Category Archives: Conferences and Community Events

Last month, researchers AnneMarie McClain and Lacey Hilliard presented some exciting findings from a a study they conducted around classroom media and socio-emotional learning among elementary school students at the International Communication Association Conference in Prague. We invited them to share details of the project as well as the findings that emerged from their investigation.    At the May 2018 International Communication Association Conference in Prague, Czech Republic, we presented some findings from our longitudinal study, the Arthur Interactive Media (AIM)…

Children’s learning experiences in home, school, and community settings are often disconnected from one another, and this challenge particularly affects those who are already under-served. How might learning be better linked to support children’s development? How are some communities innovating to address this persistent challenge and how can digital technologies contribute toward solutions? At a special TELOS Initiative symposium at Stanford’s Graduate School of Education on November 8, Lori Takeuchi (Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop), June Ahn (NYU),…

The Interaction Design and Children Conference took place in June 2017 at Stanford University. The conference brought together a multidisciplinary community, focused on multiple aspects related to the design of technology for children. As part of the conference, we put together a workshop to discuss Joint Media Engagement (JME) as it relates to the development and consumption of apps for children and their caregivers and peers. We framed the discussion around previous theoretical work done on this topic. We also…

It is not often that I come across workshops specifically related to the intersection of the design of children’s media and the issues surrounding diverse representations of children, critical race theory, and inclusivity. When I saw the call for proposals to the Equity and Inclusivity workshop at the 2017 Interaction Design and Children conference, I looked forward to  attending and meeting like-minded people who care about, study, and create within this intersection. The workshop, co-organized by Kiley Sobel (University of Washington),…

The 2017 Interaction Design and Children (IDC) conference took place at Stanford University in California this past June. The conference brought together an amazing community of researchers, designers, educators, and industry specialists who are interested in designing (primarily technology and new media experiences) for and with children. Before the conference began, various groups of people put on one-day IDC workshops focusing on topics spanning from joint media engagement to making to co-design. My co-organizers Dr. Julie A. Kientz (University of Washington), Dr.…

In their new book, Becoming Brilliant: What Science Tells Us About Raising Successful Children, Roberta Michnick Golinkoff and Kathy Hirsh-Pasek ask what it would “take to help all children be happy, healthy, thinking, caring, and sociable children who enjoy learning and who move toward becoming collaborative, creative, competent, and responsible citizens of tomorrow?” The answer they provide is tailored specifically to a 21st century global economy. They offer a science-based framework, neatly packaged as “the 6Cs”—collaboration, communication, content, critical thinking,…

On May 31-June 1, the Joan Ganz Cooney Center and New America co-hosted Fostering STEM Trajectories: at a two-day event in Washington, DC. Vivien Stewart, Senior Advisor for Education and former Vice President of Asia Society, delivered these remarks on how an international perspective on STEM education for young children may benefit our research and practices.   FIRST: Why thinking internationally ought to be part of our national research agenda in STEM and early learning. Most American educators know that on…

Picture this: You enter a preschool classroom and hear the splashes and giggles of children around a water table. You approach an elementary school and see a small group of children on a guided nature walk, investigating the blossoms on a flowering tree, while another group is measuring the dimensions of a jungle gym and creating drawings of how it is constructed. All around you, early learners are engaged in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) — subjects that were…

On May 31-June 1, 2016, the Joan Ganz Cooney Center and New America co-hosted an early STEM convening in Washington, D.C. funded by the National Science Foundation. Read on for highlights from the event. Day One The event kicked off with a warm welcome from Lisa Guernsey, Deputy Director of the Education Policy Program and Director of the Learning Technologies Project at New America and Michael Levine, Founder and Executive Director of the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop.…

On May 10, the fourth annual meeting of the Aprendiendo Juntos Council took place at Northwestern University. The Aprendiendo Juntos Council brings together researchers, practitioners, media producers, and educators in an effort to form a united coalition to advance learning in Hispanic and Latino families. Returning participants were excited to reunite in person and to welcome several new professionals who brought great energy to the already passionate group. These new participants included Mariana Souto-Manning of Teachers College at Columbia University,…