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"Little Digits is a fun educational app that teaches children about numbers by putting a new spin on finger counting. Using the iPad multi-touch screen, Little Digits displays number characters by detecting how many fingers you put down. Children can learn to associate the number on the screen with the number of fingers they place down, whilst enjoying the unique characters and animations of the Little Digits world."

The Council's eighteen members from academia, industry, and policy assessed current practices in early education and elementary school teaching and have designed a professional development "blueprint" to advance the use of effective digital media in teaching and learning, with a special emphasis on instruction for underserved students. This report, Take a Giant Step, represents the Council's multi-sector action plan to enhance teacher education and a higher quality, 21st century approach to the learning and healthy development of children in preschool and the primary grades. The report sets forth several goals for the nation to meet by 2020, including advancing technology integration and infrastructure; a more robust professional training program for early education professionals; the expanded use of public media as cost-effective assets for teachers; and the establishment of a Digital Teacher Corps.

"Yet, despite rapid growth in society's use of digital technology, many children in low-income families in the United States are not able to access and use technology in the same ways as their more-advantaged peers. This means they have fewer opportunities to learn, explore, and communicate digitally, and fewer chances to develop the workforce skills they will need to succeed in later life. Early childhood education can play a valuable role in ensuring that low-income children can access technology and learn how to use it. However, there are a number of important issues that need to be addressed."

"If you have a young learner in your house, you're probably already gearing up for the fall, buying new backpacks and enjoying the last few weeks of summer. For those of you looking for advice on how to use digital media with young children at home or in school, we've collected this roundup of key messages from the past few months on our blog."

"In our last post we described how theories of creativity and learning should be integrated with creative problem solving approaches to address our nation's creativity crisis. Recent advances in technology are enabling creators of children's digital media to design more experiences that foster children's creativity and learning. Although children's digital media producers are beginning to create products for children that are marketed as creative tools, there is still a lack of mechanisms that have fully captured the type of open-ended, imaginative play that is proven to foster the roots of creativity in children."

"Today's students were born digital but those responsible for their education were not. Youngsters arrive at school in tune with the social context and experience the web offers. Children thrive when teachers find ways to educate them in a more flexible, hypertext manner. This space focuses on development of and support for teachers in their use of technology as they cultivate 21st century content knowledge and skills in their students. Brueck Educational Innovations, LLC Founded in 2008 by Jeremy and Kimberly Brueck, both licensed educators and administrators, Brueck Educational Innovations consults with teachers at schools and districts, presents at conferences and conducts seminars for educational programs to customize and deliver professional development in areas affecting curriculum and instruction."

"In place of what would have been Digital-Storytime's 10th 'Top 10′ list, this week I have whittled down my favorites to just 25 apps I would recommend for a well-rounded collection. This list represents just 10% of the 250 books reviewed on our site (and includes insights from previewing over 1000 book apps overall). The list is in no particular ranked order, although it is broken up into categories to make it a little more user-friendly"

"Technology and Digital Media in the Early Years: Big Ideas, Best Practices and Future Directions, by Chip Donohue, Ph.D."

"Every day, Digital Wish develops new online tools and promotions that empower teachers and their supporters to get new technology for their classrooms and enhance learning for our children. With your help, we can provide the resources our schools need to thrive. "

"This report, Take a Giant Step, represents the Council's multi-sector action plan to enhance teacher education and a higher quality, 21st century approach to the learning and healthy development of children in preschool and the primary grades. The report sets forth several goals for the nation to meet by 2020, including advancing technology integration and infrastructure; a more robust professional training program for early education professionals; the expanded use of public media as cost-effective assets for teachers; and the establishment of a Digital Teacher Corps."

In this post, we'll take a closer look at the Creative Book Builder app for iPhone and iPad. Created by Tiger Ng, this app is currently selling for $3.99 in the iTunes Store.

From The Pennsylvania Digital Media Literacy Project and the Fred Rogers Center

"Digital Decisions for active preschool classrooms. Practical technology ideas, tools, and advice by early childhood educators, specifically for early childhood educators."

"Welcome to Technology and Digital Media in the Early Years: Tools for Teaching and Learning. The work of 25 contributing authors, this bookoffers early childhood teacher educators, professional development providers and early childhood educators in pre-service, in-service and continuing education settings a thought-provoking guide to effective, appropriate and intentional use of technology with young children. "

"Toward this goal, the Academy convened the invitation-only Growing Up Digital: Media Research Symposium in May. Supported by the AAP Friends of Children Fund, this two-day event brought together leading social science, neuroscience and media researchers, educators, pediatricians, and representatives from key partner organizations. The goals: evaluate available data, identify research gaps, and consider how to provide thoughtful, practical advice to parents based on the evidence."

"Our kindergarten class put together this interpretation of Peter Reynolds' book "The Dot." The kids made their own artworks, selected their own props, posed themselves based on the artwork in the book, took the pictures with a digital camera, and read the text themselves!"

free download of the Lorax digital book

"This site was designed by a mom & educator to help other parents choose the best e-storybook apps for the iPad & iPhone/iPod. * Unbiased e-storybook app reviews for parents by a parent. * Information on length, age level, sound, languages, and much more! * Useful, detailed information & individual ratings for animation, audio, interactivity and more. * Brief, thoughtful reviews, plus "Feature" reviews for the most popular books on the market * Information on options, including games, coloring pages, puzzles and more * Crossover hits from Android market: Coming soon! * Price information, including buy button and price history range. * New reviews added weekly!"