Children’s Joint Attention and Efficiency of Their Learning With Media Essay

Introduction

Children and the upbringing they receive determine the future society will meet. This timeless truth is the central, intuitive reason why sociology experts explore the subject of the basics and nuances of parenting, teaching, and learning of infants, toddlers, and children of other age categories. According to Bergin and Bergin (2018), this academic field is called the theory of development. New topics are rapidly growing within it and are attracting the attention of many social studies experts. These are learning through traditional and novel media and the associated concept of joint attention. As Barr (2019) notes, “media is so pervasive that it should no longer be considered a nuisance variable that could affect development but rather, a fundamental part of the context in which development occurs” (p. 1). In this paper, the topic of shared attention in young children will be discussed, and a personal opinion about the effectiveness of their learning through TV and video will be provided.

Young Children’s Shared Attention

In order to start discussing the sociological topics listed above, the terms mentioned must be defined, such as joint attention. According to Shteynberg (2018), it “involves the activation of a psychological perspective that is personal and plural and irreducibly collective — a perspective in which the world is experienced from ‘our attention’” (p. 93). From a personal viewpoint, it is an event triggered by a child’s biases reacting to a young individual’s noticing that their parents are focused on or observing something, with their subsequent mimicry of that action to gain more context. The process of shared attention introduces infants and toddlers to media and video technologies and one-way dissemination of information and knowledge. It is an essential concept in the social sciences because it partly explains young children’s first non-interactive ways of learning and provides new prospects for teachers and educators to develop new, more efficient educational TV shows and digital software for little children.

Development Efficiency through Joint Attention and Media

Another issue that sociologists are now investigating is the effectiveness and quality of media as a tool for teaching children. Bergin and Bergin (2018) point out that their practicality is situational and educational outcomes differ significantly between identical interventions even when the settings and participants have many similarities. Kirkorian (2018) argues that the impact of non-interactive learning via media primarily depends on children’s cognitive resources and the design of learning initiatives. Barr (2019) is of a similar opinion; she states that early exposure to video and other one-way digital information channels forms how children consume and interpret educational content from the media. I agree with these stances, as I believe that non-interactive ways of teaching small children with digital tools and software do work, but their effectiveness is much more limited than those of interactive programs. When the channel of knowledge delivery is one-way, such mental elements of a young child as modes of perception, techniques of understanding, and interpretation cannot be influenced significantly. Moreover, they do not have much experience in cognition with their resources only.

Conclusion

In this work, such sub-themes of the theory of development were discussed as joint attention and efficacy of non-interactive and media means of teaching small children. Both academic and personal perspectives were given for each of the two. Today, digital instruments and technical innovations enter human life from the very first years, if not months. Understanding their impact on cognitive development and the associated teaching limits and possibilities can make societies better, safer, and smarter.

References

Barr, R. (2019). Growing up in the digital age: Early learning and family media ecology. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 28(4), 341-346. doi:10.1177/0963721419838245

Bergin, C. C., & Bergin, D. A. (2018). Child and adolescent development in your classroom, chronological approach. Cengage Learning.

Kirkorian, H. L. (2018). When and how do interactive digital media help children connect what they see on and off the screen?Child Development Perspectives, 12(3), 210-214.

Shteynberg, G. (2018). A collective perspective: Shared attention and the mind.Current Opinion in Psychology, 23, 93-97.