Think of YouTube Kids as digital training wheels for the little video viewers at your house - something a lot of parents have been wanting for a very long time. We all know how popular but not always appropriate YouTube is for kids. Problem solved. Designed for kids through age 8, YouTube Kids carefully screens videos so the littlest online viewers can satisfy their seemingly over-active curiosity … [Read more...] about A YouTube for the littlest video viewers
iPad
At the top of kids’ wish lists
Eighty-eight percent of US 12-to-17-year-olds want something digital for the holidays this year, CNET reports, and 69% want an Apple product. For girls (and teens overall), the iPhone tops wish lists, for boys it's the PlayStation 4. The iPad and Xbox One were close to the top, followed by an Apple iPod. The survey, by market researcher TNS Global for Ebates.com found that parents' guesses about … [Read more...] about At the top of kids’ wish lists
Mobile learning & edugames taking off worldwide
Whether it's the chicken or the egg – the device or the edugames – fueling the growth isn't completely clear, but "tablets are proliferating everywhere across the planet," said Sam Adkins, head of research for market research firm Ambient Insight, at the Serious Play Conference in Redmond, Wash., last week. He was referring to mobile learning – especially on tablets, where school's concerned – and … [Read more...] about Mobile learning & edugames taking off worldwide
Children’s library-on-a-tablet
In 2007 and '08, we took our kids, then 10 and 16, around the world, and we certainly could've used this technology and media then! Kids can bring along hundreds of books that take up no more space than a Kindle (introduced after we left on our 10-month trip August 2007) or the iPad, which debuted in 2010. A downside, though, might be parents having to ask kids what they're doing on their tablets … [Read more...] about Children’s library-on-a-tablet
The power of kid-powered tablets
This article about tablets in school has something to teach us about tablets at home too. Tablets – iPads, Kindle Fires, Meeps, Nabis, iTouches (see this) – and even the apps on them aren't the main event. They can be seen as the means to an end: creativity, communication, learning, fun (author and game designer Ralph Koster says that "fun is just another word for learning"). What a child brings … [Read more...] about The power of kid-powered tablets