Visit http://www.techsoup.org for donated technology for nonprofits and libraries! With young children gaining access to a dizzying array of games, videos, and other digital media, will they ever learn to read? The answer is yes—if they are surrounded by adults who know how to help and if they are introduced to media designed to promote literacy, instead of undermining it. In short, these children and their families could greatly benefit from a media mentor. What exactly is a media mentor? Michael Levine and Lisa Guernsey, authors of Tap, Click, Read: Growing Readers in a World of Screens, and Chip Donohue, editor of Family Engagement in the Digital Age: Early Childhood Educators as Media Mentors, discuss this new term in the lexicon of 21st-century early childhood education. Media mentors can help children grow into strong, passionate readers who are skilled at using media and technology of all kinds—print, digital, and everything in between. What skills do media mentors need? How can they be supported? And how can more children gain access to them? Michael, Lisa, and Chip lead a discussion that explores the importance of these new roles.

1. Media Mentors: Helping Children Build Literacy
Skills for the Digital Age
Sheetal Singh, Early Learning Lab
Chip Donohue, TEC Center at Erikson Institute
Lisa Guernsey, Education Policy Program at New America
Michael H. Levine, Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop
June 16, 2016

2. . © TechSoup Global | All rights reserved2
Using ReadyTalk
• Chat to ask questions
• All lines are muted
• If you lose your Internet connection,
reconnect using the link emailed to you
• If you lose your phone connection, re-
dial the phone number and re-join
• ReadyTalk support:
800-843-9166
Your audio will play through your computer’s speakers. Hear an echo? You
may be logged in twice and will need to close one instance of ReadyTalk.

3. . © TechSoup Global | All rights reserved3
You Are Being Recorded…
This webinar will be available on the TechSoup website along with past
webinars: www.techsoup.org/community/events-webinars
You can also view recorded webinars and videos on our YouTube
channel: https://www.youtube.com/TechSoupVideo
You will receive an email with this presentation, recording, and links
within a few days.
Tweet us @TechSoup or using the hashtag #tswebinars

4. . © TechSoup Global | All rights reserved4
Presenters
Assisting with chat: Becky Wiegand, Webinar Program Manager, TechSoup
Sheetal Singh,
Director, Design and
Innovation at the
Early Learning Lab
Chip Donohue, Ph.D
Director of the TEC Center at
Erikson Institute in Chicago
Michael H. Levine,
Founding Executive
Director of the Joan Ganz
Cooney Center at Sesame
Workshop
Host: Susan Hope Bard, Training and Education Manager, TechSoup
Lisa Guernsey,
Director of the Early
Education Initiative and
the Learning Technologies
Project in the Education
Policy Program at New
America

5. . © TechSoup Global | All rights reserved5
Learning Objectives
1. Define the term media mentor
2. Explain the importance of media mentors
3. Identify and discuss skills that media mentors need
4. Answer your questions

6. 6
About TechSoup

7. . © TechSoup Global | All rights reserved7
The Need Is Global – And So Are We
TechSoup’s mission is to build a dynamic bridge that enables civil society
organizations and social change agents around the world to gain effective access to
the resources they need to design and implement solutions for a more equitable
planet.
Countries Served TechSoup Partner Location NetSquared Local Group
Where are you on the map?

8. . © TechSoup Global | All rights reserved8
www.TechSoup.Global

9. . © TechSoup Global | All rights reserved9
Our Impact
Together, we build a stronger, more resilient civil society.
$5.2B
in technology products
and grants employed
by NGOs for the
greater good
35
languages used to
provide education
and support
100+
corporate and
foundation partners
connected with the
causes and
communities they
care about
6.2M
annual visits to
our websites
600,000
newsletter
subscribers
empowered with
actionable
knowledge
79%
of NGOs have improved
organizational efficiency
with TechSoup Global's
resource offering*
*Source: survey conducted among TechSoup members in 2013

10. . © TechSoup Global | All rights reserved10
Media Mentors: Helping Children
Build Literacy Skills for the Digital
Age
Number 2 in a series of 4 webinars on technology
for the early learning field
June 16, 2016

11. . © TechSoup Global | All rights reserved11
All children deserve the chance to grow, learn, and fulfill
their potential to be creative thinkers and doers. Yet too
many young children aren’t exposed to the engaging and
enriching experiences they need from birth to age five
that help them thrive and learn. The only way to close
this opportunity gap is to invest in the adults that care for
them.
11

12. . © TechSoup Global | All rights reserved12
What We Do
We create Aligned Learning and
Innovation Networks, both place-
based and topical, to accelerate
knowledge creation, innovation and
create the capacity for long term
sustainability and scale. Core features:
Diverse players and perspectives from
inside and outside the field
Co-design with intended beneficiaries
Rapid-cycle learning
Common success measures and rigorous
analysis
Systems approach for scale
12

13. . © TechSoup Global | All rights reserved13
Supply: Work with technologists to ensure products are research-based
and meet the needs of the field; define and test high-value technology
design elements.
Demand: Help program implementers and families understand the
range of tools available and make smart decisions on what to use.
Research to Practice: Guide the field in understanding how to
meaningfully and effectively integrate technology into programs.
13
Accelerating the use of innovative
technologies requires operating at
three levels:

14. . © TechSoup Global | All rights reserved14
Early Learning Technology Design Collaborative
Work with partners to identify, test,
and build an evidence-base for high-
impact design elements
Survey the field for current technology
needs and recommend strategies for
improvement
Webinar trainings to bring the latest
technology research to practitioners
and program implementers
Curated events with field leaders on
technology best practices
Incubation of new and improved
technology solutions
14

16. What This Means for
You
Join the Conversation
#MediaMentors
#TapClickRead
On Twitter:
• @ChipDono
• @LisaGuernsey
• @MLevine_JGCC

17. Poll
Which of these words describes you:
1. Teacher in the infant/toddler space
2. Teacher in pre-K setting
3. Teacher in kindergarten/ elementary
school
4. Leader or director of a school or center
5. Librarian
6. Afterschool Educator
7. Researcher
8. Advocate
9. Policymaker
10. Other

18. Poll
Have you ever heard of the concept of media
mentors or media mentorship?
1. Yes, I am a media mentor
2. I’ve heard the term but don’t really know
what it is
3. I’ve never heard this term before

19. The Problems
We Are Trying
to Solve

20. The Quiet Crisis

22. Learning to Read
Requires a
2-Pronged
Approach:
Knowledge and
Skills

23. An Explosion of
“Educational Apps”
More than 1 million apps on
iTunes and 80,000 of them are
marked as educational apps
Image © Shutterstock

24. The Field of Early Ed Has Been Responding

25. Sesame Street photo used with permission. Photo of Gov
Patrick used under Creative Commons license.

27. Poll
Given the guidance from experts in the fields
of health and learning, how are you feeling
about the capabilities of today’s professionals
to assist families as they navigate the digital
age?
1. Very Optimistic
2. Cautiously optimistic
3. Neutral
4. Relatively Pessimistic
5. Very Pessimistic

28. We Have to
Take A
Modern Approach

29. Comienza en Casa
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AlCSa88BBc

30. Bronfenbrenner (1979); Takeuchi (2011)
Government
Agencies
Digital
Media
Market
Local
School
System
Church, Library,
After-school
Spaces
School,
Teachers,
Peers
Digital
Media Spaces
The
Neighborhood
Dominant
Beliefs
Cultural
Values
Mass
Media
Parents’ Work
Home,
Parents,
Siblings
Attitudes & Ideologies
National & State
Policy
Ecological Perspectives on Development
Macrosystem
Exosystem
Mesosystem
Microsystem

31. The New Co-Viewing
Joint Media Engagement

32. The Tech
Marketplace
Alone Should
Not Drive this
Ecosystem

33. What’s In Store
Analyzing
descriptions of
popular and
award-winning
kids’ language
and literacy apps

35. Abundance of literacy apps for 3- to 5-year-olds
Target ages for languages/literacy apps

36. What apps aim to teach: basic skills

37. Of the top-50 most popular apps, very few
won awards

38. Vast majority are not designed
with “co-use” functionality

39. Qu’s Also Arise with E-Books
Nook children’s books by Barnes & Noble

40. How can we
ensure that the
device doesn’t get
in the way of
conversation?
Photo by JGCC Research
Team

42. Embedding
New Tools in
Relationship-Centered
Programs

43. atlas.newamerica.orgatlas.newamerica.org

44. Poll
Are you part of a project or initiative that
involves training parents or educators about
the best use of media and technology with
young children?
1. Yes, in a non-profit
2. Yes, in a public school
3. Yes, in a public library
4. Yes, elsewhere
5. No

45. Media Mentors

47. Family Engagement in
the Digital Age: Early
Childhood Educators
as Media Mentors
Chip Donohue, PHD
Director, TEC Center
Erikson Institute

48. Empower parents and engage families
Strengthen a parent...
and you strengthen a child.
Fred Rogers
You already have what it takes.
VROOM
Family engagement is about what we
do with families, not to families.

49. Family engagement matters
Intentionally use technology to:
• Improve communication
• Strengthen the home-school connection
• Build community and connect with communities
• Encourage parent-to-parent sharing
• Increase parent/caregiver involvement
• Enhance family engagement
• Empower parents and families

50. Family engagement matters
In the digital age…
• Be aware of barriers to access
• Meet the parents where they are
• Provide multiple pathways
• Understand the power of “nudges”
• Welcome new allies
• Be media mentors to parents so they can be
media mentors to their children

51. ✓ Email campaigns and social media
✓ Text messages
✓ Video clips
✓ Just in time learning
✓ Customized tips (age, stage, culture, language…)
✓ Empowering messages
✓ “Nudges”
✓ Parenting tips and digital skills
✓ Access, equity and the digital use divide
What works? Can we push and pull?

52. Innovative tech tools for family engagement
• Comienza en Casa
• Ready Rosie
• Ready4K
• Text4Baby
• Tech Goes Home
• Too Small To Fail
• Vroom

53. • Early childhood educators and teacher educators
• Informal educators in third spaces
• Parents, caregivers and families
• Pediatricians and allied health professionals
• Child Life specialists
• Disability/Inclusion specialists
• Media developers
• Policy makers
Engagement opportunities – Media mentors

54. Thoughts about Media Mentors
Today’s young children who are using technology to
learn and create while working with adults who can
set good examples and guide them to new heights are
receiving tremendous advantages. If only the
privileged few have the opportunity for that kind of
tech-assisted but human-powered learning, divides
will only grow wider.
Lisa Guernsey, 2016

55. Thoughts about Media Mentors
Digital media can be used not only to provide
families with information, but also, to increase
their understanding to use that information
effectively and creatively. By doing so, families
take on the roles as lifelong educators and
learners: they become powerful teachers for their
own children who also gain new skills
themselves.
Lopez, Caspe & Weiss, 2016

56. Thoughts about Media Mentors
Media mentors actively engage with children
and families interacting with digital media
provided within the library context, both
guiding children through positive and efficient
uses of the technology and modeling for
caregivers how they can support their
children’s digital literacy development outside
of the library.
Media Mentorship in Libraries Serving Youth, 2015
Campbell and Koester, 2016

57. Thoughts about Media Mentors
Now it is time to both upgrade the skills
of these professionals and envision new
professional roles to help families
understand and become savvy users of
the digital media and interactive
communication tools that are part of
children’s nested environments.
Guernsey & Levine,
2016

58. TapClickRead.org

59. Tap, Click, Read

63. 63
Questions?

64. . © TechSoup Global | All rights reserved64
Learn and Share!
Chat in one thing that you
learned in today’s webinar or will
try to implement.
Will you share this information
with your colleagues and within
your network?
Please complete the post-event
survey that will pop up once the
webinar ends!

65. . © TechSoup Global | All rights reserved65
TechSoup
www.techsoup.org/reading-eggs
Become a member of TechSoup!
www.techsoup.org/joining-techsoup/registration

66. . © TechSoup Global | All rights reserved66
Upcoming Webinars and Events
• June 30 Microsoft Outlook Tips and Tricks
Explore our webinar archives for more!

67. . © TechSoup Global | All rights reserved67
ReadyTalk offers dedicated product demos for
TechSoup organizations 4 times per week.
For more information: www.techsoup.org/readytalk
Please complete the post-event survey that will
pop up once you close this window.
Thank You to Our Webinar Sponsor!