Research by URI’s children’s TV educational consultant makes news in POSITIVE PARENTING

Sara Sweetman, associate professor of elementary education and environmental education, and advisor and educational consultant for a variety of children’s television shows, including the CBP-PBS Ready to Learn Initiative, Sesame Street, and Molly of Denali, has been highlighted in the POSITIVE PARENTING NEWSFEED for her research on “Toddlers and TV: Making Screentime Matter.”

The full article and interview can be seen in the links below.

Sweetman works collaboratively with children’s television producers, writers, station educators, and researchers to ensure that content being delivered through television shows, digital games, and other media sources are designed to provide meaningful learning opportunities for children and their families.

“It’s hard to know what television shows are educational and which are just purely entertainment,” said Sweetman. “Many children’s shows have a team of educators making sure they are designed with knowledge about how children learn. Parents can rely on networks and shows that have education teams advising, reviewing, and ensuring the show is developmentally and content appropriate for your child,

“Sesame Street Workshop and PBS kids have an amazing staff of educators, and they bring in content specialists for each series. Having worked as an advisor I am awed by the thought and care that goes into the development of the media,” Sweetman said.