The Power of "Screen Time": Harnessing It to Promote Language and Literacy Learning in Early Childhood and Elementary School

Abstract

Headlines about the negative effects of screen time may alarm teachers and cause them to worry about using digital media with early childhood and elementary school students. However, the relationship between digital media use and language and literacy learning is complex, and there are, in fact, arguments both "for" and "against" the use of digital media in education. These benefits and drawbacks are important to understand now more than ever. After the coronavirus pandemic forced almost all schools in the United States to close in the spring, educators quickly pivoted to remote learning. Teachers and families are concerned about children's screen time--and about how to most effectively create and use digital materials. Although there is hope for the virus to abate and for students to learn in school, it is also known that, until there is a vaccine, digital media will likely play a significant role in instruction. Because language and literacy development are crucial to all other learning, this article focuses on helping educators maximize that development using screens.