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Monthly Archives: May 2012

A Whole New PLAYground

by Rebecca Herr-Stephenson
May 31, 2012

I’ve been spending a lot of time on a playground lately. However, this playground doesn’t have swings or tetherball or a basketball court; this one—the PLAYground—is a transmedia learning tool being developed at the Annenberg Innovation Lab at USC. The PLAYground is the brainchild of Erin Reilly, Managing Director for the …

Tags: Annenberg Innovation Lab, blended learning, henry jenkins, participatory learning, transmedia, usc

No More Reading Wars! Getting Ahead of the Transition From Print to Digital Books

by Michael Levine
May 30, 2012

This piece originally appeared in the Huffington Post on May 29, 2012. When it comes to learning to read well, the U.S. is locked in a stubborn cycle of conflict. Recall the infamous “reading wars” of the 1980’s and 90’s between advocates of phonics and those of the whole language …

Tags: books, digital books, e-books, ipad, literacy, national reading panel, nook, print books

Skeptics and Optimists Convene at The Atlantic

by Michelle Miller
May 25, 2012

Still buzzing from the exciting events of the previous evening, many participants from the STEM Video Game Challenge‘s Celebration of Success attended The Atlantic’s second annual Technologies in Education Forum on May 22 in Washington, D.C. The Forum continued a lively discussion around the role that games play in STEM learning, with editorial staff from The …

Tags: conference, game-based learning, games, games for learning, teachers, the atlantic

Games for Change Festival 2012 NYC

by Cooney Center Team
May 24, 2012

The 9th Annual Games for Change Festival will be taking place on June 18 – 20 in New York City. There is less than a month to register, so be sure to get your tickets now to catch the following featured keynote speakers: the legendary Nolan Bushnell, “father of the …

Tags: conference, design, g4c, games for change, games for learning, gaming, new york, social issues

National STEM Video Game Challenge: Celebrating Success

by Brian Alspach
May 23, 2012

An adventure game where your character moves around by manipulating the attractive and repulsive forces of the atom. A 3D battle against pathogens inside the human body. An early learning game starring a shark that teaches first graders about inequalities. They could be the latest releases from a premiere educational game studio, but these and …

Tags: e-line media, game design, microsoft, national stem video game challenge, stem challenge, students, video games, youth

Game Design Camp: Lessons Learned

by Allison Mishkin
May 21, 2012

Allison Mishkin teaches at a game design camp for middle school students. Here she shares some of the lessons that she’s learned — and tries to impart — to her students during this week-long sessions. A group of students stumble into a computer lab on a bright spring day, …

Tags: creativity, game design, stem, systems thinking, video games

Our latest video case study: Digital game DESIGN in the classroom!

May 17, 2012

We’re thrilled to release the newest addition to the series of video case studies put out by the Joan Ganz Cooney Center, in collaboration with and support from BrainPOP. In this video, Steve Isaacs, a Technology Instructor at William Annin Middle School in Basking Ridge, New Jersey, shares how he integrates …

Tags: 7th grade, brainpop, gamemaker, gamestar mechanic, national stem video game challenge, stem, steve isaacs, video game design

An App Reviewer’s Wish List

by Cynthia Chong
May 15, 2012

In January, we introduced Cooney Center Research Associate Cynthia Chiong’s new website, A Matter of App, in which she rates educational apps for children. Fifty reviews later, she shares what she has learned along the way. THE BIG 5-0. Fifty reviews, that is. Woo-hoo! This has been quite a learning process …

Tags: apps, cynthia chiong, educational media, ipad, iphone, research, reviews

More than Fun and Games at the NSVF Summit

by Jessica Millstone
May 10, 2012

“Radical change” and “storm the Bastille” were the rallying cries of the inspirational opening keynote of the 2nd Annual New School Venture Fund Summit, held on May 2, 2012 in San Francisco, CA. This invite-only conference attracts big names from the education reform movement, including: school chancellors from Newark and Washington …

Tags: brainpop, case study, classroom, conference, digital games, e-line media, education week, game-based learning, gamestar mechanic, minecraftedu, motion math, New School Venture Fund, NSVF, sifteo, teachers

Film? I’ve heard of that!

by Carly Shuler
May 1, 2012

Film. It’s not something I spend a lot of time thinking about. Television is, of course, part of our daily lexicon here at the Cooney Center given our Sesame Workshop roots, but movies — not so much. Last week I had the chance to head out to TIFF Kids (the children’s version …

Tags: digital media, film festival, TIFF Kids, toronto, transmedia