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Until last year, I had a strong appreciation for Muppets, but limited knowledge of the role of children’s media in the 21st century. I was purely of the first generation of ‘Streeters — the generation whose episodes now come with a parental warning.  But in March 2011, everything changed.  While staying with my nephews in Maadi, a neighborhood of Cairo, Egypt, for a few months, I got a first-hand glimpse into  some of the affordances of digital tablets and the way…

Presentation at Games for Change 2012: Wednesday,June 20 at 12:10 pm, Tishman Auditorium at NYU Law School Join Jessica Millstone of the Joan Ganz Cooney Center and Allisyn Levy of BrainPOP for a presentation and panel discussion that highlight teachers’ candid attitudes and beliefs about the use of video games in their classrooms from a serious of video case studies featuring K-8 teachers in a diverse set of school environments, as well as present findings from out national survey of tech-savvy teachers…

This year’s National STEM Video Game Challenge was a record-breaking event for the Cooney Center and our partners at E-Line Media. With more categories and subcategories than ever before, we counted more than 3,700 entries from middle and high school students and nearly 100 within the adult categories from all over the country. The student winners—28 from 11 states and the District of Columbia—were honored at the Celebration for Success at the Smithsonian American Art Museum last Monday. The youth winners will…

When people ask me what I write about, my answer is that I discuss the positive potential of new and emerging forms of media. I fundamentally believe that media has the potential to play a positive role in children’s lives, am obsessed with Sesame Street, and feel honored to work for an organization that is named after a woman who believed that television could make a difference in the lives of children. I tend to stay away from writing about…

On December 15th, FOSS@RIT of the RIT Lab for Technological Literacy hosted the first of two Hackathons for the National STEM Video Game Challenge. A Hackathon is like a marathon, but rather than running,  people are coding. Hackathons provide a collaborative environment of like-minded folks, who help each other solve problems, experiment with new concepts, and tackle particular tasks, features, or bugs in a coding project. A typical hackathon here lasts anywhere from 8 and 48 caffeine fueled hours. Below…

On September 14, Michael Levine will participate in “Changing the Game: How Digital Games are Changing Entertainment and Education,” an academic panel at Becker College in conjunction with the inauguration of the college’s new president, Robert E. Johnson, Ph.D. The honorary chair and moderator is Gordon Bellamy, executive director of the International Game Developers Association (IGDA). Other panelists include Chad Dorsey, president and CEO, The Concord Consortium; Paul Cotnoir, PhD, professor and director, Becker College; Dave McCool, president and CEO,…

Bringing together a creative vision with a strong curriculum is a dance, not a science! You can have it all – a true synergy between creative vision and education but success is in the balance of the two. Let me first say, as a creative researcher, I consider myself very lucky. I have always worked with people who care about kids and providing them with entertaining, educational experiences. I also feel fortunate because I went to Teachers College, Columbia University…

*Warm* Summer greetings! The Cooney Center is looking for partners to swap and share with on our new Website — and yours! Let us know if you’re interested in sharing content across our platforms (text, video, etc.). We might also be interested in having you as a guest blogger on our site (and us on yours.) You can contact me here on my page.  Thanks! Marj        

Please take our ultra-quick SURVEY and tell us what you think of our new site! This is YOUR community. Does it serve your needs? What else would you like to see? With thanks, the Cooney Center team

Please take our SURVEY and tell us what you think! This is your community. Does it serve your needs? What else would you like to see? The Cooney Center is pleased to introduce our new Website, designed to engage a growing community in understanding the research, learning innovations and industry trends that matter most for children and families in a digital age. New features include: Cooney Center Blog: get insights on the latest industry trends, research findings, and conference roundups.…