Category Archives: Commentary

A new study on public libraries highlights their role in digital literacy and family engagement A recent survey of more than 400 public library directors provides new evidence of how public libraries are transforming to help families build digital literacy skills and become familiar with new technology. The results, published last month in Public Library Quarterly, raise the question: Are public schools doing enough to take advantage of these resources in their backyards? The results are part of a larger research…

Earlier this spring, I had dinner with some new friends who, like my husband and me, are parents of a toddler. Between bites of guacamole, I briefly described the nature of our ongoing research at the Joan Ganz Cooney Center regarding children’s educational apps—and a common interest was ignited. We spent the remainder of the meal discussing the difficulties that we as modern-day parents face in navigating the complexities of screen media in our children’s lives. My friends asked me…

Thanks to the wonderful Dr. Jessica Piotrowski on behalf of the Center for Research on Children, Adolescents, and the Media in Amsterdam as well as Northwestern’s Center for Media & Human Development and the Joan Ganz Cooney Center, I was fortunate to be part of a preconference of the International Communication Association’s Children and Media Division this past May. The goal of the preconference, titled “Invention & Intervention: Blending Research with Practice to Develop Effective Media for Youth” was to…

The potential of digital games for education is enhanced by the fact that digital games are everywhere. In 2008, the Pew Internet and American Life Project found that 97 percent of those ages 12–17 played computer, web, portable, or console games, and 50 percent of them reported daily or near-daily gameplay. Another Pew study reported that digital games generated $25 billion in sales in 2010. Studies have demonstrated the potential of digital games to support learning through conceptual understanding, process skills and practices, and…

Recently, with support from the Joan Ganz Cooney Center, the Kids’ Inclusive and Diverse Media Action Project (KIDMAP) relaunched the former Diversity in Apps podcast under a new name: “Diversity Sauce.” Twice a month on Diversity Sauce, we discuss the latest on diversity and inclusion, and interview key players in the children’s media space. Why “Diversity Sauce”? The name was inspired by one of our founding members (and a previous guest on the podcast), Dr. Kevin Clark, director of George Mason University’s Center for Digital…

Episode two of the App Fairy podcast features an interview with app maker Wolfgang Schmitz of the app company Ahoiii. The Ahoiii apps feature an endearing sailor in blue and white stripes named Fiete. I first encountered Fiete in Ahoiii’s advent-calendar-esque Fiete Christmas app when I bought it for my family, and was soon charmed by the its high quality and whimsical artwork. I was delighted to discover that there was a whole series of apps about this little sailor, covering early learner subjects like math,…

A few years ago, the Cooney Center released Family Time with Apps and Apps en familia, a guide that shares tips for parents and caregivers on finding and using apps to develop stronger connections and learning opportunities with young children. The original e-book, which is available for free on the iBook store in both English and Spanish, received a particularly enthusiastic response from librarians around the country, who urged us to create a shorter form, bilingual version of the electronic publication they could share with the…

Watch a group of young children in a community garden. They’ll dig in the soil, find and play with earthworms and insects, plant seeds in patches of sunlight, and come back to watch them sprout, grow, and bear fruit. With a little help, these kids can be doing more than simply playing in the dirt. They can be learning the beginnings of environmental science and plant biology and practicing critical-thinking and problem-solving skills. Working alongside teachers trained in early STEM…

Welcome 2017!  For the Joan Ganz Cooney Center team, this is a very special year.  In December, we will celebrate our tenth year as an organization dedicated to advancing learning for children in the digital age. For those who follow our work closely, you will recall our first report—an analysis of the rapidly evolving digital landscape of educational toys, software and games called D is for Digital which found that the marketplace was full of products that may have had…

When I was nine years old, an American boy named Kyle moved to our neighborhood in suburban Stockholm. When we met him, my best friend Gustaf immediately switched to English. I had never heard him speak much English before, but Gustaf had spent a couple of years in an American school in Germany and spoke it fluently. I only knew a few English words, but I don’t remember it ever being a problem. We played well, and I always had…