Quality Play and Media: In Childhood Education and Care

Kate Highfield · Margaret Sims · C. Glenn Cupit

Australian Council on Children and the Media

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In the early years, children learn mostly through play. Their receptive young minds are formed and their physical skills are developed as they begin to explore the world around them. They learn how to get along with others as they develop social skills and learn how to handle their emotions.

What impact is using digital technology having on how children are developing? Is it harming them or is it helping them? What role do parents and caregivers have in all this?

These are some of the questions this e-book sets out to answer. Some of our best minds contribute important ideas on what parents, educators and caregivers need to know about the impact of electronic media on our children’s development. More importantly they offer us guidance on what we can do to avoid the pitfalls and make use of the ways it can enhance children’s learning.

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Kate Highfield is a lecturer at Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia. Broadly she researches the impact of technology as a tool in learning and play, with young children, undergraduate students, parents and educators. Kate’s current research explores young children’s learning and play with technology, with a focus on touch technologies, including mobile devices, tablets, iPads and smartphones. This work examines digital play, in both home and educational settings, and focuses on the impact of interactive multi-media on learning and play.

Margaret Sims is Professor of Early Childhood at the University of New England, Armidale, Australia. She currently edits the Australasian Journal of Early Childhood and is well known internationally for her research into quality care in early childhood. Her recent publications include Program Planning for Infants and Toddlers, Social Inclusion and the Early Years Framework and Building Integrated Connections for Children Their Families and Communities.

C. Glenn Cupit has spent over thirty years in research and teaching of child development in early childhood teacher education. He has published and spoken widely about children’s interaction with electronic media; his most recent publication being Play and quality in early childhood: Educating superheroes and fairy princesses. This book canvasses the nature of play, understanding media influences on play including the gendering of play and developing program responses to media based play.

Karl Brettig manages Salisbury Communities for Children, an Australian government initiative which focuses on building support for young children, their families and communities and is based at the Salvation Army Ingle Farm. Salisbury C4C has developed a number of resources to support parents including Parenting Together and How it Is – Young Mums: the Truth Revealed. With Professor Margaret Sims he coedited Building Integrated Connections and has also recently compiled Building Stronger Communities together with the Children Communities Connections Learning Network.