Tap Into the Power of Learning

Tap into the Power of Learning

A Guide to Common Sense Media’s ON Ratings Program for Developers and Publishers

Version 1, March 2013 About Common Sense Media Today, kids grow up in a world in which nearly any content is available at any time, on any device. So it’s no surprise that kids spend more time with entertainment and digital media than they do with their families or in school. Common Sense Media is the leading independent nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to helping kids and families discover the best media and tech choices and learn the right skills to thrive in the digital age.

We rate and review all kinds of entertainment media for age appropriateness, overall quality, and learning potential. Our ever-growing catalog has reviews of more than 18,000 movies, TV shows, video games, apps, websites, books, and music.

Millions of parents, caregivers, educators, and kids read our reviews and ratings every month via our website and mobile apps. In addition, our content is delivered to more than 100 million homes across the United States by our network of distribution partners including Amplify, AT&T, AOL, Apple, Best Buy, Bing, Comcast, Cox, DIRECTV, Edmodo, Fandango, Google, Huffington Post, Hulu, Movies.com, NBCUniversal, NCM, Netflix, RoadRunner, Rovi, Symantec, Time Warner Cable, TiVo, Trend Micro, Verizon Foundation, YouTube, and Yahoo! Our educational content, tools, and resources are in use by nearly 50,000 schools nationwide.

Common Sense Media’s content is distributed to more than 100 million homes and nearly 50,000 schools

© 2013 COMMON SENSE MEDIA ON RATINGS PROGRAM 2 Learning Ratings Program Our Learning Ratings program aims to transform the learning and development of kids ages 2 to 17 (grades preK-12) by improving the quality of digital educational media used at home and at school.

Our goals are to:

• Be the trusted, unbiased source that helps parents, caregivers, and educators discover the most engaging digital learning products

• Incentivize developers to create great learning products that raise the bar in the market

• Enhance learning and foster the knowledge and skills that kids need to thrive in tomorrow’s world

% % Percentage of parents who Percent who wished 91 want as much detail as 82 there was a better possible about educational resource for learning products, including what about educational their kids will learn. products.

Source: Common Sense Media poll, 2011

Written by trained reviewers who follow a rigorous, consistent methodology, each of our learning reviews includes:

• A 5-point-scale-based learning rating (from “Not for Learning” to “Best for Learning”)

• A content analysis of the subjects and skills that kids can learn

• A detailed narrative review describing what kids can learn and how to use the product to support learning.

Using learning ratings, consumers can quickly find products by searching and filtering based on characteristics like age/grade, subjects/skills, media type/ tech platform, and price. Our website and apps also feature recommended lists, learning apps of the week, curated guides, blogs, and expert articles.

© 2013 COMMON SENSE MEDIA ON RATINGS PROGRAM 3 What’s in It for You? If you’re creating a product that’s fun, engaging, and helps kids learn, we can help make it more successful. Our ON Ratings Program for developers and publishers of digital media offers ways to improve your product’s credibility and visibility at these key stages: 1. Designing your product for learning

2. Submitting your product for review

3. Promoting your product’s review

4. Being recognized as one of the best

Step 1: Designing for Learning What makes a great digital learning product? We look at several aspects of each app, video game, and website we review. Titles that score high on many of the dimensions are rated Best for Learning; those that score low receive a Not for Learning rating. • Engagement: Does the product hold kids’ interest and make them want to return? Does it have high production value?

• Pedagogy: Does the product carry depth of content where learning is central to the experience and deep, lasting concepts are built?

• Support: Is feedback appropriate and facilitative, and are there supports for both teachers and different kinds of learners?

We also do a detailed content analysis, tagging every subject and skill poten- tially developed by the product. Subjects include both academic areas and extracurricular activities. Skills include the key skills that kids need to think, live, work—and succeed—in the world of tomorrow.

Subjects Skills English/Language Arts Thinking & Reasoning Math Creativity Science Career Prep Social Studies Communication & Collaboration Arts Social & Emotional Development Hobbies Tech Skills Health & Fitness

© 2013 COMMON SENSE MEDIA ON RATINGS PROGRAM 4 We’re working on new programs, resources, and events to help developers strengthen the learning potential of their next product. Check our ON Ratings Center page for announcements: www.commonsensemedia.org/ONratings

Step 2: Submit Your Product for Review We get hundreds of review requests per week, and we can’t fulfill them all. Nor do we want to. Our goal is to review the best learning products we can find so they can be discovered by parents, teachers, and kids. For the best chance of being reviewed, we ask you to provide documentation of your product’s learning potential. Has your product been tested with kids to make sure it’s engaging? Are learning experiences central to the design? Make the case for why your product has strong learning potential.

Please note: Even if you follow all the guidelines in your submission, the decision to review a product is based on several factors. We cannot guarantee that any product will be reviewed or that it will be reviewed by a specific date. We cannot guarantee a pre- determined rating. If your product is reviewed, we cannot provide any information about the reviewers’ or editors’ rating decision, other than what is published in the review itself. Common Sense Media never solicits or receives payments or any other consider- ation for reviewing any product.

Please follow these directions to submit your product for a review: • Download the Review Submission Checklist from our ON Ratings page: www.commonsense.org/ONrat- ings

• Review the checklist to make sure that you have all the necessary information before submitting, including information about your product’s learning potential

• Make sure to provide the name of a contact person, with email and phone number

• There is no fee for submitting a request for review.

• Click the submissions link on the ON Ratings page to use our online form

• Questions about the form? Email us at ONratings@ commonsense.org Please do not contact us to ask about your submission’s status. Due to the high volume of submissions, we cannot reply to review requests.

© 2013 COMMON SENSE MEDIA ON RATINGS PROGRAM 5 Step 3: Promoting Your Review Once your product has been reviewed, we encourage you to show it off. Let the world know about your product’s quality and learning potential!

To help, we’ve created the Common Sense Media ON Ratings Kit, with assets to use in your marketing and social media efforts. Download it at www. commonsense.org/ONratings. The Common Sense Media ON Ratings Kit includes: • “Check Us out on Common Sense Media” stamp graphic — this must be linked either to your product’s review on our site or to our home page (www.commonsense.org)

• Press release template

• Social media messaging templates

When using these assets, you agree to observe these rules:

• DON’T use these assets to promote any product that has not been reviewed by Common Sense Media %

• DON’T use these assets without providing a link either to the prod- 93of our subscribers uct’s review page or to Common as well as Sense Media’s Learning Ratings landing page

• DON’T alter the “Check Us out at % Common Sense Media” stamp • If we discover any unauthorized 81 of general market usage of our ON Ratings assets, consumers agree that we will request that it be discontin- reading a Common ued immediately Sense review of a product would We DO encourage you to use these assets: influence their • On your website decision to buy it.

• On your product’s page on an Source: 2013 Common Sense e-commerce site Parents' Survey

If you have any questions about using the ON Ratings graphics or assets, please contact us at [email protected].

Step 4: Being Recognized as One of the Best We review thousands of products every year. When it comes to learning potential, only a handful really stand out. The ON for Learning Awards are our way of recognizing the best digital learning products and highlighting them for parents, teachers, and kids. And by giving developers and publishers an incentive to create the best products, we believe that the overall quality of digital entertainment and media for kids will improve.

Who gets an award? The ON for Learning Award is given to products that achieve “Best for Learning,” the highest level of our learning ratings scale—a significant achievement! Products can’t apply for the award, and fewer than one in 20 products reviewed received it in 2013.

What does an award mean for you? • Increased exposure for your product. Millions of people read and search Common Sense Media’s ratings and reviews through our website, mobile apps, and our broad content distribution network. Winners of the ON for Learning Award will be promoted through an Award Winners’ Guide and a list on our site, press outreach, social media, our email newsletter, and our syndicated content partners.

• Credible endorsement. An ON for Learning Award is an endorsement of your product’s strong learning potential. Parents, kids, teachers, and caregivers trust Common Sense Media’s independent, unbiased reviews and ratings, and the award extends that credibility to its winners.

• Demonstrates your commitment to kids’ learning. Winning and promoting an ON for Learning Award tells prospective customers that your company has a strong commitment to helping kids learn.

© 2013 COMMON SENSE MEDIA ON RATINGS PROGRAM 7 Credits The Learning Ratings Program, the ON for Learning Awards, and the ON Ratings Program would not be possible without the support of some dedicated and brilliant people. All of us at Common Sense Media would like to extend our deepest appreciation to: • The vision, leadership, and generous support of Susan Crown, SCE, its trustees, and its staff.

• The guidance of Common Sense Media’s Education Ratings & Review Program Advisors:

• Kevin Clark, professor, George Mason University; director, Center for Digital Media Innovation & Diversity

• Cathy Davidson, professor, Duke University; co-founder and co-PI, HASTAC MacArthur Digital Media & Learning Competition

• Sherry Hsi, director of research, Center for Technology Innovation, Lawrence Hall of Science, UC Berkeley

• Michael Scharff, senior vice president, new ventures, Toys“R”Us, Inc.

• Val Shute, professor, Florida State University

[email protected]

www.commonsense.org/ONratings

© Common Sense Media Inc. 2013. All rights reserved. The Common Sense and Common Sense Media names, associated trademarks and logos, including the Decider Slider and Age Ratings Bugs, are trademarks of Common Sense Media, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization (FEIN 41-2024986).