Young children often learn less from video than face-to-face presentations. Meta-regression models were used to examine the average size of this difference (video deficit) and investigate moderators. An average deficit of about half of a standard deviation was reported across 122 independent effect sizes from 59 reports, involving children ages…

The purpose of this literature review is to identify patterns and discuss key perspectives from empirical studies published during the last decade that explore how young children (birth to six years old) and teachers together engage with digital technologies in early childhood education and care institutions. An inductive thematic analysis results…

The use of touchscreen mobile devices in early childhood education has gained considerable attention. Several studies have been conducted to investigate the impacts of touchscreen mobile devices on children's cognitive and affective development. Researchers have further indicated the need to probe in which contexts children can learn effectively…

Teacher-child interactions are the most important factor that determines the quality of early-childhood education. A systematic review was conducted to gain a better understanding of the nature of teacher-child interactions that multilingual children are exposed to, and of how they differ from teacher-child interactions of monolingual children.…

The teaching of foreign languages to young learners is growing in popularity around the world. Research in this field, particularly of English as a second/foreign language education in East Asia, is a relatively new area of empirical inquiry, and it has the potential to make significant contributions to child second-language acquisition…

Contemporary scientific cognizance on the development of children and the possibilities of their education has altered the image of the child to such an extent that the majority of scholars speak of a New Paradigm. This paradigm defines the child as a unique, singular, complete and complex being who realizes his personality through…

Discusses several theories of play advanced before the development of psychoanalysis, including the theories of surplus energy, recreation, and practice. Examines the psychoanalytical view advanced by Freud and others, which focuses on the emotional release of play and its role in discovery and learning. (MDM)

Many studies have shown that children of various ages learn from educational television, but the studies have not explained how children extract and comprehend educational content from these television programs. This paper proposes a model, the "capacity model," that focuses on children's allocation of working memory resources while…

Reviews research offering the teacher a different perspective from which to view beginning reading and provides a strong justification for activities normally thought to be less than academic. (Author/MP)

Discusses the cognitive behavior of young children as it applies to the concept of cognitive styles. Encompasses the field-dependence-independence dimension of cognitive style theory and the intellectual aspects and modifiability of cognitive style. (RJC)

Paper shows that Wittgenstein, in discussing ostensive definition, understanding, and the private language argument, attacks Saint Augustine's notion of learning. Recently, the Augustinian conception has been resurrected in cognitive theories postulating an innate language of thought, making Wittgenstein's claims that this conception of learning…

Piagetian and Vygotskian theories may be used as starting points to examine the role of play in development and learning from a constructivist perspective, including how children use play to deepen their understanding and skills, encounter new problems, and incorporate newly mastered skills into their play. Contemporary factors such as an emphasis…

Compares and contrasts the concept of social constructivism derived from work of Piaget and Vygotsky and examines their implications for young children's learning. Emphasizes the nature of social interaction with adults and children and its role in the construction of shared knowledge. Suggests that similarities in these two approaches are more…

Reviews current understanding of the process of emergent literacy development for linguistically diverse children. Claims that process of literacy development can be viewed as a sequential developmental task. Also explains that children create principles or hypotheses to develop literacy specific to their understanding of their native language and…

Examines paradigm shifts in the conceptualization of representational play, and implications for children's learning. Argues that children's play is culturally defined, valued, and interpreted and therefore, theories of play should be culturally specific. Advocates ethnographic research to avoid deficit models for non-Western children, and more…