Tech Tots: Early ideas on parenting in a digital age

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Episode 5: From Puppets to Pixels: Learning from Sesame Street's Playbook for the AI Revolution

2025-07-0748:52

What does a healthy digital life look like for a child? As AI and algorithm-driven content reshape our world at a dizzying pace, parents are left wondering how to keep up. In this episode, host Rob Hughes sits down with Michael Preston, Executive Director of the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop, for a wide-ranging conversation recorded recently in Abu Dhabi. Michael shares insights from his career at the intersection of education and technology, drawing on the foundational principle...

AI in the Toybox: Navigating Smart Toys & Child Development with Dr. Emily Goodacre from the University of Cambridge

2025-05-2322:20

AI-powered toys are no longer science fiction – they're rapidly entering our children's playrooms. But what do we really know about their impact? In this episode of TechTots, we're joined by Dr. Emily Goodacre, a developmental psychologist and Research Associate at the University of Cambridge, to explore the burgeoning world of AI toys. We dig into what defines these "smart" playthings, the potential effects on children's social play, relationships, and development, and the critical q...

Babies and toddlers are not just small adults - in conversation with Prof Sam Wass

2025-03-2827:33

In this episode, Professor Sam Wass from the Institute for the Science of Early Years discusses how children's brains process information very differently from adults, particularly in noisy environments where they struggle to filter sounds. This ability to focus develops slowly. A key insight is the importance of predictability and rhythm in early learning, which helps young brains form stable patterns. While we learn best with an intermediate level of predictability, young children benefit f...

'the science bit' - Why early childhood is so special

2025-03-1947:20

In this second Episode, we'll dig into the science of early childhood... and why this period lays the foundations. Tori, Head of Marketing at Tandem (and expert on early childhood by virtue of being a mum) is 'in conversation with' Tandem CEO (and Assistant Prof at LSHTM) Dr Rob Hughes. They'll talk us through an intro to the science of early childhood development, including what we mean by early childhood, whether there is a 'recipe' for a good early childhood, alongside some ti...

Why TechTots? we need to talk more about the big changes that tech is bringing for little people

2025-02-2727:59

In this episode we'll explain why we think we all need to think more about the big changes that technology is bringing for little people. While walking around the historic Brunswick Square Gardens in London Alastair and Rob will introduce themselves and will explain why we wanted to start this podcast (and to build Tandem). In short, young lives are too important to leave the (real) tech bros. We promise a thought-provoking and jargon free intro into the digital lives of toddlers....

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Tech Tots: Early ideas on parenting in a digital age