ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book addresses a topic or issue that emerged as significant in one or more of the Families and Media Project studies. It discusses the creative ways that parents and children recruited a variety of digital and nondigital resources to support their learning, including curation of media, interest-driven searches, conversational anchoring, content creation, and co-play. The book describes how parents' as well as children's perceptions of the educational value of television shows and video games were related, with few exceptions, to whether the media might help children develop school-related skills or content knowledge. It also describes learning as it occurs in families with and around TV shows with ethno-cultural themes. The book explores the typically overlooked forms of direct and indirect influence that siblings can have on children's digital media use and the broader home media ecology.
