Toddler tech: Educational?

Healthy skepticism is in order when it comes to tech-toy and baby media makers claiming their products will give your child a headstart or "stimulate his cognitive development." That's my takeaway from a just-released study by the Kaiser Family Foundation: "A Teacher in the Living Room?: Educational Media for Babies, Toddlers and Preschoolers." As attractive as titles like "Brainy Baby: Left Brain" and "Math Circus" are to many parents, there just isn't enough research backing up the claims on this genre's packaging, the study found. In addition to videos, it looked at software and videogames (29 products in all, to check for educational claims and whether they include parental guidelines) and lists of best-sellers in the category. Then Kaiser conducted a "systematic review" of the research available and interviews with representatives of the top 3 makers of videos, software, and videogames. For its report on the study, the New York Times actually found an 11-month-old, Jetta, who "has it all" - LeapFrog, Baby Einstein, even a grownup laptop computer, her mom told the Times. Like many parents, probably, she figures it can't hurt, and there's a chance Jetta will be smarter because of her ed-tech collection. The Times provides a range of views that make up the current collage of (or should I say experiment in?) toddler tech.