CMC: Full Conference Summary

Jul 6, 2014

(Patrick Whalen) Attending The Children’s Media Conference was a very fulfilling experience. I really learned a lot from attending the workshop and various different sessions and speeches. They all helped to also give me a new insight into children’s media and different outlooks on different forms of media in the children’s world today. Each session was unique from the other yet some discussed similar terms and ideas so they all connected in one way or another. One major takeaway for me was seeing the extent that children’s media has changed from my time as a kid and how big of a role it plays in the lives of children today. Before this conference I did not know how much children’s media had changed over the years and how vastly different the lives of children today differed from my own childhood. Then attending all the sessions and listening to speakers I realized how great the number of children who are using more devices, apps and games is. I learned about different topics like “second screens” and how more screens for children can be a negative thing yet also a positive thing if executed the right way. The conference helped me to realize the many negative and positive changes that are happening in the world of children’s media as well as ways to fix or improve certain aspects. Seeing how much children’s media has changed I also came to realize the major role that it has in the lives of children today. I found one video in the session “#FOMO” really helped show how big of an impact children’s media is making in the lives of kids. The video portrayed a woman giving birth and the baby comes out and grabs a phone and a tablet and starts doing different things like Google and Instagram then walks out of the hospital into the world. I think this video is the essence of children’s media because kids are starting to use different devices and apps younger and younger today. It is going to be the norm for kids growing up and in future generations. You could even say it is becoming a new way of life.

https://i4.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article3046948.ece/alternates/s2197/Three-young-girls-playing-with-digital-tablet.jpg

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