Infant learning via t.v.

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The question as to whether television is a good way to teach children has always been hotly debated. There has been studies conducted that demonstrate that school age children can benefit from educational programs geared toward their age range. Some elementary schools in the United States have implement educational shows into their daily classes; even high schools and colleges use educational videos as part of their lectures and many say they are beneficial. Yet there is a new trend that seems to be sweeping across America; infant targeted media products. These new shows are now targeting children as young as 12 months, telling parents that it will help their child develop faster and ahead of their peers. It’s an appeal that no parent could pass up because everyone what’s their child to be the next Einstein. The question however is do these products actually work? This is the question DeLoache et al. (2010) and Krcmar, Grela, and Lin (2007) attempt to answer in their research into media and infant learning. Both studies focus on infant related media shows vs patent interaction, which learning style works the best, and if the claims by marketers about the effectiveness of their shows hold some or any validity.
DeLoache and colleagues (2010), examines the claims made by marketers of infant educational media that by watching their programs, infants as young as 12 months old will develop language skills faster and thus will learn faster and better as they mature. This theory was tested by taking the most popular video of that time and examining how many new words infants between 12 to 18 months learn from watching it. The study was conducted on 72 infants between the ages of 12 to 18 months, mixed between boys and girls, ...

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...an be useful at certain age ranges, it does not appear that baby educational media works. Infants learn the best with their parents are the ones teaching them. The research done by DeLoache and colleagues (2010) and Krcmar and colleagues (2007) demonstrate this. The truth of the matter is that since the dawn of man, parents have always been there teaching their children to survive. Whether it was hunting, walking, or speaking, the interaction between the parent and the child will always be paramount in the child’s development. From the time they are born, babies see their parents, not the television, and it is from that moment that the child looks to their care giver for guidance. Perhaps as technology improves, and television becomes more interactive will we see a difference in how well these types of programs work, but for now nothing beats the real thing.

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