eects, etc.) to help the
child better understand the content.
• Allow and encourage repetition, letting the child use the same media a few times to help them process
and understand the content.
• Talk about the content with the children in the way you would when joint book reading.
• Talk about the ways the media was created and what parts of what they are using/seeing is realistic
and what is pretend or fake.
• Explain why you are choosing a certain type of media and when children choose media ask them
why they are choosing that type.
• Encourage children to integrate their favorite media characters into their play by providing them books,
music, and toys that are related to that character (i.e. MANGA comics, Disney characters, etc.).
Activities
COMPREHEND ACTIVITY 1: Incorporate books into free play and dramatic
play spaces. Allow children to use information such as storylines, images,
and characters from the books into their play. Provide blocks, costumes,
and/or dolls which relate to those books. Ask questions about the book
children are reading and allow them time to engage with the book many
times in order to notice more details.
AGES: All
CONTEXT: Library, Museum,
School/Center-Based
SUPPORTING SKILLS: 3a, 3b
Media Literacy in Early Childhood Implementation Plan: Comprehend
23 | Erikson Institute | Media Literacy in Early Childhood Report
COMPREHEND ACTIVITY 2: Encourage children to reenact parts of a book
or a video clip. Discuss what it means when a book or video clip switch
between scenes. For instance, if a book shows a queen in a room, and
then standing outside of a castle, discuss how they could reenact that by
having two scenes such as the inside of the castle, and a door that leads
to the outside of the castle. In a museum, an exhibit that relates to media
such as a popular children’s author or story, could have a book or video
clip, as well as the life-size scenes. For the youngest children, having an
adult connect the life-size scene to the media may serve as the first step
to understanding cuts in digital media. Allow time for the children to
absorb the concept.
AGES: All
CONTEXT: Museum, School/
Center-Based
SUPPORTING SKILLS: 3c
COMPREHEND ACTIVITY 3: Introduce the idea of “types of media” by
showing children examples of media they may engage with regularly
such as a news segment on television, a nature documentary, or a
commercial that targets children. Ask children questions to build their
awareness of the dierent types of media such as what each type of
media is, where they see it, and who watches or engages with that type
of media. In a library or museum setting, provide prompts around the
space which encourages these questions and labeling for caregivers and
practitioners.
AGES: 3-4, 5-6, 7-8
CONTEXT: Library, Museum,
School/Center-Based
SUPPORTING SKILLS: 3a
COMPREHEND ACTIVITY 4: Provide a space for children to experience the
construction of commonly used visual, editorial, and technology design
processes such as cuts and zooms. Have children create a video, and
they can use technology tools to create cuts and zooms in their video.
Show them examples of a video that also has a “behind the scenes” or
uncut edit.
AGES: 3-4, 5-6, 7-8
CONTEXT: Library, Museum,
School/Center-Based
SUPPORTING SKILLS: 3c
COMPREHEND ACTIVITY 5: Divide children into groups, teams, or pairs
for a group research project. For example, if children are interested
in trucks, they can divide into groups and research dierent aspects
of trucks such as truck-related jobs, types of trucks, etc. Children can
document their findings using various types of media such as crayons
and paper, voice recording, hand-writing, or typing notes using a tablet.
Groups can present their findings and bring their findings together to
create one culminating understanding of trucks. Lead a conversation
discussing the choices they made while creating media.
AGES: 3-4, 5-6, 7-8
CONTEXT: School/Center-
Based
SUPPORTING SKILLS: 3a, 3b
Media Literacy in Early Childhood Implementation Plan: Comprehend
24 | Erikson Institute | Media Literacy in Early Childhood Report
COMPREHEND ACTIVITY 6: Create a place for children to ask questions
and document the answer. This may be an area on the wall titled
something similar to “What we’ve learned and where we learned it from”.
In a museum setting, create a place for children and families to search
for answers to questions the museum may have not addressed. This is
an opportunity for children to not only document their findings from
multiple sources, but is also an opportunity for children to contribute to
the knowledge and content of the library, museum, or school/center.
AGES: 5-6, 7-8
CONTEXT: Library, Museum,
School/Center-Based
SUPPORTING SKILLS: 3a, 3b
Cultural Considerations
For the action of comprehension, there are many cultural aspects an early childhood practitioner must
consider. Much of media content being developed is being created by non-diverse creators and often
times does not reflect the lives of diverse populations. This can be seen in the lack of representation of
diverse characters as well as the focus on western standards of educational content. As a result, we must
recognize that not all children are approaching media with the same background experiences, expectations,
and knowledge base, which may influence their comprehension of the content. Adults must make an
eort to support their understanding and application of that content in the context of each individual child’s
life experience.
Media Literacy in Early Childhood Implementation Plan: Comprehend
25 | Erikson Institute | Media Literacy in Early Childhood Report
4
Critically Inquire
Definition
Critically Inquire: to question and analyze media messages
Supporting Skills
4a. Demonstrate knowledge of the inquiry process which includes posing questions, seeking information
from a variety of sources, asking for evidence and providing evidence for their own conclusions,
interpreting and analyzing information, and documenting
4b. Decipher the elements that make media accurate, appropriate, reliable, fact/fiction, real, and/or pretend
4c. Consider media’s point of view and potential bias and critically question the development of media
content
4d. Inquire about media’s intended audiences and the impact of media on dierent people
Tips for Adults
• Create an environment of respect and safety to question the representations of media including the
questioning of media creators as well as the assumptions, beliefs, norms, and stereotypes portrayed by
the media.
• Document and showcase children’s process of questioning, seeking, and being curious.
• Model that a reliable answer may not be available.
• While engaging in the inquiry process, remain present to the child. Explain what you are doing when using
media.
• Provide a variety of media, including print and digital, for children to use to search for answers.
• Children need a safe place to find answers. Take the time to weigh the pros and cons of limiting children’s
access to search engines and certain media.
• Know that it’s okay to not find the answer and for adults to not have all the answers. The inquiry process is
about exploring many possible answers and not about finding the one right answer.
• For specific questions to ask during inquiry, See Chapter 7, Media Literacy in Early Childhood Education:
Inquiry-Based Technology Integration in Technology and Digital Media in the Early Years (Rogow, 2015, p. 97).
Activities
CRITICALLY INQUIRE ACTIVITY 1: Model identifying sources. Use prompts
such as “I wonder about… We have a book/device to search for that
answer.” Model comparing sources for children. Discuss how certain
sources such as a search engine on the Internet or a voice assistant such
as Apple Siri, Amazon Alexa, or Google Assistant, could be useful while
looking up very broad, open-ended questions, while if you’re searching
for specific information that you know is in a book, the book may be a
better choice to search first.
AGES: All
CONTEXT: All
SUPPORTING SKILLS: 4b
Media Literacy in Early Childhood Implementation Plan: Critically Inquire
26 | Erikson Institute | Media Literacy in Early Childhood Report
CRITICALLY INQUIRE ACTIVITY 2: Guide investigation by facilitating
the brainstorm of how and where to find answers. Encourage the use
of multiple types of media. Utilize the following questions to guide
investigation: What are your observations? Are there multiple answers?
What’s similar in all these answers? Where can we get more information?
What other questions could we ask? Who else has researched this? In
museums and libraries, provide caregivers the questions prompts to
share with their child.
AGES: All
CONTEXT: All
SUPPORTING SKILLS: 4a, 4b, 4c
CRITICALLY INQUIRE ACTIVITY 3: Support children’s questioning by
providing a systematic way to develop questions such as the Question
Formulation Technique. Provide children with a topic they have
expressed interest in and allow them a specific amount of time such as
five or ten minutes to ask and record as many questions as possible.
Children can work as groups or with family members to ask and record
questions. Stimulate thoughtful questions by explaining the dierences
between open- and closed-ended questions as well as the aordances of
the two types of questions. Facilitate discussion about the priorities and
complexities of the questions, as well as the possible next steps for using
the questions.
AGES: 3-4, 5-6, 7-8
CONTEXT: All
SUPPORTING SKILLS: 4a
CRITICALLY INQUIRE ACTIVITY 4: Showcase children’s questioning and
seeking by documenting their questions throughout the day and
designating a time of day, or part of routine when the questions can be
revisited and next steps discussed. Create a “Question Time” after a
meal or snack. In libraries, schools and center-based programs, families
can document children’s questions at home and submit the questions
during the program. Caregivers often become overwhelmed by all the
questions children ask so encourage caregivers to capture the questions
to show that the questions are valued.
AGES: All
CONTEXT: Library, School/
Center-Based, Home
SUPPORTING SKILLS: 4a
CRITICALLY INQUIRE ACTIVITY 5: Utilize the media already used with
young children. Discuss what elements make media accurate and how
to check if the information is accurate. With younger children, provide
them with cues such as “books in this one section of the bookshelf are
fantasy” and for older children, the cue may be about trusting certain
well known websites, government resources, or trusted authors, as well
as checking multiple sources. Facilitate questioning of media sources
by discussing the intended purposes. In museums, this could be set up
as a station challenging families to discuss and question if sources are
accurate or not.
AGES: 3-4, 5-6, 7-8
CONTEXT: All
SUPPORTING SKILLS: 4b
Media Literacy in Early Childhood Implementation Plan: Critically Inquire
27 | Erikson Institute | Media Literacy in Early Childhood Report
CRITICALLY INQUIRE ACTIVITY 6: Lead a discussion exploring the
messages of media children see everyday such as ads visible during
neighborhood walks, children’s media including commercials, ads in
apps, and even on children’s apparel. Facilitate discussion using open-
ended questions such as: What is this media telling me? How do you
know? Should I believe it? Why? Is some piece of information missing?
Should it tell me more or less information? Why?
AGES: 3-4, 5-6, 7-8
CONTEXT: All
SUPPORTING SKILLS: 4b, 4c
CRITICALLY INQUIRE ACTIVITY 7: Throughout the use of children’s media,
mention the presence of stereotypes and biases. Create a conversation
first by providing many accurate representations of people, places,
and experiences in media for young children. As children grow, start a
conversation about representation accuracy, stereotypes, and biases.
Encourage children to form the habit of questioning representation,
the viewpoint of the creators(s) and the implications. Additionally, ask
children how the representations make them feel when media does and
doesn’t represent them, their family, their experiences, and their friends
accurately.
AGES: 3-4, 5-6, 7-8
CONTEXT: All
SUPPORTING SKILLS: 4b, 4c
Cultural Considerations
Throughout the inquiry process, there are many cultural implications that early childhood practitioners
must consider. The action and habit of questioning authority and media is not universal for all cultures.
Families from across the United States, as well as across the world have their own experiences with authority
and media. Thus, for many children and families, to encourage the questioning of authority and media,
specifically the questioning of media representations and those creating the representations, may be counter
to the child and family’s experiences and beliefs. Support families while they compare their values and
beliefs to those portrayed by various media sources. Support families’ awareness of stereotypes portrayed
by the media and how they could continue the conversation with their children. Additionally, in some
cultures, children are not seen as the expert, but through the inquiry process, it is possible that children may
know more than adults about a topic such as boats or dinosaurs. Caregivers may need extra support while
navigating the inquiry process if they believe they should always be the expert. It’s okay to not know the
answer and to see this experience as an opportunity for children to lead the investigation.
Media Literacy in Early Childhood Implementation Plan: Critically Inquire
28 | Erikson Institute | Media Literacy in Early Childhood Report
5
Evaluate
Definition
Evaluate: to ask “is this media right for me or my task?”
Supporting Skills
5a. Identify and compare types of media sources
5b. Choose media that matches and supports their goal/task
5c. Understand that a media source is reliable for one thing is not necessarily reliable for everything
5d. Reflect on their experiences with media
Tips for Adults
• Prioritize learning about children and family privacy rights. Children’s safety and privacy are incredibly
important. When caregivers have an understanding of privacy rights and the importance of data privacy
to a child’s security, they can take steps to inquire about how their child’s data is being used and change
settings on various games and apps so that data is only used with a caregivers’ permission.
• Support evaluation of many types of media including books, magazines, ads intended for children, as well
as apps, television programs, and other screen-based media.
• Show caregivers how to use the device prior to expecting them to evaluate the content. Create and
provide caregivers documents and information which support their evaluation of media including
indicators of high quality and developmental appropriateness, and information about in-app purchases
and children and family privacy rights. Additionally, discuss with caregivers what it means to share
information about their child and the uncertainty of what and how technology companies use that data.
Activities
EVALUATE ACTIVITY 1: In order for children to be able to evaluate media,
they must have exposure to dierent types of media. Provide many
types and types of media for children, but also identify and compare
types of media. Label “print media”, “television”, “video game”, “music”,
etc. Notice and discuss how print media and digital media are similar
and dierent. Compare visual-only (print ads) and auditory-only (music)
media. In museums, libraries, and school/center-based programs, add
labels including symbols and words indicating the type of media on
technology devices, shelves or bins.
AGES: All
CONTEXT: All
SUPPORTING SKILLS: 5a
EVALUATE ACTIVITY 2: Evaluate books during storytime. Allow children to
choose a book to read and invite adults to discuss why the book choice is or
isn’t developmentally appropriate. Facilitate discussion about what children
like about books and don’t enjoy about certain books. What makes a
book “just right” for one child and not for another child? What elements
in a book support discussion and engagement? You could repeat similar
discussions for other media, like apps, games, movies, or short videos.
AGES: 3-4, 5-6, 7-8
CONTEXT: Library, School/
Center-Based, Home
SUPPORTING SKILLS: 5b, 5d
Media Literacy in Early Childhood Implementation Plan: Evaluate
29 | Erikson Institute | Media Literacy in Early Childhood Report
EVALUATE ACTIVITY 3: Help children pinpoint and label what feelings
they have surrounding an experience with a piece of media. Children
could take pictures of themselves with dierent facial expressions to
represent emotions such as joy, sad, scared, mad, etc. Practitioners
could also provide images of emojis which represent emotions. Children
can utilize these images to support the labeling of their feelings during
media use. Engage in discussion with your child as to why they may or
may not enjoy the media content. Encourage and empower children to
form a habit of labeling their feelings throughout viewing, playing, and
engaging with media.
AGES: 3-4, 5-6, 7-8
CONTEXT: All
SUPPORTING SKILLS: 5d
EVALUATE ACTIVITY 4: While engaging in ads intended for children,
facilitate children’s understanding of the ad. Ask questions such as,
“What are the main messages? How do we know this? What is real and
what is fantasy? Do the people in the ad look like you and your family?
Why might that matter? Who is missing in the ad?”
AGES: 3-4, 5-6, 7-8
CONTEXT: All
SUPPORTING SKILLS: 5c
EVALUATE ACTIVITY 5: With children, create a checklist of what is high
quality and “just right for me” digital media. Facilitate discussion about
reading level, adult-only words and images, and the pace of the media.
Provide guidance for what children should do when the media is not
appropriate such as closing the app, talking to an adult, or closing their
eyes and covering their ears.
AGES: 3-4, 5-6, 7-8
CONTEXT: All
SUPPORTING SKILLS: 5b, 5d
EVALUATE ACTIVITY 6: Model comparing sources and possible varying
answers of sources. Challenge children to see how many dierent
answers there are to questions they pose. Analyze how each answer is
similar or dierent and connect this to the reliability of the source. For an
example, while learning about planets, an older book may say that Pluto
is a planet, while another source may not mention Pluto. Discuss how
the age of the source impacts the accuracy of the information and the
reliability of the source.
AGES: 5-6, 7-8
CONTEXT: All
SUPPORTING SKILLS: 5a, 5b, 5c
Media Literacy in Early Childhood Implementation Plan: Evaluate
30 | Erikson Institute | Media Literacy in Early Childhood Report
EVALUATE ACTIVITY 7: Understanding that the makers of media have
perspectives other than the child is an essential part of media literacy.
Support children beginning to understand perspective-taking with a
concrete example. Ask each child to write or voice record one part of
the day when everyone (in the program or class) was together, a time of
the day that you chose ahead of time. This could be snack, circle time, or
storytime. Have each child share what they wrote or recorded. Compare
and contrast the stories. There are elements missing and dierences in
each story but does that mean the story is not true? Discuss this with
the children. Each story, each representation has a perspective. The
perspective may not see or tell everything. Then be sure to help them
connect what they’ve learned to the media they use.
AGES: 5-6, 7-8
CONTEXT: Library, School/
Center-Based, Home
SUPPORTING SKILLS: 5c
EVALUATE ACTIVITY 8: During any media use around young children,
explain why that particular media was chosen. For example, explain the
benefits of choosing a large book during circle time compared to using a
small tablet, or when to use an online search engine compared to the local
print newspaper. When children are using media, point out the benefits
and challenges of the media they are using. For older children, challenge
them to ask and reflect on these decisions themselves.
AGES: 5-6, 7-8
CONTENT: All
SUPPORTING SKILLS: 5b
Cultural Considerations
The ability, knowledge, and the practice of evaluating media is culturally dependent. Each family has their
own priorities, values, and beliefs. One family may believe that the media is more knowledgeable than them
about child rearing while another family may believe that children should have time to use a certain type
of media, even a book, as a distraction. Families and their children will evaluate media based on what they
believe the purpose of media is as well as their beliefs about how children should be using, consuming, and
producing media. Practitioners must take this into consideration while supporting the evaluation of media by
children as well as their families.
Media Literacy in Early Childhood Implementation Plan: Evaluate
31 | Erikson Institute | Media Literacy in Early Childhood Report
6
Create
Definition
Create: to make media with intention
Supporting Skills
6a. See themselves as creators and active influencers of media
6b. Explore, brainstorm, and convey ideas through creation, hacking, remixing, tinkering, and/or destruction
6c. Explain intention of decisions throughout the creation process and reflect on the process after
6d. Connect media content created to the broader world
Tips for Adults
• Create an environment which supports emotional safety, allows space for boredom, as well as provides
freedom to create “mess”.
• Talk with children about the production choices they make. Use the conversation to help them see that
all media are “constructed” (i.e., people make decisions about what to leave out, what to include,
and how to include it).
• Include opportunities for collaboration during the creation process.
• Focus on valuing the creation process and eort rather than a final product.
• Foster a connection between the media they create and the media they consume.
• Help children understand how various platforms may restrict creation such as provided avatars that
may not have options that represent the wide range of diversity of children/people.
• Encourage children to respect others by asking for permission before taking a photo or video
of someone.
Activities
CREATE ACTIVITY 1: Children must have familiarity with various tools
before they can use them to create. Allow children physical and mental
space and time for free play and exploration of media creation tools.
For the youngest children, creating media may look like finger painting,
while older children may be drawing with a stylus on a tablet to create
books or voice recording to create podcasts. At first, provide children
with the materials so that they can explore and see themselves as the
one deciding what to do with the materials.
AGES: All
CONTEXT: All
SUPPORTING SKILLS: 6a, 6b
Media Literacy in Early Childhood Implementation Plan: Create
32 | Erikson Institute | Media Literacy in Early Childhood Report
CREATE ACTIVITY 2: Provide children connections to media creators.
Educate children about producers of media, specifically those who
represent the races, ethnicities, genders, nationalities, religions,
socioeconomic statuses, languages, etc. of the children you serve. Show
children the media produced by that specific person and try to find
information in biographies, children’s books, and other media sources.
Introduce children to the title of the media producers and creators.
If available and able, ask the creator to join virtually during a video
interview! Children can ask them questions and engage in conversation
about media creation.
AGES: All
CONTEXT: All
SUPPORTING SKILLS: 6a, 6d
CREATE ACTIVITY 3: Provide opportunities to make creation more
relevant by asking children to draw connections to their experiences
at home or with their family. This could include creating a book about
a routine with family at home or including voice recording of family
members. For younger children, caregivers may help the child voice
record talking about a routine or toy from home.
AGES: All
CONTEXT: All
SUPPORTING SKILLS: 6b
CREATE ACTIVITY 4: Ask children to create a new character from a
familiar book, television program, app, etc. Children can explore and
create what that character would sound like, look like, and act like.
Children can use green screen and props to create a scene with their new
character. Support reflection by asking about their decision-making
process. Why did they make the new character an animal, a human, an
alien? Is the character friends with the other characters? Why or why
not? What does the character’s voice (low or high pitched) or their
accent or the language they speak tell others about their character?
AGES: 3-4, 5-6, 7-8
CONTEXT: Library, Museum,
School/Center-Based
Programs
SUPPORTING SKILLS: 6b, 6c
CREATE ACTIVITY 5: Support authorship. Encourage children to include
an authorship piece to their creation. Children can add an author page to
their book, or a creator piece to their video, ad, piece of re-mixed music,
etc. Use the accurate titles such as “author,” “publisher,” “illustrator,”
etc. The ownership/authorship piece could include an explanation of
decisions throughout the creation process and artistic direction.
AGES: 3-4, 5-6, 7-8
CONTEXT: All
SUPPORTING SKILLS: 6a, 6c
Media Literacy in Early Childhood Implementation Plan: Create
33 | Erikson Institute | Media Literacy in Early Childhood Report
CREATE ACTIVITY 6: All media is constructed. Children need to be
explicitly told this. They are participants in a larger media ecosystem.
Help children articulate and identify the choices they make and reflect
upon the process. Ask children questions such as, How does the picture
you took help you do that? Are there other pictures you could include
that would help you communicate your message?” What do you want
to communicate?” Compare the media children create to similar media
produced for the mass public. Discuss the similarities and dierences in
the construction and decisions made by the creators.
AGES: 5-6. 7-8
CONTEXT: All
SUPPORTING SKILLS: 6c, 6d
CREATE ACTIVITY 7: Assign classroom jobs such as camera-person,
videographer, documentarian, and journalist. Each week, dierent
children can have the opportunity to contribute to the weekly or
monthly e-newsletter for caregivers. The camera-person can take
photos, the videographer or documentarian can record videos, while the
journalist can voice-record the classroom events, schedule, or interview
classmates. Include a conversation with children about their media-
making choices. Extend learning by discussing and comparing these jobs
to related adult careers and their impact on media.
AGES: 5-6, 7-8
CONTEXT: School/Center-
Based
SUPPORTING SKILLS: 6a, 6d
Cultural Considerations
Practitioners must take into consideration the cultural value of child-created media. Children creating media
is not just playing with paint for enjoyment, but is an opportunity for children to view themselves as an agent
influencing how others act and feel as a result of something they create. Every piece of media should be
valued as an artifact and a product of free speech.
Media Literacy in Early Childhood Implementation Plan: Create
34 | Erikson Institute | Media Literacy in Early Childhood Report
Sustaining the Work of Media Literacy
Education in Early Childhood
At the Media Literacy in Early Childhood Practitioners
Forum, Jan O’Brien, educator in the Chicago area,
said “We all own a piece of this and we can all
make great things happen in the future with
media literacy and young children.” Caregivers,
practitioners, community and organization leaders,
researchers, and policy-influencers all have a stake
in impacting young children’s media literacy. All
who serve young children hold an opportunity to
challenge and overcome barriers which stand in
the way of implementing media literacy education.
These barriers are woven throughout a child’s
ecosystem, from their immediate setting at a
museum or library; to the training and education
of practitioners, administrators and leaders; and to
systemic barriers of policy, research, and societal
values and beliefs about media literacy, child
development, and early education. While there
are many barriers which impact media literacy
education everyday, there are also many existing
solutions and opportunities to create needed
solutions.
The intention of Sustaining the Work is two-fold.
First, to name the current barriers and provide
existing solutions including further readings,
research, and tips. Second, Sustaining the Work
provides “Needed Solutions” which serve as
solutions to advocate for by caregivers, practitioners,
community and organization leaders, researchers,
and policy-influencers.
Current Barriers to Media Literacy in Early Childhood
See pages 35-44.
Lack of resources and support for practitioners
2
Lack of resources and support for caregivers
3
Disconnected caregiver-practitioner relationship
4
Practitioners not trained or not confident in their media literacy practice
5
Lack of support for administration and leadership
6
Lack of inclusivity and reach in the media literacy movement
7
Lack of policies
8
Insucient funding
9
Lack of research
Low value of media literacy, child development, and early education
35 | Erikson Institute | Media Literacy in Early Childhood Report
Current Barrier
Lack of resources and support for practitioners
Practitioners cannot implement media literacy education without access to high quality resources, including
frameworks, curriculum, lesson plans, and activities to support them getting started, as well as concrete
examples such as how-to videos to model teaching media literacy. Additionally, practitioners need support
from colleagues, administration and leadership, as well as from those who are implementing media literacy
in dierent settings.
There are many existing readings, curricula, lesson plans, activities and quick tip sheets to support the
implementation of media literacy for practitioners serving children 8 years old and older. Resources for older
children often don’t meet the developmental needs of young children, so practitioners need resources which
are developmentally appropriate for the children they serve. Needed solutions include a physical place, either
virtually or in person, where practitioners can see someone else model these practices, as well as a
strengthening of support from administration and leadership and colleagues, as well as from those who are
implementing media literacy in other settings.
Existing Solutions Needed Solutions
Readings
• A Teacher’s Guide to Media Literacy: by Cyndy
Scheibe and Faith Rogow
• Technology and Digital Media in the Early Years:
Tools for teaching and learning, edited by Chip
Donohue
Standards and policy statements
• NAEYC and Fred Rogers Center joint position
statement, Technology and Interactive Media
as Tools in Early Childhood Programs Serving
Children from Birth through Age 8
• ISTE Student Standards for Digital Citizenship
Curricula, lesson plans, and activities
• Teaching Tolerance (Starts at Kindergarten)
• Teaching for Change (Starts at Pre-K)
Quick guides and tip sheets
• Media Literacy is Early Childhood Tips for
Practitioners by TEC Center (in Appendix)
• Evaluating Apps and New Media for Young
Children: A Rubric, created by Claudia Haines
• KIDMAP DIG Diversity and Inclusion Checklist,
developed by Claudia Haines and KIDMAP
A place to see and practice
• A physical space in person for practitioners
to model how to implement media literacy, as
well as opportunities to recreate the modeled
practices
• A catalogue of short webinars discussing
practice
• A catalogue of videos modeling media literacy
practices with young children
Support from others
• Support from colleagues, administrators and
leadership with open communication
• Collaboration with cross-setting practitioners
Sustaining the Work of Media Literacy Education in Early Childhood
36 | Erikson Institute | Media Literacy in Early Childhood Report
Current Barrier
2
Lack of resources and support for caregivers
In order for caregivers to continue media literacy education at home and throughout a child’s life, caregivers
need a wealth of resources and support. Unlike other subjects taught today, most caregivers did not grow
up learning about media literacy, especially digital media literacy. For children to be media literate, their
caregivers also need to practice media literacy and that cannot happen without sucient resources and
support.
In order to overcome this barrier, quick guides and tip sheets must be created so caregivers can learn about
media literacy and how to support their children’s media literacy. In addition to the quick guides and tip sheets,
caregivers must have opportunities to become and grow as a media mentor.
Existing Solutions Needed Solutions
Readings
• Building Healthy Relationships with Media: A
Parent’s Guide to Media Literacy by NAMLE
• NAEYC.org Play resources which includes tips
on supporting young children’s play
Quick guides and tip sheets
• Media Literacy in Early Childhood Tip Sheet for
Caregivers by TEC Center (in Appendix)
• Evaluating Apps and New Media for Young
Children: A Rubric, created by Claudia Haines
• KIDMAP DIG Diversity and Inclusion Checklist,
developed by Claudia Haines and KIDMAP at
joinkidmap.org/digchecklist
Quick guides and tip sheets
• Quick guides and tips sheets printed as well as
available online which includes tips, activities,
open-ended prompts and language for
caregivers to use
Opportunities to become a media mentor
• A series of media literacy 101 videos or short
webinars intended for caregivers
• An increase in programs, similar to Tech Goes
Home, which supports caregivers’ identity as a
strong media mentor
• Increase opportunities for caregivers to be
included in creating media
Sustaining the Work of Media Literacy Education in Early Childhood
37 | Erikson Institute | Media Literacy in Early Childhood Report
Current Barrier
3
Disconnected caregiver-practitioner relationship
Practitioners and caregivers must work together to ensure media literacy is not only being implemented
in the “educational” setting such as in schools, museums, libraries, child care centers, etc., but is also being
implemented at home. Practitioners and caregivers both play important roles in the child’s development and
learning so they must work together, collaboratively, valuing each other’s experiences and knowledge, in
order to support the child fully.
There are many communication opportunities for practitioners and caregivers. However, the key to a
connected and attuned relationship is respect and value for the other’s culture, beliefs, experience,
knowledge, and availability, among others. Both practitioners and caregivers need support and resources to
create opportunities for best-fit communication.
Existing Solutions Needed Solutions
Communication opportunities
• Tip: Practitioners, include media literacy into
existing “getting to know you” materials such as
a questionnaire or family handbook.
• Practitioners, host a caregiver night to talk
about various media types, including digital
media.
Best-fit communication opportunities
• Culturally responsive education for practitioners
and caregivers
• A quick guide or tip sheet explaining how to
find the best method of communication which
supports availability of both parties and values
both parties’ experience and knowledge
Sustaining the Work of Media Literacy Education in Early Childhood
38 | Erikson Institute | Media Literacy in Early Childhood Report
Current Barrier
4
Practitioners not trained or not confident
in their media literacy practice
Most practitioners who are trained to work with young children have never formally been trained for media
literacy education and may not feel confident as a media mentor. Practitioners need support during pre-
service and in-service professional development, as well as resources they could use in the moment in order
to build their identity as a strong media mentor for young children.
There are a minimal number of professional development programs focused on media literacy. The programs
that do exist either focus on general technology implementation, media literacy in a specific setting such as
libraries or in K-12 education at school, or do not focus on media literacy for children younger than 8 years old.
Practitioners need an increase in professional development opportunities.
Existing Solutions Needed Solutions
Professional development programs
• TEC Center’s professional development
program, TEC Mentors
• Peer Coaching Media Mentorship Toolkit, led in
development by Conni Strittmatter, formerly of
Harford County Public Library in Maryland
• Media Literacy Educator Certification by KQED
Readings
• Becoming a Media Mentor: A guide for working
with children and families, by Claudia Haines,
Cen Campbell, and ALSC
• Media Education: Make It Happen! by Media
Smarts
Increase professional development
opportunities
• Include media literacy education in pre-service
education
• Scale up existing in-service programs using
implementation science to reach more
practitioners
• Increase the amount of programs which focus
on informal learning and practitioners serving
children ages 0-8
• Increase the amount of programs which focus
on practitioners creating their identity as strong
media mentor
• Feature media literacy sessions, keynotes, or
workshops at early childhood conferences
Sustaining the Work of Media Literacy Education in Early Childhood
39 | Erikson Institute | Media Literacy in Early Childhood Report
Current Barrier
5
Lack of support for administration and leadership
Highly trained practitioners are only as strong as the administration and leadership that support them.
Administration and leadership are often overlooked as an integral part of media literacy eorts. However,
without their support, the implementation of media literacy practices is incredibly challenging.
An increase of support for administration and leadership is a step towards sustaining the work of media literacy
in early childhood. Administration and leadership must value media literacy education and understand their
role in sustaining these eorts. They must have a plethora of readings and learning opportunities to value and
advocate for media literacy education.
Existing Solutions Needed Solutions
Readings
• Technology and Digital Media in the Early Years:
Tools for teaching and learning, edited by Chip
Donohue
• Digital Play for Global Citizens: A guide from the
Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop
by Jordan Shapiro
• Becoming a Media Mentor: A guide for working
with children and families, by Claudia Haines,
Cen Campbell, and ALSC
Quick guides and tip sheets
• Administration and leadership guide to media
literacy
• Administration and leadership guide and tips to
advocate for media literacy education
Professional development opportunities
• Professional development program for
administration and leadership
• Opportunities to collaborate with practitioners,
other administrators, and leaders
Sustaining the Work of Media Literacy Education in Early Childhood
40 | Erikson Institute | Media Literacy in Early Childhood Report
Current Barrier
6
Lack of inclusivity and reach in the
media literacy movement
While there are many existing resources and support for practitioners, caregivers, administration and
leadership, there is a lack of inclusivity and reach in the media literacy movement. There is a lack of
representation in all areas of the media literacy movement, which aects who ultimately has access to the
resources and support and which cultures and experiences are represented in the making of resources and
support.
The media literacy movement, including policy-influencers, researchers, administration and leadership,
practitioners and caregivers who advocate for media literacy education in early childhood, is experiencing a
lack of inclusivity and reach. To challenge and overcome this barrier, there must be a systemic change in
policy, research, and practice to increase the inclusivity and reach of the movement.
Existing Solutions Needed Solutions
Utilize resources from entities which prioritize
inclusivity and equity
• Teaching Tolerance (Starts at Kindergarten)
• Teaching for Change (Starts at Pre-K)
Become involved with leading media literacy
organizations
• NAMLE
Develop professional development for
practitioners who:
• Teach in formal and informal education settings
• Teach in rural, suburban, and urban settings
• Serve racially, ethnically, socioeconomically,
linguistically diverse populations
• Serve children with special needs and
developmental delays
At events such as conferences, symposia,
forums, etc.:
• Event hosts should ensure speakers and invitees
are diverse in terms of race, ethnicity, gender,
experience, beliefs, and abilities
Sustaining the Work of Media Literacy Education in Early Childhood
41 | Erikson Institute | Media Literacy in Early Childhood Report
Current Barrier
7
Lack of policies
While there have been decades of valuing print media literacy in American education, governing bodies
have been slow to acknowledge the impact and prevalence of digital media in a young child’s life and the
necessity of media literacy education. Today, there are many policies dictating what children should be
learning in early childhood. These policies reflect what society believes to be important to a foundation of
academic achievement and development. Currently, many policies including rating and assessment systems
limit digital media use by placing restrictions on technology in early child care and education settings.
Such policies confuse educators as they navigate an understanding of the importance to teach healthy and
appropriate digital media use within a physical space where technology and digital media use is restricted.
Policies focusing on media literacy would be a reflection of the necessity of media literacy education in early
childhood. In order to establish and sustain media literacy eorts, there must be changes to existing policies for
informal and formal education. Utilizing other countries’ media literacy policies and existing resources to inform
policymakers is the existing solution. However, in order to overcome the barrier to a lack of policies focused on
media literacy, existing policies must be updated and/or new policies must be created.
Existing Solutions Needed Solutions
Readings
• Media Literacy Now’s Legislative Action Toolkit,
Model Bill, and more resources
• Creating Access to Digital Citizenship and
Media Literacy Education by Common Sense
Kids Action, Media Literacy Now, NAMLE, and
SETDA
• Mapping Digital Literacy Policy and Practice in
the Canadan Education Landscape, by Michael
Hoechsmann and Helen Dewaard
• Public Policies in Media and Information Literacy
in Europe: Cross-country comparisons, edited
by Divina Frau-Meigs, Irma Velez, and Julieta
Flores Michel
Inform elected ocials about media literacy
• Call US representatives at 202-225-3121 and US
senators at 202-224-3121
• Become involved in local, state, and federal
government
Updating existing policies
• Update rating and assessment systems such
as the Environment Rating Scales (ECERS-3,
FCCERS-3, and ITERS-3), which impact and/or
limit digital media use
• Update practitioner licensing and certification
requirements to include media literacy
education
Create new policies
• Create a policy or standard requiring media
literacy education in education and child care
settings, as well as integration throughout the
entire grade span
• Address the limited capacity of sta including
time working, compensation, and benefits
Sustaining the Work of Media Literacy Education in Early Childhood
42 | Erikson Institute | Media Literacy in Early Childhood Report
Current Barrier
8
Insucient funding
There is insucient funding for caregivers and practitioners to implement media literacy with young children
daily. Additionally, there is a lack of funding to increase administration and leadership level changes. The
eorts of implementing media literacy education in early childhood relies on the funding for research,
training, and educational materials.
The barrier is a lack of funding for media literacy education for young children. Current funding streams must
be altered to be more inclusive of media literacy as a related subject of literacy, STEM, civic education, social
justice, art, and media and journalism, to name a few. Expanding these current funding streams to include
media literacy would open opportunities up to fund practitioner and caregiver education, provide learning
materials for libraries, child care centers, and museums, as well as fund research of media literacy education.
Existing Solutions Needed Solutions
Utilize free, accessible resources which are
included in Existing Solutions for Barriers
1 through 5
Utilize the sources which fund media literacy
education
• MacArthur Foundation
• McCormick Foundation
• The Peggy and Jack Baskin Foundation
• Annenberg Foundation
• Technology developers and media creators
such as Google Education, Nickelodeon,
Facebook, Twitter
Adjust current funding streams from
foundations, government, etc. which support
• Literacy
• Technology
• STEM
• Civics and Social Studies
• Media and Journalism
to include media literacy education into
description of these specific subject-focused
grants because media literacy impacts these
areas of education.
Sustaining the Work of Media Literacy Education in Early Childhood
43 | Erikson Institute | Media Literacy in Early Childhood Report
Current Barrier
9
Lack of research
A lack of research often stalls implementation of new practices and policy change. Practitioners and
caregivers want research showing why media literacy is important, which teaching strategies are most
eective, and how media literacy education impacts a child’s development and academic achievements.
Leaders, administrators and policymakers want research showing eective and scalable media literacy
education. There is a lack of research on media literacy, especially digital media literacy for children ages
birth through 8.
In order to overcome this barrier, there must be more research studies focused on media literacy of young
children from birth through age 8. There must be an expansion of the body of research to shed light on many
less-understood areas of media literacy for young children.
Existing Solutions Needed Solutions
Utilize the current body of research which
includes many literature reviews
• The Challenges of Assessing Media Literacy
Education by Evelien Schilder, Barbara Lockee,
and D. Patrick Saxon (2016)
• What a Dierence Ten Years can Make: Research
Possibilities for the Future of Media Literacy
Education by Renee Hobbs (2011)
• Also see relevant articles in NAMLE’s Journal of
Media Literacy Education
Expand the body of research to understand
the following areas of media literacy
• Long term eects of media literacy education
• Eective implementation of media literacy
education in formal and informal education
settings
• Developmentally appropriate media literacy
topics and practices with infants, toddlers, and
preschoolers
• Eective and scalable professional
development programs for early childhood
practitioners, leaders, and administrators
Sustaining the Work of Media Literacy Education in Early Childhood
44 | Erikson Institute | Media Literacy in Early Childhood Report
Current Barrier
Low value of media literacy, child development,
and early education
The low value of media literacy, child development, and early education is a barrier for Barriers 1 through 9.
Without high value placed on media literacy, child development, and early education, practitioners,
caregivers, leadership and administrators, as well as policymakers and researchers, will not prioritize
advancing media literacy eorts for young children.
Information regarding the importance of these areas must be spread utilizing media and social networks.
Fortunately, in recent years there has been noticeable mass media attention on the implications of early
childhood experiences, which includes an increased exposure to digital, interactive, and mobile media devices.
Media literacy practitioners and leaders can utilize current movements and trends by incorporating media
literacy into conversations such as early childhood education, appropriate technology use, and STEM. However,
an increase of focus on media literacy in mass media, social media, and public education may increase the
public’s understanding of the importance of media literacy in early childhood.
Existing Solutions Needed Solutions
Utilize current movements and trends
by incorporating media literacy into the
following topics
• Early childhood education
• Appropriate technology use in early childhood
• STEM implementation in libraries, museums,
and other early childhood education settings
• Civic engagement and digital citizenship
• Social emotional learning
Increase public’s understanding of importance
• Mass media tell a more nuanced narrative of
digital media consumption
• Early education includes home-based
providers, practitioners in museums, libraries,
hospitals, and community-based organizations
• Social media campaigns share media literacy
strategies
• Human development, specifically, child
development is incorporated into public
education for grades K-12, including learning
theories
Sustaining the Work of Media Literacy Education in Early Childhood
45 | Erikson Institute | Media Literacy in Early Childhood Report
Conclusion
In order to elevate and sustain media literacy education for young children, support
systems and resources must be developed, questions must be researched, and policies
must change to reflect a prioritization of media literacy, child development, and early
education. Fortunately, these eorts have already begun, particularly to support older
youth. There is a vast amount of resources and advocates which have worked to lay
the foundation of media literacy eorts today. At both the National Leadership Forum
and the National Practitioners Forum media literacy expert, Faith Rogow, asked leaders
and practitioners, “Is the goal to help children become media literate or is the goal to
help children become literate in a digital and media-rich world?” At both forums, the
overwhelming reply was “to help children become literate in a digital and media-rich
world,” with an understanding that to meet today’s challenges, “literate” means much
more than reading and writing printed words.
This goal will guide leaders and practitioners to forge ahead and sustain media literacy
education for young children so they—and we—can lead the way to a literate society
in a digital and media-rich world.
46 | Erikson Institute | Media Literacy in Early Childhood Report
Aladé, F., Lauricella, A. R., Beaudoin-Ryan, L., & Wartella, E. A. (2016). Measuring with Murray: Touchscreen
technology and preschoolers’ STEM learning. Computers in Human Behavior, 62, 433-441.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.03.080
Anderson, D. R., & Davidson, M. C. (2019). Receptive versus interactive video screens: A Role for the brain’s
default mode network in learning from media. Computers in Human Behavior, 99, 168-180.
Anderson, D. R., Huston, A. C., Schmitt, K. L., Linebarger, D. L., Wright, J.C. (2001). Early childhood television
viewing and adolescent behavior: the recontact study. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child
Development, 66(1), 1-154
Anderson, D. R., & Pempek, T. A. (2005). Television and very young children. American Behavioral
Scientist, 48(5), 505-522.
Association of Children’s Museums (2015). Toolkit for Reimagining Children’s Museums. Association of
Children’s Museums. www.childrensmuseums.org/images/RCM_Print_Publication.pdf
Bandura A., Ross D., &.Ross S. A. (1963). Imitation of film-mediated aggressive models. Journal of Abnormal
and Social Psychology, 66, 3–11.
Barr, R., Muentener, P., Garcia, A., Fujimoto, M., & Chávez, V. (2007). The eect of repetition on imitation from
television during infancy. Developmental Psychobiology, 49(2), 196-207.
Barr, R., & Wyss, N. (2008). Reenactment of televised content by 2-year olds: Toddlers use language learned
from television to solve a dicult imitation problem. Infant Behavior and Development, 31(4), 696-703.
Blosser, B. J., & Roberts, D. F. (1985). Age dierences in children’s perceptions of message intent: Responses
to TV news, commercials, educational spots, and public service announcements. Communication
Research, 12(4), 455–484. doi.org/10.1177/009365085012004002
Bond, B. J. (2016). Fairy godmothers > robots: The Influence of televised gender stereotypes and counter-
stereotypes on girls’ perceptions of STEM. Bulletin of Science, Technology, and Society, 36(2), 91-97.
Carter, O. B. J., Patterson, L. J., Donovan, R. J., Ewing, M. T., & Roberts, C. M. (2011). Children’s understanding
of the selling versus persuasive intent of junk food advertising: Implications for regulation. Social Science
& Medicine, 72(6), 962-968. doi: http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.erikson.edu/10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.01.018
Choi, K., & Kirkorian, H. L. (2016). Touch or watch to learn? Toddlers’ object retrieval using contingent and
noncontingent video. Psychological Science, 27(5), 726–736. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797616636110
Clark, L., & Archer Perry, K. (2015) After Access Libraries and Digital Empowerment; Building Digital
Inclusive Communities. American Library Association. http://www. ala.org/advocacy/sites/ala.org.
advocacy/files/content/ALA%20DI%20After%20Access_final_12%20 17%2015.pdf
Crawley, A. M., Anderson, D. R., Wilder, A., Williams, M., & Santomero, A. (1999). Eects of repeated
exposures to a single episode of the television program Blue’s Clues on the viewing behaviors
and comprehension of preschool children. Journal of Educational Psychology, 91(4), 630-637.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.91.4.630
References
47 | Erikson Institute | Media Literacy in Early Childhood Report
Fisch, S., Truglio, R. T., & Cole, C. F. (1999). The impact of Sesame Street on preschool children: A review
and synthesis of 30 years’ research. Media Psychology, 1(2), 165-190. http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/
s1532785xmep0102_5
Friedrich, L. K., & Stein, A. H. (1975). Prosocial television and young children: The eects of verbal
labeling and role playing on learning and behavior. Child Development, 46(1), 27-38.
http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1128830
High, P. C., & Klass, P (2014). Literacy promotion: an essential component of primary care pediatric practice.
Pediatrics 134(2), 404-409. http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/134/2/404.long
Howard Gola, A. A., Richards, M. N., Lauricella, A. R., & Calvert, S. L. (2013). Building meaningful
parasocial relationships between toddlers and media characters to teach early mathematical skills.
Media Psychology, 16(4), 390-411. https://doi.org/10.1080/15213269.2013.783774
Huber B., Tarasuik J., Antoniou M. N., Garrett C., Bowe S. J., & Kaufman J. (2016). Young children’s transfer of
learning from a touchscreen device. Computers in Human Behavior, 56, 56–64. 10.1016/j.chb.2015.11.010
Lauricella, A. R., Howard Gola, A. A., & Calvert, S. L. (2011). Toddlers’ learning from socially meaningful video
characters. Media Psychology, 14, 216-232. 10.1080/15213269.2011.573465.
Lauricella, A. L.,Pempek, T., Barr, R., & Calvert, S. (2010). Contingent computer interactions for young
children’s object retrieval success. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 31, 362-369.
10.1016/j.appdev.2010.06.002.
Kirkorian, H. L. Choi, K. & Pempek, T. (2016). Toddlers’ word learning from contingent and noncontingent
video on touch screens. Child Development, 87, 405-413. 10.1111/cdev.12508.
National Association for Media Literacy Education (n.d.). Media Literacy Defined. National Association
for Media Literacy Education. https://namle.net/publications/media-literacy-definitions/
Neuman, S.B. (1997). Guiding young children’s participation in early literacy development: A Family literacy
program for adolescent mothers. Early Child Dev Care, 127(1), 119–129.
Payne A.C., Whitehurst, G.J. & Angell, A.L (1994). The role of literacy environment in the language
development of children from low-income families, Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 9, 427–440.
Pila, S., Blackwell, C. K., Lauricella, A. R., & Wartella, E. (2019). Technology in the lives of educators and
early childhood programs: 2018 Survey. Evanston, IL: Center on Media and Human Development,
Northwestern University.
Project Look Sharp (2018). Media Literacy. Project Look Sharp. https://www.projectlooksharp.org/?
action=about
Rasmussen E. E, Shafer A., Colwell, M. J., White S., Punyanunt-Carter N., Densley R. L., & Wright H. (2016).
Relation between active mediation, exposure to Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, and US preschoolers’
social and emotional development, Journal of Children and Media, 10(4), 443-461, DOI: 10.1080/
17482798.2016.1203806
References
48 | Erikson Institute | Media Literacy in Early Childhood Report
Rideout, V. (2017). The Common Sense census: Media use by kids age zero to eight. San Francisco, CA:
Common Sense Media.
Rideout, V. (2015). The Common Sense census: Media use by tweens and teens. San Francisco, CA:
Common Sense Media.
Rogow, F. (2015). Media literacy in early childhood education: Inquiry-based technology integration.
In C. Donohue (Ed.), Technology and Digital Media in the Early Years. Routledge.
Schroeder, E.L. & Kirkorian, H.L. (2016). When Seeing Is Better than Doing: Preschoolers’ Transfer of STEM
Skills Using Touchscreen Games. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 1377. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01377
Signorielli, N. (2011). Television’s gender-role images and contribution to stereotyping: Past, present, and future.
In D. G. Singer & J. L. Singer (Eds.), Handbook of children and the media (2nd ed., pp. 321–339). Sage.
Teaching Tolerance (2017). Teaching Tolerance digital literacy framework. Teaching Tolerance.
https://www.tolerance.org/sites/default/files/2017-10/Teaching-Tolerance-Digital-Literacy-Framework.pdf
Vega, V., & Robb, M. B. (2019). The Common Sense census: Inside the 21st-century classroom.
San Francisco, CA: Common Sense Media.
References
49 | Erikson Institute | Media Literacy in Early Childhood Report
Additional Resources
Organizations
Technology in Early Childhood (TEC) Center at Erikson Institute
National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE)
Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC)
Association of Children’s Museums (ACM)
National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)
Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop
International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE)
Center for Media Literacy (CML)
Project Look Sharp
MediaSmarts
Common Sense Media
Teaching Tolerance
Local libraries and children’s museums
PBS KIDS
Fred Rogers Center for Early Learning and Children’s Media
Readings + more
“Media Literacy in Early Childhood: A Critical Conversation” by The Technology in Early Childhood Center
at Erikson Institute at TECcenter.erikson.edu/publications/medialitecreport/
Tap, Click, Read: Growing Readers in a World of Screens by Lisa Guernsey and Michael H. Levine
Literacy Playshop: New Literacies, Popular Media, and Play in the Early Childhood Classroom by
Karen E. Wohlwend
“Digital Play for Global Citizens” by Jordan Shapiro at joanganzcooneycenter.org/publication/digital-
play-for-global-citizens/
ISTE Standards for Students and ISTE Standards for Educators at ISTE.org
NAMLE Parent Guide at NAMLE.net/a-parents-guide/
Digital Literacy Framework at MediaSmarts.ca
Teach and Transform at teachandtransform.org
50 | Erikson Institute | Media Literacy in Early Childhood Report
Acknowledgements
We thank the Institute of Museum and Library Science (IMLS), Grant # LG-98-18-0052-18, for their support of
this project and our Grant Partners the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), Association of
Children’s Museums (ACM), and the National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE) for their
help in organizing and supporting these two important national forums and the writing and editing of this Media
Literacy in Early Childhood Report.
We send a special thanks to Lisa Guernsey (New America), Faith Rogow (Insighters Education Consulting), and
Felipe Pena III (Children’s Museum of Brownsville) for their help reviewing and editing this report.
Finally, we want to acknowledge and thank all of those who participated in our two national convenenings.
Thank you to those who attended and participated as part of our National Leadership Forum:
Maria Alvarez (Common Sense Latino)
Jamie Campbell Naidoo (ALSC)
Michelle Ciulla Lipkin (NAMLE)
Kevin Clark (George Mason University)
Yonty Friesem (Columbia College Chicago)
Victoria Garvin (ACM)
Lisa Guernsey (New America)
Renee Hobbs (University of Rhode Island)
Angela Hubbard (ALSC)
Laura Huerta Migus (ACM)
Tamara Kaldor (Erikson Institute)
Robin Mencher (KQED)
Jenny Redesky, MD, FAAP (American Academy
of Pediatrics and University of Michigan)
Stephanie Reich (University of California Irvine)
Alena Rivers (ALSC)
Faith Rogow (Insighters Education Consulting)
Roberta Schomburg (Fred Rogers Center)
Joseph South (ISTE)
Tony Streit (NAMLE)
Lori Takeuchi (Joan Ganz Cooney Center)
Thank you to those who participated in our National Practitioners Forum:
Amanda Armstrong (New Mexico State University)
Rachell Arteaga (Trinity School)
Susana Beltran Grimm (PBS SoCal)
Emmy Brockman (WonderLab Museum of Science)
Kimberly Buenger (Olathe Unified School District)
Sabrina Burroughs (Eagle Academy Public
Charter School)
Louise Capizzo (Scarborough Public Library)
Michelle Ciulla Lipkin (NAMLE)
Yonty Friesem (Columbia College Chicago)
Lisa Guernsey (New America)
Laura Guevara (Family Laundry, Oakland)
Claudia Haines (Homer Public Library)
Rebecca Herz (Peoria PlayHouse Children’s Museum)
Angela Hubbard (ALSC)
Ali Jackson (Sciencenter)
Matthe Johnson (MediaSmarts)
Tamara Kaldor (Erikson Institute)
Jennifer Knight (Port Angeles Main Library)
Kristin Lahurd (ALA)
Robin Meisner (Boston Children’s Museum)
Jamie Campbell Naidoo (ALSC)
Jan O’Brien (St Gilbert School)
Samantha Oakley (ALA)
Alexandra Pafilis (Chicago Children’s Museum)
Felipe Pena (Children’s Museum of Brownsville)
Faith Rogow (Insighters Education Consulting)
John Sessler (PBS)
Lance Simpson (Tuscaloosa Public Library)
Dorothy Stoltz (Carroll County Public Library)
Tony Streit (NAMLE)
Tiany Tafe (Catherine Cook School)
Carol Tang (Children’s Creativity Museum)
Shimira Williams (TEKStart, LLC)
Adam Woodworth (The Children’s Museum
in Oak Lawn)
Finally, we also thank Katie Paciga (Columbia College Chicago) and Colleen Wilson (Erikson Institute) for
supporting these two meetings by taking detailed notes and providing administrative support.
51 | Erikson Institute | Media Literacy in Early Childhood Report
Appendix 1
Always be a lifelong learner
2 Collaborate with colleagues and others who are implementing media literacy
3 Don’t be afraid to experiment and give yourself permission to fail and try again
4 Know that it is impossible to master every new media technology
(and that you don’t need to in order to be a great media literacy practitioner)
5 Plan, implement, revisit
6 Know that stu will go wrong
7 Utilize open-ended questions and follow the child’s lead
8 Value caregivers
9 Support the needs of all children
Learn with your students
Media Literacy in Early Childhood
Tips for Practitioners
?
52 | Erikson Institute | Media Literacy in Early Childhood Report
Appendix 2
Always be a lifelong learner
2 Acknowledge and value your own strengths, experiences, and knowledge
3 Don’t be afraid to experiment and give yourself permission to fail and try again
4 Know that it is impossible to master every new media technology
(and that you don’t need to in order to be a great caregiver)
5 Plan, implement, revisit
6 Know that stu will go wrong
7 Utilize open-ended questions and follow the child’s lead
8 Value practitioners
9 Support the strengths and needs of your child
Be a co-learner with your child
Media Literacy in Early Childhood
Tips for Caregivers
?
