Educational Media
- LAST REVIEWED: 29 May 2014
- LAST MODIFIED: 29 May 2014
- DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199756841-0147
- LAST REVIEWED: 29 May 2014
- LAST MODIFIED: 29 May 2014
- DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199756841-0147
Introduction
All too frequently, discussions of the effects of electronic media on children focus solely on the negative, such as the impact of violent television programs or video games. Such research is certainly important, and has had a critical impact on policy and legislation in the United States. However, an extensive research literature also indicates that well-crafted educational television programs can make significant positive contributions to children’s knowledge, skills, and attitudes in areas such as literacy, mathematics, science, social studies, and (among preschoolers) school readiness. Moreover, long-term positive effects of educational television have been found to endure for years. Because interactive media are newer than television, the research literature concerning such media is less extensive, particularly with regard to long-term learning effects. However, a growing body of evidence indicates that computer games and other interactive media also provide a context for children to acquire and exercise academic knowledge and skills.
Core Texts
Although the research literature concerning children’s learning from educational media is substantial (see the discussion for Journals and Resources), relatively few texts have been devoted exclusively to this topic. The books cited in this section present in-depth reviews of empirical research, establish theoretical approaches for studying and understanding children’s learning from media, and provide guidance for both future research and the design and production of effective educational media. Research on educational television can be found in Fisch 2004, whereas the other books focus on various aspects of interactive media: the pioneering work of Papert 1980, literature reviews by Tobias and Fletcher 2011 and Honey and Hilton 2011, and principles of effective game design in Salen and Zimmermann 2004.
Fisch, S. M. 2004. Children’s learning from educational television: Sesame Street and beyond. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
This book reviews empirical research on learning from television (regarding literacy, mathematics, science, and social studies, effects of prosocial television, and the role of adult mediation. Theoretical chapters discuss cognitive mechanisms underlying comprehension of educational content on television, transfer of learning from television to new situations, and the role of social factors (e.g., identification with characters) in learning.
Honey, M., and M. L. Hilton. 2011. Learning science through computer games and simulations. Washington, DC: National Academies.
Growing out of an in-depth National Research Council study panel, this book reviews research on learning science through interaction with digital simulations and games. It considers the potential for games and simulations to contribute to learning science in school, informal out-of-school settings, and everyday life. The book also sets agendas for future research and development to capitalize on this potential.
Papert, S. 1980. Mindstorms: Children, computers, and powerful ideas. New York: Basic Books.
This seminal work proposes couching instruction in a computer-based learning environment that complements the ways in which children learn and think. The book lays the foundation for the development of Papert’s child-appropriate programming language Logo (and its modern successors, Scratch and Scratch Jr.), as well as much of today’s research on educational uses of interactive media.
Salen, K., and E. Zimmermann. 2004. Rules of play: Game design fundamentals. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Aimed primarily at game developers, this book holds equal value for researchers by establishing a theoretical framework and critical vocabulary for analyzing and creating games. Drawing upon both digital and non-digital games, the book views games as designed systems that can provide contexts for social play, storytelling, and learning, and examines factors that promote meaningful play.
Tobias, S., and J. D. Fletcher. 2011. Computer games and instruction. Charlotte, NC: Information Age.
This collection of essays reviews research evidence concerning the educational impact of computer games as well as the history of games and their uses in education and for training by the military. A broad range of related topics is also covered, including gender differences in game use and explorations of games in the context of contemporary theories of instruction.
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Article
- Accounting Communication
- Acculturation Processes and Communication
- Action Assembly Theory
- Action-Implicative Discourse Analysis
- Activist Media
- Adherence and Communication
- Adolescence and the Media
- Advertisements, Televised Political
- Advertising
- Advertising, Children and
- Advertising, International
- Advocacy Journalism
- Agenda Setting
- Annenberg, Walter H.
- Apologies and Accounts
- Applied Communication Research Methods
- Argumentation
- Artificial Intelligence (AI) Advertising
- Attitude-Behavior Consistency
- Audience Fragmentation
- Audience Studies
- Authoritarian Societies, Journalism in
- Bakhtin, Mikhail
- Bandwagon Effect
- Baudrillard, Jean
- Blockchain and Communication
- Blogs
- Bourdieu, Pierre
- Brand Equity
- British and Irish Magazine, History of the
- Broadcasting, Public Service
- Capture, Media
- Castells, Manuel
- Celebrity and Public Persona
- Censorship
- Civic Duty
- Civil Rights Movement and the Media, The
- CNN
- Co-Cultural Theory and Communication
- Codes and Cultural Discourse Analysis
- Cognitive Dissonance
- Collective Memory, Communication and
- Comedic News
- Communication Apprehension
- Communication Campaigns
- Communication, Definitions and Concepts of
- Communication History
- Communication Law
- Communication Management
- Communication Networks
- Communication, Philosophy of
- Community Attachment
- Community Journalism
- Community Structure Approach
- Computational Journalism
- Computer-Mediated Communication
- Content Analysis
- Corporate Social Responsibility and Communication
- Crisis Communication
- Critical and Cultural Studies
- Critical Race Theory and Communication
- Cross-tools and Cross-media Effects
- Cultivation
- Cultural and Creative Industries
- Cultural Imperialism Theories
- Cultural Mapping
- Cultural Persuadables
- Cultural Pluralism and Communication
- Cyberpolitics
- 3D Media
- Death, Dying, and Communication
- Debates, Televised
- Deliberation
- Developmental Communication
- Diffusion of Innovations
- Digital Divide
- Digital Gender Diversity
- Digital Intimacies
- Digital Literacy
- Diplomacy, Public
- Distributed Work, Comunication and
- Documentary and Communication
- E-democracy/E-participation
- E-Government
- Elaboration Likelihood Model
- Electronic Word-of-Mouth (eWOM)
- Embedded Coverage
- Entertainment
- Entertainment-Education
- Environmental Communication
- Ethnic Media
- Ethnography of Communication
- Experiments
- Families, Multicultural
- Family Communication
- Federal Communications Commission
- Feminist and Queer Game Studies
- Feminist Data Studies
- Feminist Journalism
- Feminist Theory
- Focus Groups
- Food Studies and Communication
- Freedom of the Press
- Friendships, Intercultural
- Gatekeeping
- Gender and the Media
- Global Englishes
- Global Media, History of
- Global Media Organizations
- Glocalization
- Goffman, Erving
- Habermas, Jürgen
- Habituation and Communication
- Health Communication
- Hegemony
- Hermeneutic Communication Studies
- Heuristics
- Homelessness and Communication
- Hook-Up and Dating Apps
- Hostile Media Effect
- Identification with Media Characters
- Identity, Cultural
- Image Repair Theory
- Implicit Measurement
- Impression Management
- Indexing
- Infographics
- Information and Communication Technology for Development
- Information Management
- Information Overload
- Information Processing
- Infotainment
- Innis, Harold
- Instructional Communication
- Integrated Marketing Communications
- Interactivity
- Intercultural Capital
- Intercultural Communication
- Intercultural Communication, Tourism and
- Intercultural Communication, Worldview in
- Intercultural Competence
- Intercultural Conflict Mediation
- Intercultural Dialogue
- Intercultural New Media
- Intergenerational Communication
- Intergroup Communication
- International Communications
- Interpersonal Communication
- Interpersonal LGBTQ Communication
- Interpretation/Reception
- Interpretive Communities
- Journalism
- Journalism, Accuracy in
- Journalism, Alternative
- Journalism and Trauma
- Journalism, Citizen
- Journalism, Citizen, History of
- Journalism Ethics
- Journalism, Interpretive
- Journalism, Peace
- Journalism, Tabloid
- Journalists, Violence against
- Knowledge Gap
- Language Ecology
- Lazarsfeld, Paul
- Leadership and Communication
- LGBTQ+ Family Communication
- LGBTQ+ People and Media Industries
- Mass Communication
- McLuhan, Marshall
- Media Activism
- Media Aesthetics
- Media and Time
- Media Bias
- Media Convergence
- Media Credibility
- Media Dependency
- Media Ecology
- Media Economics
- Media Economics, Theories of
- Media, Educational
- Media Effects
- Media Ethics
- Media Events
- Media Exposure Measurement
- Media, Gays and Lesbians in the
- Media Literacy
- Media Logic and Mediatization
- Media Management
- Media Policy and Governance
- Media Regulation
- Media, Social
- Media Sociology
- Media Streaming
- Media Systems Theory
- Merton, Robert K.
- Message Characteristics and Persuasion
- Misinformation and Political Communication
- Mobile Communication Studies
- Muckraking
- Multimodal Discourse Analysis, Approaches to
- Multinational Organizations, Communication and Culture in
- Murdoch, Rupert
- Narrative
- Narrative Engagement
- Narrative Persuasion
- Net Neutrality
- News, Fake
- News Framing
- News Media Coverage of Women
- NGOs, Communication and
- Online Campaigning
- Open Access
- Organizational Change and Organizational Change Communicat...
- Organizational Communication
- Organizational Communication, Aging and
- Parasocial Theory in Communication
- Participation, Civic/Political
- Participatory Action Research
- Patient-Provider Communication
- Peacebuilding and Communication
- Perceived Realism
- Personalized Communication
- Persuasion and Social Influence
- Persuasion, Resisting
- Photojournalism
- Political Advertising
- Political Communication, Normative Analysis of
- Political Economy
- Political Knowledge
- Political Marketing
- Political Scandals
- Political Socialization
- Polls, Opinion
- Priming
- Privacy
- Product Placement
- Propaganda
- Proxemics
- Public Interest Communication
- Public Opinion
- Public Relations
- Public Sphere
- Queer Intercultural Communication
- Queer Migration and Digital Media
- Race and Communication
- Racism and Communication
- Radio Studies
- Reality Television
- Reasoned Action Frameworks
- Religion and the Media
- Reporting, Investigative
- Rhetoric and Communication
- Rhetoric and Intercultural Communication
- Rhetoric and Social Movements
- Rhetoric, Religious
- Rhetoric, Visual
- Risk Communication
- Rumor and Communication
- Schramm, Wilbur
- Science Communication
- Scripps, E. W.
- Selective Exposure
- Semiotics
- Sense-Making/Sensemaking
- Sesame Street
- Sex in the Media
- Small-Group Communication
- Social Capital
- Social Change
- Social Cognition
- Social Construction
- Social Identity Theory and Communication
- Social Interaction
- Social Movements
- Social Network Analysis
- Social Protest
- Sports Communication
- Stereotypes
- Strategic Communication
- Superdiversity
- Surveillance and Communication
- Symbolic Interactionism in Communication
- Synchrony in Intercultural Communication
- Tabloidization
- Telecommunications History/Policy
- Television
- Television, Cable
- Textual Analysis and Communication
- Third Culture Kids
- Third-Person Effect
- Time Warner
- Transgender Media Studies
- Transmedia Storytelling
- Two-Step Flow
- UNESCO
- United Nations and Communication
- Urban Communication
- Uses and Gratifications
- Video
- Video Deficit
- Video Games and Communication
- Violence in the Media
- Virtual Reality and Communication
- Visual Communication
- Web 2.0
- Web3 and Communication
- Web Archiving
- Webcare
- Whistleblowing
- Whiteness Theory in Intercultural Communication
- WikiLeaks
- Youth and Media
- Zines and Communication