The “New” Technology Environment: The Role of Content and Context on Learning and Development from Mobile Media

The rise of mobile media over recent years has brought promise and potential for children’s learning and development. With new—and often highly interactive—ways for children to engage with digital media and technology, as well as the ability to engage anywhere at anytime, mobile media is providing new and different opportunities unavailable with prior technologies. At the same time, these novel opportunities have led to more questions regarding the developmental appropriateness of digital media and technology, as well as how to best leverage the novel features of mobile media (e.g., touchscreens, anywhere/anytime engagement) to support young children’s learning and development. What has not changed, however, is the foundational importance of understanding not just whether and how children engage with mobile media but the content and context of that engagement. Indeed, emerging technologies afford new types of content (e.g., interactive) and contexts (e.g., mobile media can be taken anywhere), and have shifted traditional notions of screens and screen time. This chapter explores how new content and contexts afforded by mobile media fit into the daily lives of children and their influence on children’s learning and development.