“Readialand – a place where the traditional literacies of reading, writing, and speaking meet technology at the intersection of child development, early learning, and digital media.”
Earlier this month, Lisa Guernsey (journalist and director of the Early Education Initiative and the Learning Technologies Project at New America) and Michael Levine (child development and policy expert and founding director of the Joan Ganz Cooney Center) released their new book titled Tap, Click, Read: Growing Readers in a World of Screens.
The purpose of this book is to present a synthesis of the research and best practices in literacy and technology and bring forth a much-needed discussion regarding access and equity for children in every family. As stated in their blog, the book’s firm commitment is “to stimulate a more informed debate about equity in a new age: we cannot allow technology to exacerbate social inequality instead of opening more opportunities for everyone to succeed.”
ReadyRosie is honored to be featured in the chapter titled “A Different Kind of Screen Time”. Included in this chapter are other efforts by thought leaders we admire and follow such as Susan Landry and Karen Smith (Play and Learning Strategies) and Alan Mendelsohn (Video Interaction Project). The section on ReadyRosie discusses the power of video modeling:
We need models too. It’s compelling to see a parent interact with children the same age as our own, especially if we see that the parent is having some success, if the interactions are alleviating meltdowns, helping children to overcome challenges, sparking joyful moments. Now it is possible to capture key moments on video and then replay them. The video screen can be a powerful conduit for modeling.
ReadyRosie is also highlighted in Chapter 12 as one of the resources used in the widely-recognized work of Bonnie Blagojevic and Ana Blagojevic with migrant families in Milbridge, Maine through a program called Comienza en Casa/It Starts at Home. You can view this video vignette linked on the website and in the book.
One focus of Tap, Click, Read is a challenge to creators of media and technology to “use literacy experts in product design and invite academic researchers to study the use of your products.” This is a challenge that we accept and one that has been a part of our commitment since the beginning. If you are curious about the people behind ReadyRosie, check out our “About Us” page to see the many contributors and creators involved.
As the American Association of Pediatrics recently stated, we live “In a world where ‘screen time’ is becoming simply ‘time’”. For this reason, we applaud this effort of Michael Levine and Lisa Guernsey to hold forth high standards for quality as well as share a vision of equity and access. We are so pleased to be included and thankful for the opportunity to continue to learn from other peers sharing this same mission. Let’s make Readialand a reality for all children!