media diet Archives

How to use Guided Access settings on the iPad

By Emily On June 25, 2015 · Add Comment

In my house, using the iPad is an earned privilege. But guess what? Kids will be kids, and inevitably I’ll find one of them tucked quietly in a corner playing something they shouldn’t anyways. So I’ve learned how to use Guided Access and Restrictions to make sure my kids aren’t looking at things that aren’t allowed. Guided Access works for temporarily limiting kiddos to playing only one app on a device (like your personal iPhone or iPad). We’ve covered Restrictions, which are best for devices that your kids use most – read our walk-through here. Set up Guided Access Tap Settings > General > Accessibility > Guided Access to set up Guided Access. From there, here’s what you can do: Turn Guided Access on or off Set a passcode that controls the use of Guided Access and prevents someone from leaving an active session Set whether the device can [...]

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Tips for unplugging on family vacations

By Emily On June 24, 2015 · Add Comment

Now that you’ve read our feature about using the family iPad to prevent brain drain, it’s time to talk about unplugging. Every family has its own rules for screen time, but unplugging during family vacation can be hard – especially if you’re using the iPad as a way to distract fidgety young travelers. But family time is important, and some of my best memories come from vacations and road trips I took with my parents and brother. Here are some tips on how to get your kids to put the device away and make new memories: Set a timer – if your child’s daily media diet includes some screen time, stick to your guns. If you say 15 minutes, then it should be exactly 15 minutes. Set a kitchen timer (not a timer on the device) so that everyone knows when the time is up. Bring [...]

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Parent Post: ‘Your Children Need Real-Life Video Game Escapades’

By Emily On June 12, 2015 · Add Comment

One of the site we use most for resources in the world of educational technology is the official page of the Joan Ganz Cooney Center, which is ‘an independent research and innovation lab that focuses on the challenges of educating children in a rapidly changing media landscape’. Some say Joan Ganz Cooney and her colleagues began the edu-tech revolution with their creation of Sesame Street in 1966, which makes the Cooney Center a veritable mecca of information. Below you’ll find an excerpt from a recent blog post that includes a great story about how one father used what his kids learned gaming to encourage them to take it outside the screen. Read the post in its entirety here. “We’re thrilled to share Jordan Shapiro’s account of a recent road trip to Niagara Falls with his sons. Despite a relaxed screen time policy while on the road, the boys find [...]

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Putting your kids on a “media diet”

By Emily On April 24, 2014 · Add Comment

There’s a lot of buzz about screen time, with more and more research emerging that the time your children spend with technology isn’t quite as important as the quality of the technology they’re using. The American Academy of Pediatrics has a very clear and well-written recommendation for guidelines to follow when parents are struggling with how to approach children’s media usage. An underlying theme of the research from a variety of sources is that television isn’t as high in quality as, say, an educational app. Books, newspapers, and kid-centric magazines are even better than using mobile gaming devices, but I would wager that your household owns more electronic devices than issues of Highlights. Finding the right app for your little one isn’t easy, but if you’re trying to make the transition away from TV time to more engaging and interactive apps, it can be really hard to decide [...]

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Educational & Learning Apps for the iPad and iPad mini

How to use Guided Access settings on the iPad

Tips for unplugging on family vacations

Parent Post: ‘Your Children Need Real-Life Video Game Escapades’

Putting your kids on a “media diet”

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