Infants Do Not Appear to Learn Words from Educational DVDs

[steven johnson]

Children who are taught language with DVDS actually did worse than those who did not receive this training. This is thought to be due to less parental interaction.

(Mar. 6, 2010) — Among 12- to 24-month old children who view educational baby videos, there does not appear to be evidence that overall general language learning improves or that words featured in the programming are learned, according to a report posted online that will appear in the May print issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.


When additional tests were conducted after six weeks, there was no evidence children learned the words specifically highlighted in the DVDs, and watching the DVDs was unrelated to measures of general language learning. However, children whose parents reported that they began watching infant DVDs at an early age scored lower on a test of vocabulary knowledge.

The association between early DVD viewing and delays in language development could have several explanations, the authors note: "Parents who are concerned about their children's poor language abilities may use baby DVDs to try to teach their children, parents who use baby DVDs early may be less likely to engage in behaviors that promote language development or early viewing of baby DVDs may actually impair language development," they write.



Infants Do Not Appear to Learn Words from Educational DVDs

[Warpy]

1. You'd think people would have seen this coming

Infants and toddlers need feedback from people around them that they're on the right track when they're learning how to form their first words. Those tapes are just electronic babysitters, the kid hypnotized by the sounds and pretty colors but not making any sense out of them without the all important feedback from a caretaker.

Of course they don't work. It's amazing so many people were gullible enough to think they would.

[DCKit]

3. What you said.

Without actual human interaction, it's just noise.

[pinto]

4. Really. Connecting words to another human in real time seems pretty basic.

:hi:

[FBaggins]

2. I don't know about "parental" interaction...

...but it's clearly because there is NO interaction. Infants can't learn that way. There are no connections being made.

You can't learn by pure observation until you've picked up context and symbols.

Simplified - tied a bell to an infant's left shoe and she will usually pick up pretty quickly that moving her LEFT leg makes the noise, but not her right. If she likes the noise than she will continue to do this (even before she recognizes her foot as HER foot). But play a tape of a bell ringing periodically? There is no learning. No connection is made.

The basic principle holds true as an andragogical principle as well. Words on a page or content in a video is rarely as effective at transfer of learning when compared to an interactive event. Even something as simple as "click here for more information" is more effective than placing the information on the screen to begin with.

[Hestia]

5. Engage = read them books starting at an early age. It's make a huge difference

[Jonathan_Collins]

6. Technology v/s Human Touch

This shows technology cannot completely replace 'the personal touch' - not yet!