Early Childhood Literacy Projects

I have devised and produced many digital projects in support of research-supported literacy initiatives. For each I produced digital and non-digital games, over 200 in total, and provided the digital extensions for classroom usage, buddy programs, app development, and home-based play. The platforms for which they were developed span web, app, interactive whiteboard, and Amazon's custom Glow platform.

These projects include Between the Lions (early reading), Martha Speaks (vocabulary), Molly of Denali (informational text), Small Wonders (family reading), and Amazon Glow (phonics).

Awards for these projects include my Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Writing in a Children's Series for Between the Lions and many digital awards for the projects: Parents Choice Gold, Invision New Media Gold, W3 Gold, MIMC Gold and awards from the ALSC. Molly of Denali, for which I was the digital lead, won a George Foster Peabody award.

This work has been the bedrock of many educational portals and programs including those at PBS KIDS, PBS Kids for Parents, PBS LearningMedia, Reach Every Reader, Games Changers, the Learning Portal, and Resources for Early Learning.

This work has been highlighted in an incredible body of research work, listed below.

Ali, Zuraina, and Mohd Amir Izuddin Mohamad Ghazali. "Learning technical vocabulary through a mobile app: English language teachers’ perspectives." International Journal of Language Education and Applied Linguistics (2016).

Barr, R., and D. N. Linebarger. "Media Characters, Parasocial Relationships, and the Social Aspects of Children's Learning." Media Exposure During Infancy and Early Childhood: The Effects of Content and Context on Learning and Development (2016): 141.

Bebell, Damian, and Joseph Pedulla. "A quantitative investigation into the impacts of 1: 1 iPads on early learner’s ELA and math achievement." Journal of Information Technology Education. Innovations in Practice 14 (2015): 191

Brown, Sara, et al. Impact of Educational Television. Diss. Honors College, Arkansas State University, 2021.

Chiong, Cynthia, and Carly Shuler. "Learning: Is there an app for that." Investigations of young children’s usage and learning with mobile devices and apps. New York: The Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop. 2010

Curtis, Nathan, and Sean Sweeney. "App-Enabled Telepractice." The ASHA Leader 17.12 (2012): online-only.

DeWitt, Sara, and Linda Simensky. "From mission to screens: The PBS KIDS approach to content." Getting Ready to Learn. Routledge, 2018. 16-26.

Duke, Nell K., Carol Greenwald, and Anne E. Lund. "Informational Text Adventures with Molly of Denali." Getting Ready to Learn. Routledge, 2018. 163-178.

Fisch, Shalom M. "Learning from Educational Television Among Preschool and School-age Children." The Routledge international handbook of children, adolescents, and media (2022): 459-466.

Harvard Graduate School of Education. “Cultivating Early Literacy Apps.” Harvard Graduate School of Education, President and Fellows of Harvard College, Oct. 2024, www.gse.harvard.edu/apps/early-literacy.

"HGSE Faculty Ready New App Targeting Children's Literacy Skills." Harvard Graduate School of Education, 8 July 2020, https://www.gse.harvard.edu/ideas/news/20/07/hgse-faculty-ready-new-app-targeting-childrens-literacy-skills.

Huang, Lexie. The Magic of Cartoons: How English-Learning Animations Enhance Child L2 Acquisition. Diss. 2023.

HUGHES, LEIGH. "Digital Game Design." Women and Video Game Modding: Essays on Gender and the Digital Community (2020): 172.

Judge, Sharon, Kimberly Floyd, and Tara Jeffs. "Using mobile media devices and apps to promote young children’s learning." Young children and families in the information age: Applications of technology in early childhood. Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands, 2014. 117-131.

Kennedy, Joy Lorenzo, et al. "The efficacy of digital media resources in improving children’s ability to use informational text: An evaluation of Molly of Denali from PBS KIDS." American Educational Research Journal 59.6 (2022): 1194-1228

Levin, Mollie, and Elizabeth Myers. "Promises and Challenges of Virtual Human-Centered Design with and for Rural Communities." (2020).

Linebarger, Deborah L. "Summative evaluation of Between the Lions: A final report to WGBH Educational Foundation." University of Kansas: Kansas City, Kansas. Retrieved April 3 (2000): 2010.

Linebarger, Deborah L. "Teaching with television: New evidence supports an old medium." Phi Delta Kappan 93.3 (2011): 62-65.

Linebarger, Deborah L., et al. "Effects of viewing the television program between the lions on the emergent literacy skills of young children." Journal of Educational Psychology 96.2 (2004): 297.

Lowenstein, David, Pamela Johnson, and Michael Fragale. "Ready to learn and public media: Improving early learning outcomes for America’s children." Getting ready to learn. Routledge, 2018. 1-15.

Mehdipour, Yousef, and Hamideh Zerehkafi. "Mobile learning for education: Benefits and challenges." International Journal of Computational Engineering Research 3.6 (2013): 93-101.

Neumann, Michelle M., and David L. Neumann. "Touch screen tablets and emergent literacy." Early Childhood Education Journal 42.4 (2014): 231-239.

Nizam, Dinna N. Mohd, and Effie Lai-Chong Law. "In the eyes of young children: A study on focused attention to digital educational games." Proceedings of the 32nd International BCS Human Computer Interaction Conference. BCS Learning & Development, 2018.

Pasnik, Shelley. Getting ready to learn: Creating effective, educational children’s media. Routledge, 2018.

Pasnik, Shelley, and Carlin Llorente. "2012 Context Study of the Use of Technology and PBS KIDS Transmedia in the Home Environment: A Report to the CPB-PBS" Ready to Learn Initiative"." Education Development Center, Inc. (2012).

Qaiser, Zara. "Early childhood education and care and the use of digital media in informal environments." Berkeley Review of Education 9.2 (2020).

Richards, Melissa N., and Sandra L. Calvert. "Media characters, parasocial relationships, and the social aspects of children’s learning across media platforms." Media exposure during infancy and early childhood: The effects of content and context on learning and development. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2016. 141-163.

Robb, Michael B., and Alexis R. Lauricella. "Connecting child development and technology: What we know and what it means." Technology and digital media in the early years. Routledge, 2014. 70-85.

Robledo, S. Jhoanna. "Mobile Devices for Learning: What You Need to Know." George Lucas Educational Foundation (2012).

Schmitt, Kelly L., et al. "Learning through play: The impact of web-based games on early literacy development." Computers in Human Behavior 81 (2018): 378-389.

Silverman, Rebecca D., et al. "Effects of a cross-age peer learning program on the vocabulary and comprehension of English learners and non-English learners in elementary school." The Elementary School Journal 117.3 (2017): 485-512.

Silverman, Rebecca, et al. "Effects of a multimedia enhanced reading buddies program on kindergarten and Grade 4 vocabulary and comprehension." The Journal of Educational Research 110.4 (2017): 391-404.

St. Clair, James, and Linda R. Schwetz. "Between the Lions" as a Classroom Tool." The Reading Teacher 56.7 (2003): 656-659.

Strickland, Dorothy S., and Linda K. Rath. "Between the Lions: Public Television Promotes Early Literacy." (2000).

Taiwo, Samuel Oluwatobi, Uleanya Chinaza, and Makhosazana Magigaba. "Learning Impact (s) of Smartphones on South African Rural University Students." Journal of Research in Higher Education 7.2 (2023): 114-128.

Travers, J. C., and Cori M. More. "TECH IT: Obtaining, evaluating, and using instructional technology innovations in early childhood." Instructional technology in early childhood: Teaching in the digital age. Baltimore, MD: Brookes Publishing Co (2013).

Unal, Zafer, and Aslihan Unal. "Preservice teachers’ experiences on accessing course materials using mobile devices." International Journal on E-Learning. Vol. 13. No. 4. Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE), 2014.

Whitney, Kelly Leahy. Traditional and Technological Enrichment: Preschool Parents and Emerging Digital Products. Harvard University, 2013.

Yang, Jade. "Video games for stem learning: How does it work." American Society Engineering Education Illinois-Indiana Section Annual Conference, Illinois. Retrieved. Vol. 1. 2019.

Zaidah, Vina Misykah, and Tatik Ariyati. "DIGITAL MEDIA TEACHING FOR LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT AT EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION." Proceeding Internasional Conference on Child Education. Vol. 1. No. 2. Universitas Muhammadiyah AR Fachruddin, 2023.