Social hazards or helpers? The role of mobile media in early childhood social development

This chapter reviews current theoretical and empirical work on associations between young children's mobile media use in early childhood education settings and their social development, including social relationships and foundational social skills such as communication, collaboration, and positive social interactions and engagement. Touchscreen tablets are highlighted given their increased presence in arly childhood education as well as their unique affordances specifically for young children. Particular attention is paid to factors influencing whether, what, and how educators integrate tablets into their classroom environments; facilitators and barriers to integration; how such integration may enable or interfere with social skills and relationships; and implications for practice and policy.