Lori Takeuchi and Briana Pressey presented "Zooming in: Studying family engagement with media at large and small scales" at the "Learning With Technology: Different Perspectives From Low-Income Families" panel at the AERA Annual Meeting in April 2014. In this presentation, they shared findings from two complementary studies aimed at understanding how families with young children are using media together. Both studies are part of the Families and Media Project, a multi-institution consortium that is being funded by the Bezos Family and Heising-Simons Foundations.

1. Zooming in:
Studying family engagement with
media at large and small scales
Lori Takeuchi & Briana Pressey | The Joan Ganz Cooney Center @ Sesame Workshop | AERA 2014
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2. • How are families with young children using media together?
– Large-scale national survey of parents
– Case studies of families with young children
• The Families and Media Project
OVERVIEW
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3. A brief history of coviewing
BACKGROUND
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4. A brief history of coviewing
• Kids who watch educational TV with their parents are more likely to learn
than those who watch alone (Ball & Bogatz, 1970; Bogatz & Ball, 1971; Salomon,
1977)
• Specific coviewing “moves” by parent account for learning (Reiser, Tessmer,
and Phelps, 1984; Reiser, Williamson, & Suzuki, 1988)
• Informed design of Sesame Street segments and parental outreach
BACKGROUND
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5. BACKGROUND
Need to rethink coviewing for modern times
Media is changing
• Shrinking size (portability)
• Multiple delivery platforms
• Convergence
• Connectivity
• Author-ability
Families are changing (Bianchi, 2011)
• More mothers in the workplace
• More parents work double-shifts
• More single-parent households
• Higher rates of poverty
• More ESL households
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6. Joint media engagement (the new coviewing)
“Joint media engagement refers to spontaneous and designed
experiences of people using media together. JME can happen anywhere
and at any time when there are multiple people interacting together
with media. Modes of JME include viewing, playing, searching, reading,
contributing, and creating, with either digital or traditional media. JME
can support learning by providing resources for making sense and
making meaning in a particular situation, as well as for future
situations.” (Stevens & Penuel, 2010)
BACKGROUND
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7. The studies
• National survey of parents: To what extent is JME occurring in families
with young children across the U.S.? Who is using media together?
• Case studies: How might particular family characteristics and
circumstances shape how parents and children engage around media?
BACKGROUND
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8. THE PARENT SURVEY
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9. Purpose
• Measure how much of children’s screen media use is “educational” by
platform and by age
– Defined educational as “content that is good for your child’s learning or
growth, or that teaches some type of lesson, such as an academic or social
skill.”
• Explore which platforms parents think are effective
• Discover which subjects parents think children are learning about
through media
• Measure how much children are using media with parents and others
• Document patterns of reading and e-reading
PARENT SURVEY
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10. Purpose
• Measure how much of children’s screen media use is “educational” by
platform and by age
– Defined educational as “content that is good for your child’s learning or
growth, or that teaches some type of lesson, such as an academic or social
skill.”
• Explore which platforms parents think are effective
• Discover which subjects parents think children are learning about
through media
• Measure how much children are using media with parents and others
• Document patterns of reading and e-reading
• Research led by Vicky Rideout, analyses conducted by June Lee, and
GfK administered online survey
PARENT SURVEY
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11. Methods
• Sample size: 1,577 parents children ages 2 through 10-years-old
• Oversamples of African-American (290) and Latino parents (682)
• Online probability-based survey
• Panel recruited through address-based sampling and random digit
dialing
• Those without Internet connection were given one as well as laptop
PARENT SURVEY
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12. 1. Joint media engagement by device
PARENT SURVEY
In a typical day: TV Mobile Computer Video games All
% of children who co-
engage with a parent
52% 9% 7% 7% 58%
% of child time with
device spent co-engaging
55% 29% 26% 25%
Average time spent co-
engaging
49 minutes 3 minutes 3 minutes 3 minutes 59 minutes
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13. 2. Joint media engagement by partner
• Parents spend more time using media with younger children than older
– 65% of 2–4-year-olds’ TV time is spent coviewing, compared to 51% among
5–10-year-olds
• No differences in proportion of parent-child JME time based on
ethnicity, income, or parent education EXCEPT on mobile devices:
PARENT SURVEY
43%
25%
21%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
Latino White Black
Proportion of children’s mobile media
time in joint engagement
Consistent
with
Pew
Hispanic
Center
findings
(Lopez,
Gonzalez-­‐Barrera,
&
Pa=en,
2013):
• LaDnos
own
smartphones
and
go
online
from
a
mobile
device
at
similar
or
higher
rates
than
Blacks
and
Whites
• Rate
of
cellphone-­‐only
households
is
higher
among
LaDnos
(47%)
than
Black
(38%)
or
White
(30%)
Americans.
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14. 2. Joint media engagement by partner
• Siblings are children’s most common JME partner
• No differences in percentage of parents, siblings, or friends who “often”
or “sometimes” co-engage based on race, income, or parent education
PARENT SURVEY
0.03
0.07
0.07
0.07
0.43
0.48
0.08
0.25
0.25
0.16
0.41
0.31
0.14
0.32
0.32
0.37
0.14
0.13
0.73
0.35
0.33
0.4
0.02
0.07
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Nanny/babysi=er
Grandparent
Friend
Other
relaDve
A
parent
Sibling
Oen
SomeDmes
Once
in
a
while
Never
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15. 3. Joint media engagement with grandparents
• Multigenerational families are more likely among Latinos (10.3%) than
among Blacks (9.5%) or Whites (3.7%) (Pew Research Center, 2011)
PARENT SURVEY
MORE likely to co-engage with
grandparents
LESS likely to co-engage with
grandparents
African-American children Latino children
Lower-income children
Children whose parents did not
attend college
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16. 4. Purposes of using media together
• Which of the following are reasons you use media together with your
child when you do? Check all that apply.
PARENT SURVEY
60%
56%
55%
45%
41%
30%
16%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
To
make
sure
s/he
doesn’t
get
exposed
to
inappropriate
content
S/he
asks
me
to
I
enjoy
it
It’s
our
together
Dme
It
helps
him/her
get
more
benefit
from
it
I
happen
to
be
in
the
same
room
To
make
sure
s/he
doesn’t
break
the
equipment
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17. 5. What parents consider “educational media”
• “Here is a list of popular TV shows as well as some electronic games. If
you are familiar with them, indicate how educational you think they are
for children: very, somewhat, not too, or not at all.”
– Average rating of how educational each title is, on a 4 point scale (4=very
educational)
• Lower income parents have broader definition of “educational”
PARENT SURVEY
Show
Family
Income
<
$25K
Family
Income
$25
-­‐
$49K
Family
Income
$50K
-­‐
$99K
Family
Income
>
$100K
Sesame
Street
3.61
3.60
3.47
3.47
Dora
the
Explorer
3.38
3.39
3.08
3.05
Mickey
Mouse
Clubhouse
3.13
3.11
2.84
2.77
SpongeBob
SquarePants
1.67
1.56
1.43
1.28
Angry
Birds
1.69
1.61
1.52
1.40
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18. Available for free download from www.joanganzcooneycenter.org
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PARENT SURVEY

19. THE CASE STUDIES
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20. • Breadth and depth are necessary to inform the work of producers,
educators, and others interested in enhancing family learning and
connection through media
• Case studies complement quantitative data by providing insights into
why and how particular families use media together
• Featured cases don’t represent all U.S. families, but their stories
surface phenomena that warrant investigation in future JME research
CASE STUDIES
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21. CASE STUDIES
Research questions and conceptual frameworks
• How do cultural, historical, and individual factors shape technology/
media use in families?
• How do technology/media shape family interactions and activities?
• What roles do digital media play in family functioning, routines, and
learning?
Ecological Systems Theory
Bronfenbrenner, 1979
Activity Theory
Engeström, 2000

22. CASE STUDIES
Methods
Setting
• Urban community center serving primarily low-income population
• 55% of families are Hispanic and 33% are African-American
Data collection
• Interviews with:
• 6-to-9-year-old children who attend after-school program (45 m)
• Their parents (45 m)
• Their counselors (25 m)
• Technology inventory questionnaires for parents
• Children’s drawings of their families
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23. CASE STUDIES
Participants
Family
Focal child age
and gender Ethnicity
Language(s)
spoken at home Marital situation
Siblings,
relatives
1 7-year-old Male African-American English
Lives with
grandparents
4 aunts and
uncles
2 8-year-old Male
African-American,
Puerto Rican
English, Spanish Single mother 3 brothers
3 9-year-old Female
Taiwanese,
Japanese
English, Japanese,
Chinese
Married parents 1 brother
4 6-year-old Female Dominican English
Single mother,
father incarcerated
3 half sisters
5 6-year-old Female
African-American,
Cambodian
English, Khmer Single mother 1 half sister
6 8-year-old Male African-American English Single mother Only child
7 6-year-old Male Ecuadorian English, Spanish Married
2 brothers, 2
sisters
8 9-year-old Male Puerto Rican English, Spanish
Single mother,
father passed
1 sister
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24. What drives joint media engagement?
1. Spatial arrangements of household (Horst 2008; Takeuchi, 2011)
2. Child’s desire to connect around media (Dugan, Stevens, & Mehus, 2010)
3. Parent’s desire to connect child to heritage/culture
CASE STUDIES
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25. Purposes of using media together
• Which of the following are reasons you use media together with your
child when you do? Check all that apply.
CASE STUDIES
60%
56%
55%
45%
41%
30%
16%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
To
make
sure
s/he
doesn’t
get
exposed
to
inappropriate
content
S/he
asks
me
to
I
enjoy
it
It’s
our
together
Dme
It
helps
him/her
get
more
benefit
from
it
I
happen
to
be
in
the
same
room
To
make
sure
s/he
doesn’t
break
the
equipment
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26. CASE STUDIES
The Almeida Family
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27. 27
CASE STUDIES

28. Purposes of using media together
• Which of the following are reasons you use media together with your
child when you do? Check all that apply.
CASE STUDIES
60%
56%
55%
45%
41%
30%
16%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
To
make
sure
s/he
doesn’t
get
exposed
to
inappropriate
content
S/he
asks
me
to
I
enjoy
it
It’s
our
together
Dme
It
helps
him/her
get
more
benefit
from
it
I
happen
to
be
in
the
same
room
To
make
sure
s/he
doesn’t
break
the
equipment
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29. Findings
• Children’s desire to connect with parents and siblings: Challenges the
idea that new media devices isolate children.
• Culturally themed content (e.g., Dora the Explorer, telenovelas)
– Parents can connect child to heritage and child can spend time with parent
– Both parties equally enjoy
– Media that is “important” to the family as opposed to “educational”
– Ideal content for JME
Recommendations
• Create “ideal content” for mobile devices (expanding market across all
segments of U.S. population)
• Rethink the value and use of the term “educational” media
IMPLICATIONS
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30. Thank you!
www.joanganzcooneycenter.org
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