GRAPPLING WITH THE PANDEMIC - The Power of “ScreenTime” - Harnessing It to Promote Language and Literacy Learning in Early Childhood and Elementary School

Oct 15, 2026

Explores how screen time and digital media use during and after the coronavirus pandemic affects early childhood and elementary students’ language and literacy learning. Reviews evidence linking higher screen use to lower language and literacy outcomes in some contexts, while also explaining when carefully designed digital media can support attention, comprehension, vocabulary growth, and retention. Proposes educator-centered principles that consider content presentation, usage context, and learners’ age and background, emphasizing guidance for maximizing benefits rather than hindering development.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages7

Reading Time18 min

AccessFree to download

The power of “ScreenTime”

Negative reputations and mixed research findings

How digital media can support language and literacy

Factors that shape outcomes

GRAPPL ING WITH THE PANDEMIC ILLUSTRAT IONS BY KARIN RÖNMARK The Power of “ScreenTime” Harnessing It to Promote Language and Literacy Learning in Early Childhood and Elementary School By Rebecca D. Silverman and Kristin Keane “S creen time” has a rotten reputation. Though it is ubiquitous in children’s lives, research suggests it can have a negative impact on child development.1 For example, recent studies show that increased screen use (such as watching television, playing video games, or surfing online) is associated with lower scores on measures of language and literacy in preschool;2 and in elementary school, as access to and use of digital media increases, so do difficulties with academics and behavior.3 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.4 However, the relationship between digital media use and language and literacy learning is complex, and there are, infact, 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 Rebecca D. Silverman is an associate professor of education atthe Stanford Graduate School of Education. A former elementary school teacher, her research focuses on students’ early literacy development. Kristin Keane is a PhD student atthe Stanford Graduate School of Education and a former classroom teacher. 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 we are all hoping for the virus to abate and for students to learn in school, we also know 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, we focus on helping educators maximize that development using screens.* Digital media is a broad term describing content that is delivered through technology; it can include text, images, audio, animations, video, and interactives. On the one hand, digital media with abundant sightsand sounds may reduce children’s learning by overtaxing their ability to selectively attend to and process important information.5 On the other hand, digital media with more focused and coherent verbal and nonverbal representations of the content may support children’s acquisition and retention of that information.6 *Although remote instruction without the benefit of digital media is outside the scope of this article, we extend our heartfelt thanks to teachers across the country who have dedicated countless hours to creating paper instructional packets and calling students (and their families) who lack adequate internet access or computer equipment at home. We also wish to thank the many advocates working to right the wrong that is the digital divide. 20 AMERICAN EDUCATOR | WINTER 2020–2021 For example, consider building relevant knowledge and vocabulary to support comprehension of expository text on a topic such as coral reefs. Sharing an animated video of a fish singing about coral reefs and dancing along to the music may distract children’s attention from the topic and leave children with an unclear understanding of coral reefs. However, using alive-action video of plants and animals in a coral reef swaying gently to the rhythm of the waves accompanied by a clear explanation of what coral reefs are and what kinds of plants and animals live on coral reefs may actually help children learn about this habitat. Infact, research suggests the effect of digital media on children’s language and literacy learning may depend on a number offactors, includingthe presentation of the content, the context of the digital media use, and the ag

FAQs

为什么屏幕时间在儿童中会有负面名声？

研究指出，屏幕使用增加可能与学前阶段语言与识字测量分数较低相关；在小学阶段，随着数字媒体接入与使用增多，学生在学业与行为上也可能出现更大困难。

数字媒体在什么情况下可能促进语言和读写发展？

当数字媒体以更聚焦且连贯的语言与非语言表征呈现内容时，可能帮助儿童获取并保留信息。文章也强调内容呈现方式、使用情境以及儿童年龄与背景会影响效果。

文章给教师的核心行动建议是什么？

为最大化正面影响，教师应选择能强化或提供练习的数字媒体，并基于目标技能与概念进行配套设计，同时控制干扰，确保所用材料与教学对齐。

Oct 15, 2026

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