Cognitive Development in Digital Contexts investigates the impact of screen media on key aspects of children and adolescents’ cognitive development. Highlighting how screen media impact cognitive development, the book addresses a topic often neglected amid societal concerns about pathological media use and vulnerability to media effects, such as aggression, cyber-bullying and Internet addiction. It addresses children and adolescents’ cognitive development involving their interactions with parents, early language development, imaginary play, attention, memory, and executive control, literacy and academic performance. Covers the impact of digital from both theoretical and practical perspectives Investigates effects of digital media on attention, memory, language and executive functioning Examines video games, texting, and virtual reality as contexts for learning Explores parent-child interactions around media Considers the development of effective educational media Addresses media literacy and critical thinking about media Considers social policy for increasing access to high quality education media and the Internet Provides guidance for parents on navigating children’s technology usage

In the United States and in many other countries around the world, digital games have become an integral part of children’s lives. Discussions of research on youth and digital games often focus solely on negative effects (e.g., of violent video games), but this is far from the whole story. As natural problem-solving activities, digital games provide a rich context for applied cognition. This volume explores topics such as: The benefits of digital games for children and adolescents’ cognitive skills The nature of their learning from educational media The influence of developmental factors on their interactions with digital games The use of developmental research and established educational practice to create effective educational games that they will play. This is the 139th volume in this series. Its mission is to provide scientific and scholarly presentations on cutting edge issues and concepts in child and adolescent development. Each volume focuses on a specific new direction or research topic and is edited by experts on that topic.

With digital screens becoming increasingly ubiquitous in the lives of children, from their homes to their classrooms, understanding the influence of these technologies on the ways children read takes on great importance. The aim of this edited volume is to examine how advances in technology are shaping children’s reading skills and development. The chapters in this volume explore the influence of various aspects of digital texts, the child’s cognitive and motivational skills, and the child’s environment on reading development in digital contexts. Each chapter draws upon the expertise of scientists and researchers across countries and disciplines to review what is currently known about the influence of technology on reading, how it is studied, and to offer new insights and research directions based on recent work.

There are many reasons to be curious about the way people learn, and the past several decades have seen an explosion of research that has important implications for individual learning, schooling, workforce training, and policy. In 2000, How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School: Expanded Edition was published and its influence has been wide and deep. The report summarized insights on the nature of learning in school-aged children; described principles for the design of effective learning environments; and provided examples of how that could be implemented in the classroom. Since then, researchers have continued to investigate the nature of learning and have generated new findings related to the neurological processes involved in learning, individual and cultural variability related to learning, and educational technologies. In addition to expanding scientific understanding of the mechanisms of learning and how the brain adapts throughout the lifespan, there have been important discoveries about influences on learning, particularly sociocultural factors and the structure of learning environments. How People Learn II: Learners, Contexts, and Cultures provides a much-needed update incorporating insights gained from this research over the past decade. The book expands on the foundation laid out in the 2000 report and takes an in-depth look at the constellation of influences that affect individual learning. How People Learn II will become an indispensable resource to understand learning throughout the lifespan for educators of students and adults.

In the United States and in many other countries around the world, digital games have become an integral part of children’s lives. Discussions of research on youth and digital games often focus solely on negative effects (e.g., of violent video games), but this is far from the whole story. As natural problem-solving activities, digital games provide a rich context for applied cognition. This volume explores topics such as: The benefits of digital games for children and adolescents’ cognitive skills The nature of their learning from educational media The influence of developmental factors on their interactions with digital games The use of developmental research and established educational practice to create effective educational games that they will play. This is the 139th volume in this series. Its mission is to provide scientific and scholarly presentations on cutting edge issues and concepts in child and adolescent development. Each volume focuses on a specific new direction or research topic and is edited by experts on that topic.