Crossing Borders

Programme research 42 23/2010/E Shalom M. Fisch, Hsueh Yeh, Zhou Zongkui, Chi Jin, Maissa Hamed, Zeinab Khadr, Gabriela Martínez Noriega, Adriana Hinojosa Céspedes, Allison Druin, Mona Leigh Guha Crossing borders Learning from educational media in 4 countries This international study on Sesame Workshop’s multi-media project Panwapa was conducted with 4- to 7-year-olds in the US, China, Mex- ico and Egypt. Panwapa’s educational aim is to promote global citizenship. The main questions were: What can children learn from these TV, print and online materials? Are there differences in the learning outcomes across countries? any research studies have Used by permission Workshop. © Sesame proven that educational Ill. 1: Screenshot of the English-language Panwapa website Mtelevision can help chil- ing similarities and differences, and serve children in poverty (especially dren learn subjects such as language, understanding and being responsive outside the U.S.), the children in the literacy, mathematics, science, and to economic disparity (Cole, 2008). It study were largely middle class and social studies (e.g. Fisch, 2004). Yet, addresses these goals through videos above. (Of course, “middle class” re- the changing landscape of television (that portray either Muppet stories fers to very different economic levels gives rise to new questions that have or the lives of real children in vari- in different countries, because such not been researched before. For ex- ous countries), online games and ac- judgments are relative to the over- ample, television has become increas- tivities (e.g. Panwapa World, a virtual all economic level of each country.) ingly global, but most research has community in which users can create For this reason, the demographics of been conducted in only one country, pages to describe themselves and visit our sample were not nationally rep- rather than comparing learning from a pages created by other kids around resentative, but they were sufficient given program across countries. How, the world), and hands-on activities to reveal cultural differences, as we then, is learning from television simi- (as detailed in a Panwapa magazine shall see. lar or different across countries? for parents and caregivers). To find out, we assessed children’s We measured learning from Panwapa Design of the study learning from Panwapa, an interna- in 4 countries: Egypt, Mexico, the tional, multiple-media project pro- United States, and 2 sites in China, Children were divided into 3 groups, duced by Sesame Workshop and dis- Beijing and Wuhan. A total of 1,277 each of which used a different com- tributed internationally in 5 languag- children participated in the study, bination of Panwapa materials for 4 es. Designed for children aged 4 to 7, including roughly equal numbers of weeks: Panwapa’s educational goals are to boys and girls, and a fairly even distri- • “TV + Print group”: These chil- promote positive attitudes, skills, and bution of children between the ages of dren viewed 4 Muppet videos and behavior regarding several aspects 4 and 7 years old. Because some Pan- 4 live-action videos about real of global citizenship, such as aware- wapa activities required internet ac- children in various countries. They ness of the wider world, appreciat- cess, which can be rare in schools that also played 2 hands-on games – Programme research 23/2010/E 43 one that encouraged children to Results • talked about foreign countries, differentiate between needs and community service, and/or needs wants, and a board game that Across the 4 countries, children’s vs. wants while playing the spanned the Panwapa curriculum. engagement with and learning from 2 hands-on games. For example, • “All Materials group”: These chil- Panwapa was evident in several during the board game, 98 % of the dren used all of the above materi- ways: their comments while using the children who picked the relevant als, plus 4 activities on the Pan- materials, their subsequent recall of card named something they would wapa website. They created and content from the videos and activities, give to a needy child, and more visited other kids’ pages in Pan- and increases in their more general than 90 % attempted to say “Hello” wapa World, played a hide-and- understanding of global citizenship. in a foreign language. seek game that incorporated words For example, while using the materi- Not surprisingly, children often were in other languages, and played a als, many children: particularly engaged when they had movie-playalong game that turned • commented on countries, activities, some familiarity or felt a personal live-action video segments into in- or languages as they watched the connection with the cultural content teractive games. videos, and sometimes related on- presented in the materials. For ex- • “No Exposure (i.e. control) group”: screen material to their own lives ample, many Mexican children re- This group did not use any Pan- (e.g. a Chinese child said “They sponded while watching video seg- wapa materials, thus serving as a speak Swahili” during a segment ments about Guatemalan children baseline for comparison to the 2 from Tanzania; an Egyptian child (probably because they looked most groups that used Panwapa. waved back at the screen and said like the viewers and engaged in famil- Researchers observed the “TV + “Hola” in Spanish). Across the 4 iar activities), whereas Jewish chil- Print” and “All Materials groups” as countries, we recorded 942 such dren in one U.S. school responded they used Panwapa materials, and lat- comments during viewing; to on-screen portrayals of Israel and er interviewed them to assess compre- Hebrew letters in another segment. hension and recall of the educational Similarly, in the online hide-and-seek content presented in Panwapa. In ad- game, children often chose to play the dition, before and after the 4-week game and count along in a foreign period, children in all 3 groups were language that was already somewhat interviewed to assess their under- familiar to them. standing of several aspects of global At the end of the 4 weeks, most chil- citizenship: “languages” (e.g. naming dren understood and retained edu- their own and other languages, say- cational content from the Panwapa ing words in other languages), “coun- materials over time, even when we tries” (e.g. naming their own and asked them about materials they used other countries, finding their country several weeks earlier. Most children on a globe), “culture” (e.g. identifying could accurately recall the problem similarities and differences between • tried to count along in a foreign (63 %) and solution (54 %) from the their own and other cultures), “needs language during the online hide- first Muppet video, and 67 % remem- and wants” (e.g. distinguishing be- and-seek game. In all, 75 % of bered at least one activity from the tween physical needs and things they the Egyptian children, 70 % of live-action videos of children in other might want but did not need), and the Chinese children, 37 % of the countries (e.g. finding and collecting “economic disparity” (e.g. recogniz- Mexican children, and 28 % of the water in a desert). Children who used ing inequalities in access to resources U.S. children tried to count along; the website recalled 31 countries that across different countries or cultures). • used Panwapa World as a vehicle they visited in Panwapa World, and Finally, we also interviewed 50 par- to reflect on themselves (while a majority of the children (53 %) re- ents and 50 teachers of children in the creating pages about themselves) called one or more activities from the study (i.e. 10 parents and 10 teach- and to visit and communicate with board game. ers in each site). The adult interviews children in 121 different countries; Finally, across all 4 countries, chil- were intended to lend further insight dren who used Panwapa improved into any educational effects that More than 90 % of significantly more than non-users in might be found among children, and the children attempted to their understanding of global citizen- to gather the adults’ own reactions to ship. This overall impact stemmed the Panwapa materials. say ‘Hello’ in a foreign from Panwapa users’ demonstrating language small but significant gains in every as- Programme research 44 23/2010/E The role of parents and teachers Since parents, teachers, and other adults often serve as gatekeepers for educational media, we must also con- sider the implications of culture in adults’ percep- tions and use of Panwapa. In all 4 countries, adults praised Panwapa for its appeal for children, educational value, and usefulness as an educational tool. © Sesame Workshop. Used by permission Workshop. © Sesame In addition to these broad Ill. 2: Chinese-language website of Panwapa similarities, however, we pect of global citizenship measured in most to on-screen children and places sometimes found evidence of cultural this study: languages, culture, coun- that were familiar in some way, and differences that could either facilitate tries (primarily in Egypt and Beijing), children often chose to play the online or pose challenges for adults’ use of economic disparity, and distinguish- hide-and-seek in a foreign language Panwapa with children. On the one ing between needs and wants. The that was already somewhat familiar. hand, because one of the schools in positive effects of Panwapa were Conversely, learning effects were the U.S. was a parochial school where consistent for boys and girls, and for sometimes stronger in countries all of the students share a common children of different ages, ethnicities, where children may have less expo- religious background, some parents and socio-economic levels, although sure to the relevant concepts in their and teachers from this school particu- some effects of Panwapa appeared day-to-day lives.

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