Would it surprise you to know that by the time they reach fourth grade, around age 10, 33% of kids in the US can't read at their grade level? Statistics like these are what drove Sesame Workshop to establish The Joan Ganz Cooney Center last December. Founded on the idea that learning in kids ages six to 11 could be improved if educators and industry were able to harness kids' love of, and immersion in, new media, the center has set out to research potential hot spots in the landscape. And its first report D is for Digital hones in on a category ripe for exploration and innovation - informal educational consumer products. We're talking toys, video games, computer games and online software that in one way or another have the potential to fuel children's literacy and cognitive development. Is there a way to bring these manufacturers together to build a smarter, more entertaining mousetrap, so to speak? All signs point to yes in D is for Digital.

Charting a new course

It's worth noting at the outset that the report does not present itself as definitive. Cooney Fellow and D is for Digital author Carly Shuler says it's a starting point. Like the efforts of TJGCC, she says, the end goal with the paper was to get academics and manufacturers exploring ways to make more compelling educational digital media products together. "We're working on a Sesame Workshop model for older kids," she says. "Bringing together educators and business people and mashing their ideas to come out with products."

She adds some academics spend their lives studying how kids interact with media in the context of their development (see "The Middle Years" p. 90), and there are companies putting out toys marked educational that may not be founded on any kind of pedagogy. "You need both to make fun, educational goods." Additionally, the report highlights a number of cool academic projects that product creators should know about (see "Too Cool in School" p. 98).

To get the ball rolling, the report outlines just how immersed in digital media elementary-school-age kids are these days, recapping their tendency to multitask that leads them to log more than six hours per day interacting with various outlets, including computers and TVs. It also points out just how accepting parents have become of their children's digital consumption, citing stats that show 74% of US moms and dads are comfortable with the idea that the once-maligned video game console is now a regular part of family life.

And while any digital consumer products manufacturer worth its salt stays on top of trends, D is for Digital outlines the current modes of media consumption sweeping the core kid demo, largely for background. So there's an overview of what's shaping virtual worlds à la the Webkinz phenomenon, user-generated content, casual online gaming and the advent of streaming video via computer.

More interesting, perhaps, to industry types is the categorical scan of the current product market that identifies some holes ready to fill. For example, D is for Digital documents 88 electronic learning aid (ELA)-related items in the US market, including hardware systems, software and standalone devices. Of that assortment, only a small percentage targeted kids ages nine to 11, with the bulk of product aimed at the preschool market. Overall, only 3% of ELAs requiring the use of an additional medium, such as LeapFrog's ClickStart Computer that plugs into the TV, employed an internet connection.

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