Mr Barton Maths Podcast #210 Research in Action 27: Technology and learning with Andrew Manches
Feb 4, 2026
Andrew Manches, Professor of Children and Technology at the University of Edinburgh, explores how young children interact with physical and digital materials. He discusses blending screens with hands-on toys, balancing screen benefits and harms, gesture and embodied cognition, design-based research in real classrooms, and the rising role of AI in early learning.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Physical Interaction Drives Cognition
- Children's physical interaction shapes cognition and must inform technology design.
- Emerging tech that brings digital into the physical can create new learning affordances unavailable to pure screens.
Don't Let Devices Be Unsupervised Portals
- Avoid leaving young children alone with open internet devices because attention-capturing designs and infinite scroll can exploit them.
- Actively use parental controls and be present to curate and discuss content with children.
Using Tonies To Replace Screens
- Andrew describes Tonies: physical toys placed on a base that play recorded stories and remove the screen.
- He used it personally to record messages for his children when travelling to maintain connection.