Book publisher and app developer Nosy Crow has the best fairytale apps on the market today. Though many app developers lean heavily on the fairytale stories because they are in the public domain and therefore free to use, Nosy Crow is truly innovative in their use of mobile device capabilities and they truly use those […]
Monthly Archives: April 2017
Introducing KIDMAP
April 26, 2017
Creating inclusive children’s media is a lot like creating a beautiful garden. It requires research, planning, and mindful effort. The Joan Ganz Cooney Center is pleased to announce our partnership with the Kids’ Inclusive and Diverse Media Action Project (KIDMAP), formerly known as Diversity in Apps. This collective, made up of media creators, producers, researchers, educators, […]
Family Engagement and Early Learning in a Digital Age
April 25, 2017
Imagine these everyday scenes: A father and his two-year-old are in their library’s bookmobile, checking out electronic and print picture books they just enjoyed at story time. Kindergartners select photos and drawings for their school’s annual multimedia slideshow. A grandmother and teacher share a laptop, clicking on videos that demonstrate Spanish-language word games for school […]
Forest: An App that Fosters Focus and Family Time
April 24, 2017
My kids and I recently downloaded a game for all three of our smartphones. Ever since, competition in the house has been fierce. The game is called Forest and the premise is simple. You plant trees to grow a forest. But trees only grow when Forest is the only app running. If you switch to another […]
Roundtable Discussion: Teaching with Games, Part 2
April 21, 2017
In the part two of a roundtable discussion on teaching with games, Sandhya Nankani talks to Paul Darvarsi and Aleksander Husoy about what teachers look for in learning games and explore some of the qualities that make the teaching games successful. See part 1 here. Teachers on games for learning Sandhya: A recent study found that 91 percent of children […]
Roundtable Discussion: Teaching with Games, Part 1
April 20, 2017
I recently met Paul Darvasi and Aleksander Husøy at the annual UNESCO Forum on Global Citizenship Education in Ottawa, where we were on a panel hosted by the Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development. The subject of our panel was a debate on the topic, “Innovative pedagogies for ESD and Global Citizenship Education: Is game-based learning the future?” Both Paul and Aleks […]
4 Things Everyone Should Know About Early STEM Learning
April 17, 2017
This post originally appeared on Common Sense Education and appears here with permission. Watch a group of preschoolers working in a garden. It’s cute, right? But it turns out they’re learning more than you’d think. According to our new NSF-funded report, STEM Starts Early, co-published by the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop and New America, there’s […]
Unleashing the Benefits of Coviewing With Minecraft Videos
April 6, 2017
Both Minecraft and YouTube are ubiquitous in today’s children’s media culture. And like millions of other children, my six-year-old son loves to watch Minecraft videos on YouTube. He frequently watches Grian’s how-to-build-it Minecraft videos. He enjoys the silly antics from Pat and Jen of Gaming with Jen, the husband-and-wife team who produce PopularMMOs. And he loves […]
How Educators Can Use Technology to Better Connect to Hispanic-Latino Families
April 4, 2017
In 2013, 25 per cent of public school children in the U.S. were Hispanic-Latino, and this number is expected to grow to 29 per cent by 2025. Within this vibrant and diverse population, many students, particularly those from immigrant families, face challenges in school. Many are tasked with mastering a new language, and their parents often […]
Webinar: Engaging Communities of Practice with STEM Ecosystems
April 3, 2017
On March 29, the Joan Ganz Cooney Center, New America, and the Erikson Institute presented a webinar on integrating STEM into early childhood education to the STEM Ecosystems group at TIES, The Teaching Institute for Excellence in STEM. TIES focuses on STEM school design, STEM curriculum, and instructional support for schools. As our country’s leading STEM innovator, […]