Reports

Can Video Games Promote Intergenerational Play & Literacy Learning?

by Cynthia Chiong, Ph.D. | December 2009 | View Bio

Forty years of Sesame Street research has consistently demonstrated greater learning benefits when children co-view an educational television program, compared to viewing alone. Might benefits also accrue when adults and children use educational games together? On July 30, 2009, the Game Innovation Lab at the University of Southern California, the University of Michigan School of Education and Learning Sciences, and the Cooney Center, with the support of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, convened a workshop in which experts in cognition, developmental psychology, educational technology, and game design discussed and developed strategies to use intergenerational play to accelerate learning for children who are struggling to master literacy skills in the primary grades. Dr. Cynthia Chiong has compiled findings from the workshop in the report, Can Video Games Promote Intergenerational Play & Literacy Learning? The report shares the latest research on adult-child play patterns with both digital and analog games and research-based design principles for creating intergenerational play patterns that help children learn in a variety of scenarios and settings.

Read the workshop participant mini-papers

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Key Tags:  intergenerational, coviewing, GIL, CPB, Choing

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iLearn: A Content Analysis of the iTunes App Store's Education Section

by Carly Shuler, Ed.M. | November 2009 | View Bio |  (1)

With more than 1 billion apps downloaded from Apple's App Store, and major children's entertainment companies diving into this market en masse, it is important to consider the role that apps may play in children's learning. While numerous mainstream news and industry sources have started to provide anecdotal descriptions of what is available for children in the iTunes App store, none have done a careful analysis with a focus on educational content. This short paper, authored by Carly Shuler, is a content analysis of the education section of the iTunes App Store. It seeks to provide an up-to-date, reliable, and unbiased analysis and to act as a benchmark for change as the iTunes App Store continues to grow and evolve.

• View related article in The Boston Globe

• Download: FOSI presentation

• Download: mLearn presentation

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Key Tags:  iLearn, iPod, iPhone, iTunes, apps, Carly Shuler

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White Paper: The Digital Promise: Transforming Learning with Innovative Uses of Technology

by Jeanne Wellings et al. | October 2009 | View Bio

The Joan Ganz Cooney Center and Apple present a white paper on literacy and learning in a new media age. Authored by Jeanne Wellings and Michael H. Levine, this paper describes how investment in technology tools, network access, professional development, and new personalized curricula can help schools address each of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act's (AARA) four reform goals and simultaneously modernize to meet the needs of 21st century learners. Innovative examples and related resources are offered on how technology can be used to promote literacy and to engage struggling learners.

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Key Tags:  Digital Promise, Michael H. Levine, Apple, Welling

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Meeting Report: The Impacts of Media Multitasking on Children’s Learning & Development

by Claudia Wallis | July 2009

Media multitasking-engaging in more than one media activity at a time -- has rapidly become a way of life for American youth, and yet little is known about how this behavior affects their learning and development. To begin to address this gap in knowledge and to frame a coherent research agenda, a multidisciplinary group of scholars assembled for a one-day seminar on media mul­titasking at Stanford University on July 15, 2009. This report, by journalist Claudia Wallis (regular contributor to TIME Magazine), summarizes the ideas brought to light at the seminar, including an agenda for next steps by participants and for the larger research community.

• Visit the Media Multitasking Website
• Download Seminar Participant Memos

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Key Tags:  Media Multitasking, Stanford, Claudia Wallis

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Policy Brief: Game Changer: Investing in Digital Play to Advance Children's Learning and Health

by Ann My Thai et al. | June 2009 | View Bio

Children as young as 4 are immersed in a new gaming culture, but many parents, educators, and health professionals, concerned over violence, sexual content, and reports of addiction, do not consider games to be a positive force in children's lives. Game Changer addresses this critique, offering a new framework to use games to help children learn healthy behaviors, traditional skills such as reading and math, and 21st-century skills such as critical thinking, global learning, and programming design. It specifies how increased national investment in research-based digital games might play a cost-effective and transformative role and provides comprehensive action steps for media industry, government, philanthropy, and academia to harness the appeal of digital games to improve children's health and learning. The report was co-authored by Ann My Thai, David Lowenstein, and Dixie Ching, as well as David Rejeski of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars; support was provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Pioneer Portfolio.

Download presentation

View our guest post in the MacArthur Foundation's Spotlight on Digital Media and Learning site

View our feature on HealthGamesresearch.org

DOWNLOAD: Executive Summary | Report

Key Tags:  games, gaming, digital learning, Ann My Thai

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Industry Brief: Pockets of Potential: Using Mobile Technologies to Promote Children's Learning

by Carly Shuler, Ed.M. | January 2009 | View Bio

Industry Fellow Carly Shuler draws on interviews with mobile learning experts as well as current research and industry trends to illustrate how mobile devices might be more broadly used for learning. Examining more than 25 handheld learning products and research projects in the U.S. and abroad, the report highlights early evidence of how these devices can help revolutionize teaching and learning. Pockets of Potential also outlines mobile market trends and innovations, as well as key opportunities, such as mobile's ability to reach underserved populations and provide personalized learning experiences. This study was featured at the Kids@Play Summit at the 2009 International CES® in Las Vegas, and was made possible by the generous support of the Pearson Foundation, with additional support from CPB and PBS Kids Raising Readers

 Listen to radio show podcast

DOWNLOAD: Executive Summary | Report

Key Tags:  Pockets of Potential, Carly Shuler, CES, mobile

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Policy Brief: Getting Over the Slump: Innovation Strategies to Promote Children's Learning

by James Paul Gee, Ph.D. | June 2008 | View Bio

Dr. James Paul Gee, the Mary Lou Fulton Presidential Professor of Literacy Studies at Arizona State University and a leading authority on literacy and the potential of educational games, is working with the Center to develop a new policy framework to use digital technologies and different assessment techniques to avoid the "4th grade reading slump." The paper, which was released at our inaugural leadership forum on May 9th, examines how conventional and "new" literacies can converge with emerging media to produce a powerful new learning equation that can stimulate both our early education system and our children's abilities to innovate and create.

Download our op-ed in Education Week

See related article in Democracy: A Journal of Ideas

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Key Tags:  Getting Over the Slump, James Paul Gee, digital ed

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Challenge Paper: The Power of Pow! Wham!: Children, Digital Media and Our Nation's Future

by Rima Shore, Ph.D. | May 2008

Dr. Rima Shore, Adelaide Weismann Chair in Educational Leadership at Bank Street College of Education, is the author of the Cooney Center's inaugural "new directions" report on learning for elementary-aged kids in a digital age. The paper reflects a field scan that the Center staff and Dr. Shore conducted during the summer of 2007, including interviews with more than 50 experts on literacy, educational media, children and family policy, and industry innovations. Dr. Shore nests these leaders' observations about research, practice, and policy trends in a highly accessible framework for action, including key challenges and recommendations. This paper was released at our inaugural Leadership Forum on May 9th.

View video: Michael H. Levine reports on findings from this report

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Key Tags:  Rima Shore, literacy, education

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Market Scan Report: D Is for Digital

by Carly Shuler, Ed.M. | December 2007 | View Bio

Cooney Center Fellow Carly Shuler, an expert in children's media and the educational toy industry, has conducted a scan and analysis of the children's interactive media environment with a focus on mass marketed products for children aged 3 to 11 that promote learning. The report documents key factors influencing the current market environment and offers recommendations to expand educational uses of digital media for industry action. The paper was released on January 8th at the International Consumer Electronics Show's Sandbox Summit in Las Vegas.

DOWNLOAD: Executive Summary | Report

Key Tags:  D is for Digital, Carly Shuler, children's media

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