 Many parents and teachers think screen time is something to be avoided. As much of electronic media pays little thought to developing brains, that's often the right response. But new research shows that not all screen interactions are created equal. For example, what happens when watching a screen means talking with grandma? Studies of Skype, FaceTime and webcam technology pose new questions about learning via a screen. A study at Temple University investigated whether toddlers could learn words when talking with an adult over Skype. Results showed that they could. They learned words as well as if they were having an in-person conversation. A key ingredient is researcher Kathy Hirsch-Basek, maybe contingency, the ability to have a back and forth authentic conversation in which what an adult says is contingent on what a child asks and vice versa. Or what happens when a teacher is next to a child, helping that child make sense of what he's doing. This project is teaching two different math concepts. So one concept is subitizing, and that is the ability to recognize a set of numbers just by looking at it and not by counting. So if I hold up two fingers, you say two. Without counting one, two, you just say two. So subitizing is one of the core math concepts. We'll design four games at the end of this project to teach subitizing. The other part of the curriculum that we're teaching is equipartitioning, which is fair sharing, the ability to take a group of objects and divide them equally amongst set. So this is a really interesting area. A lot of work has been done in this area in early elementary, but not a lot of work has been done in preschool. So we're pioneering this curriculum topic as well as the implementation of it as a technology-based project. Perfect. Now can we check and see if that's right? What? Watermelon? Watermelon. Look it. They each have the same. It's equal. It is equal, Gianni. You do know how to come out. Some developers are examining how to create apps that, even if used by children alone, could engage and challenge them. One way to practice early math skills, for example, might involve playing pattern games or matching games integrated with music. One old-fashioned video, video that is linear, not designed to respond to one's actions, is being tested for its power to model what it looks like to have warm, socially and cognitively engaging conversations with children. Video modeling has potential for teaching parenting skills without lecturing at parents. The Baby Amoe program has been implemented in six counties in California. In California, it's estimated that 20 to 30 percent of incarcerated teen males are already fathers. The central focus of the Baby Amoe program is the opportunity for the father and the child to visit with one another so that they can establish a relationship. But to have a supported visit that is conducive to play, then you can start training sessions to help the fathers come in with some skills to play with their babies. The ultimate goal is to reduce recidivism across time and strengthening those family ties is one of the main ways that we have demonstrated in research that it is possible. Part of the program used video clips of father-son diads based on Sesame Street characters. That opened possibilities for fun interactions fathers could have with their children during visitation. Speaking of video, what about kids creating the videos themselves? The message for me is designed to help the early childhood community. Is this the picture you want to share? Children can take a picture during the day, record a message and send it to their parents. To get parents and children talking about their day. Who do you want to send your message to? That's really cool. Casey had a long time relationship with the Krate Lab at CMU. We are using the message for me in our preschool and our kindergarten centers classrooms and have been using it with children three to six years of age. We found that we can touch on all of the early learning standards by using it with a digital camera and just taking pictures of what the children are doing, taking pictures of their friends. We've used a lot with our own curriculum. In this project, developers started by using desktop computers and highly visible but non-mobile kiosks sitting in classrooms. Now they are shrinking it down to iPad size. This connection that our families, our parents, our grandparents have been able to have with the kids is just amazing. They receive messages during the day so they can see what the school looks like. They can see how their children are interacting with their friends. They can see what they're learning in the classroom, what their new vocabulary for the day is and that's been wonderful. We've received really good feedback from that. Lastly, examples are cropping up of how technology could be harnessed to improve teaching with platforms for caregivers and teachers that deliver video and apps for themselves and their children. The Fred Rogers Center is proud to introduce the Early Learning Environment, or LE. LE is like a library and a playroom where you can find online and mobile educational activities that are fun to do with children up to five years old. It's also a place where you can easily find and use a variety of media to learn about helping children improve their language and reading skills. We encourage those who care for children to treat media more like they would treat a book. There's a chance to sit with a child, share time together and talk about what children are seeing and hearing.