The authors' goal is twofold. First, they wished to produce a theoretically-based approach to this synthesis. Child-centered programs have a long history. However, concerns about children's achievement, and the pressure of content-specific standards, have set up a perceived conflict, in which educators believe they are being asked to abandon…

Reviews salient findings of media research involving young children and discusses implications of these findings for future research and applications in instructional computing. Effects of television viewing on attention and comprehension, achievement, development of mental skills, and behavior and socioemotional development, and comparative media…