Getting Ready to Learn describes how educational media have and are continuing to play a role in meeting the learning needs of children, parents, and teachers. Based on years of meaningful data from the CPB-PBS Ready To Learn Initiative, chapters explore how to develop engaging, playful, and developmentally appropriate content. From Emmy-Award-winning series to randomized controlled trials, this book covers the media production, scholarly research and technological advances surrounding some of the country’s most beloved programming.
Featuring a Foreword by Dr. Alice Wilder and Sir Ken Robinson
"Combining in-depth research analysis and practical case analysis, the
collected authors in Shelley Pasnik’s book present a hopeful vision of how
technology and media can support children’s learning. It models a kind of
intentional, thoughtful, and creative approach that gives positive meaning
to media and technology much needed in the often noisy world of mindless
consumption."
―Junlei Li, Fred Rogers Center/Zaentz Early Childhood, Harvard University, USA
"At last! A comprehensive and highly readable account of the CPB/PBS Ready
to Learn initiative, which has fundamentally transformed children’s television
programming. This is the first and only volume that puts all the accumulated
research together, and will be a valuable resource for anyone interested in
educational media. It will prove once and for all that high quality programming
can be a valuable resource for children’s social-emotional learning and cognitive
development."
―Susan B. Neuman, Professor of Childhood and Literacy Education, New York
University, USA
"In this well-researched collection, Pasnik and her colleagues distinguish
what makes the Ready To Learn initiative so unique, how it’s made a positive
difference in the lives of many families, and why it is an excellent public
investment. Getting Ready to Learn makes an extremely strong case for why
and how thoughtful, intentionally produced media can make a big difference
in the lives of young children, especially children who are most in need of
additional support and resources."
―Michael Robb, Senior Director of Research, Common Sense Media, USA