This document summarizes key findings from three articles on media and the classroom. It discusses trends in increasing media usage among students. It also outlines various government policies aimed at regulating children's media exposure and content. Finally, it reviews research on the links between media and cognition/academic achievement, finding small negative effects from heavy television viewing but benefits for some skills from moderate usage and educational video games. The document emphasizes the importance of educators understanding media effects and policies regarding classroom usage.

1. Media and the
Classroom
W200 IUPUI Fall 08
Amber Jarvis

2. Contents
Trends in Media Use by Donald F. Roberts and Ulla G. Foehr
Trends slide 1
Trends slide 2
Trends slide 3
Children’s Media Policy by Amy B. Jordan
Children’s Media slide 1
Children’s Media slide 2
Children’s Media slide 3
Media and Attention, Cognition, and School Achievement by Marie
Evans Schmidt and Elizabeth A. Vandewater
Media and Attention slide 1
Media and Attention slide 2
Media and Attention slide 3
Conclusion Slide
Citation Slide

3. Trends in Media Use
by Donald F. Roberts and Ulla G. Foehr
The average American eight- to eighteen-year-old
[reports] more than six hours of daily media use [per day].
There is a new term emerging known as “media
multitasking” which is the use of media such as a
television and online chat at the same time. This results in
the overload of media on students.
Student’s are reporting more media use than sleep, with
the largest reports being among African Americans.
Donald Roberts and Ulla Foehr examined how media use
and exposure vary within demographic factors such as
economic status, age, and race.

4. Trends in Media Use
Race and ethnicity are related to differences in media
exposure among older youth. African American and
Hispanic youths report more overall media exposure than
whites (total daily media exposure is 10:10, 8:52, and 7:58 for African Americans, Hispanics, and
whites, respectively).
The Chart to below was taken directly from the article.

5. My thoughts about Trends in
Media Use
Students are bombarded with media
everywhere. It is the job of an educator to
use media positively and teach students
the proper use of media.
Time management of media in the
classroom is key to it’s success as an
academic resource. However a fine line
must be walked as not to over use media.
As Roberts and Foehr conclude in their
report scrutiny in media usage must be
intense, especially in the classroom
setting. The use of protection and
blocking programs is crucial in and
educational setting.
With the creation of the World Wide Web
came a commonly unsupervised wealth of
information, which can distract students
from true learning.

6. Children’s Media Policy
by Amy B. Jordan
This article addressed the importance of balance in media
between healthy development of American children and the
consequences of excessive and age-inappropriate media
exposure.
Regulation in media has become a sticky subject, as it often
steps closely to the toes of freedom of speech. This is why it is
so important that educators and schools use blocking programs.
Jordan explains the uses of “Self-Regulation” which includes the
rating systems of movies. This allows individuals to make their
own decision on what is appropriate for themselves or their
child.
“Movie ratings came first, in 1968, after dramatic social
upheavals, including the sexual revolution, Vietnam War
protests, and assassinations of U.S. public figures, led
policymakers and the larger public to scrutinize the contribution
of media to the problems of the culture.”

7. Federal Children’s Media Policies
included in Jordan’s Article
Policy title Source Selected Action
Children’s Television Act of Passed by Congress Mandates educational
1990 Implemented by the FCC television for children on
commercial broadcast
stations.
Three-Hour Rule (1997) FCC processing guideline Provides guidelines for
MM Docket No. 93-48 allowable air times, length,
on-air identification.
Broadcast Decency Passed by Congress Stations may be penalized
Enforcement Act (2006) Implemented by the FCC $325,000 for airing
“patently offensive”
content (sexual or
excretory words) between
6 a.m. and 10 p.m.
Children’s Online Privacy Implemented by the FTC Requires operators of
Protection Act (1998). websites heavily used by
children under age
thirteen to obtain verifiable
parental consent.

8. My thoughts about Media
Policy
Amy B. Jordan made it very
clear how government
policies helped protect and
benefit children.
The policies on the previous
slide highlight the actions I
believed were relevant to
educational use of media.
The most interesting point
made in the article was how
policies are becoming so
hard to enforce due to the
growing portability of Media
(i.e.- ipods, handheld video
games and TV's, and cell
phones).

9. Media and Attention, Cognition, and
School Achievement
by Marie Evans Schmidt and Elizabeth A.
Vandewater
“Marie Evans Schmidt and Elizabeth Vandewater review
research on links between various types of electronic media and
the cognitive skills of school-aged children and adolescents.”
The key findings were that :
There is a small negative link between the total hours a child
spends viewing TV and that child’s academic achievement.
Research results showed that moderate TV viewing—one to ten
hours a week—was positively associated with achievement
(compared with no television at all), whereas heavier viewing—more
than eleven hours a week—was negatively linked with achievement
(-.09). Numerous correlational studies, with large samples, have
found similar small negative effects of total time spent watching TV
on achievement.(This is a paraphrased portion of Schmidt and
Vandewater’s findings)
Findings show that video games can actually enhance visual
spatial skills, such as visual tracking, mental rotation, and target
localization.

10. Media and Attention, Cognition, and
School Achievement
An analysis of more than 1 million students by MichaRazel
suggests that the optimal number of hours of TV viewed daily
decreases as children get older.
A nine-year-old is suggested to view two hours a day, whereas
for a seventeen-year-old the optimal amounts is half an hour.
IQ was found to play a large role in the association between TV
watching and achievement; students with lower IQ scores watch
more television, on average than those with a higher IQ.
In one experiment, eighth graders who watched a film that used
repeated zooms achieved higher scores on a search task that
required them to find details in a complex display. In fact, for
eighth graders who earned low scores on a pre-test of the
search task, viewing the film improved scores more than
practicing the search task itself. (This experiment was
conducted byGavriel Salomon and evaluated in the article.)

11. My thoughts about Media and
Attention, Cognition, and School
Achievement
The research presented in this
article shows the positive use of
media and its effects when
used in the optimum amounts
for certain ages.
Educationally, this article made
good suggestions on what
media helped students form
problem solving and critical
thinking abilities.
However, it was also pointed
out that studies have shown
that media education is not
reliable for the student in all
subject areas. Some things like
reading and writing still need to
be taught on a personal level.

12. Media can be used in the classroom
in positive ways, but educators
must be aware of the media which
they select to use. As explained
throughout much of the final source
many different medias are used to a
better advantage in different
cognitive areas of learning.
It is important that educators abide
by and understand the policies of
media usage and become aware of
their school’s or organization’s
policies of media usage.
As an educator know what your
class is doing with
media, encourage learning, but do
not cross over the line of
appropriate media usage for your
students.

13. Citation of Articles
Roberts, Donald F.; Foehr, Ulla G. (2008). Trends in
Media Use. Future of Children, v18 n1 p11-37.(ERIC
Document Reproduction Service No. EJ795858).
Jordan, Amy B. (2008). Children's Media Policy.
Future of Children, v18 n1 p235-253. (ERIC
Document Reproduction Service No. EJ795865).
Schmidt, Marie Evans; Vandewater, Elizabeth A.
(2008).Media and Attention, Cognition, and School
Achievement. Future of Children, v18 n1 p63-85.
ERIC Document Reproduction Service No.
EJ795860).