For a number of years, the early childhood field has received guidance that young children and television does not promote language and conversation development. In the recent Pediatrics Journal, we find another UCLA study demonstrating findings to this effect. UCLA’s Frederick Zimmerman led a study using small recording devices similar to those used in Hart & Risley’s study in the 90’s. He found out a lot about children’s conversation at home, school, and outside at play. Findings demonstrated that children hearing more words from adults had a larger increase in language skills. It was noted that during these adult/child conversations, a lot of turn-taking dialogue took place. Children engaged in television had lower language scores. Recommendations of the study are: limit television viewing for children because it means there are less conversations with the adults in their homes.

Therefore, as the amount of technology advances in the early childhood classroom, steps must be taken by developers to ensure that teachers are engaged in rich conversation around the technological tools.