Events

Here are some upcoming events that we think will be of interest to our readers. If you would like to submit an event to be listed here, please contact us.

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Breakthrough Learning in a Digital Age, the Cooney Centers Annual Leadership Forum

Forty years after the “War on Poverty” and twenty-five years after “A Nation at Risk,” a new forum was designed to advance a paradigm for learning that harnesses the largely untapped potential of digital media Breakthrough Learning in a Digital Age is an ongoing forum that convenes thought leaders in science and technology, informal and
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The New Coviewing

The New Coviewing: Co-sponsored by Women in Children’s Media

Produced by the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop and LIFE Center at Stanford University, this report explores the challenges and successes of bringing families together around newer forms of media and offers essential advice to media producers interested in engaging children, parents, grandparents, and educators in meaningful conversation and play in this digital
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Expanding Minds and Opportunities

Expanding Minds and Opportunities Launch & Webcast

Join the Expanded Learning & Afterschool Project at the National Press Club on Tuesday, February 5 for the launch of Expanding Minds and Opportunities: Leveraging the Power of Afterschool and Summer Learning for Student Success, edited by Terry K. Peterson, Ph.D. Expanding Minds is a groundbreaking compendium of studies, reports and commentaries by more than
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breakthrough learning forum

Educational Media Use in America: A Breakthrough Learning Forum

On January 24, the Joan Ganz Cooney Center will host a forum featuring a cross-section of leaders from education, media, research, policy, and philanthropy at a forum in New York City as we release the results of the first national survey on children’s educational media use.  Conducted by the Cooney Center and renowned children’s media
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Young Learners Congress and Expo

On April 1, Michael Levine will be the opening keynote speaker at the Young Learners Congress and Expo in Sydney, Australia. The founding director of the Joan Ganz Cooney Center will speak the challenges of transforming teaching for today’s tech-savvy students. The three-day event will feature other case studies and activities. Featured speakers include Warren
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Diverse Families and Media: Using Research to Inspire Design

On Friday, October 30, the Families and Media Project is hosting a morning of discussions about the need to create diverse media for children and families and to launch our newest publication, Diverse Families and Media: Using Research to Inspire Design. The panels are:Designing for Diverse Families Kevin Clark George Mason University Claudia Haines Association
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Digital Equity: Technology & Learning in the Lives of Lower Income Families

The Joan Ganz Cooney Center, Rutgers University, and New America are hosting Digital Equity: Technology & Learning in the Lives of Lower Income Families on February 3, 2016. The forum will highlight the results of a nationwide survey of lower-income families, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler will deliver
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Webinar: How and Why to Integrate STEM into Early Childhood Education

Wednesday, March 15 | 6pm ET This online event is open to the public. Researchers and educators agree: Children demonstrate a clear readiness to engage in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) learning early in life. And, just as with language and literacy, STEM education should start early in order to maximize its benefits and effectiveness.
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Webinar: What’s Next for STEM Education? Boosting Teachers and Teaching

Thursday, March 16 | 1pm-2:30pm ET This online event is open to the public. There is a national consensus that today’s students need more opportunities to build skills in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) across the PreK-12 grade span. Teachers are a critical piece for providing those opportunities, but barriers abound. How are teachers recruited?
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Children and Families in the Digital Age Book Launch Event

The Bay Area Children’s Media Group, the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop, Digital Promise and Common Sense Media present Children and Families in the Digital Age. Join us for a panel conversation with researchers who are exploring the ways in which families with young children are using media together for learning and communication. The
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Future of Childhood Salon: Immersive Media and Child Development

On November 7 and 8, 2018, the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop, the School for the Future of Innovation in Society at Arizona State University, and Dubit will host the inaugural Future of Childhood Salon on Immersive Media and Child Development. At this day-and-a-half workshop, we will proactively plan for the future of
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FamLAB

Reframing Learning Across Boundaries: Building Public Understanding and Support

We know that children spend more than 80% of their time outside of school. But research indicates that millions of preschool and school age children—especially those from low-income communities—too often lack access to the connected, intentional, evidence-based educational nourishment that is needed to propel lifelong learning. To combat these inequities, policymakers and program developers have
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Immersive Media Design and Children Workshop

Immersive Media Design and Children is a one-day workshop to be held at the 2019 Interaction Design and Children Conference in Boise, Idaho.Co-hosted by the Joan Ganz Cooney Center and foundry10, this workshop will bring together a community of researchers, designers, practitioners, and other experts who are interested in the responsible design of immersive media—or
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The Education Market: VR’s Best Hope? at XR for Change Summit

On Monday, June 17, the Joan Ganz Cooney Center presents a panel discussion at the XR for Change Summit in New York City. For years, experts have been predicting that immersive technologies like AR and VR are on the cusp of breaking into the mainstream market. But despite the dazzling experiences that users may encounter
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CSforALL Summit 2019

The CSforALL Summit is a multi-day convening focused on rigorous, inclusive and sustainable computer science for all US students. There will be two plenary sessions where you will hear from both local and national stakeholders impacting systems change within CS education and highlighting their 2019 commitments. This year’s event takes place in Salt Lake City, Utah
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The Common Sense Census: Media Use by Tweens and Teens 2019

The Common Sense Census: Media Use by Tweens and Teens 2019, an update to the 2015 study, is a big-picture look at how young people in America are engaging with media and explores differences by race, gender and socioeconomic status. The study reveals a huge increase in the amount of time tweens and teens are
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2020 NETA Conference & CPB Public Media Thought Leader Forum

The NETA Conference and CPB Public Media Thought Leader Forum is dedicated to the foundational cornerstone of Public Media: Education. Attendees represent station leadership, education, community engagement, marketing, promotion, production and content to learn from national thought leaders and engage in hands-on discussions. This year the conference will explore the future of education and media,
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Future of Childhood Summit

Event postponed   After much deliberation, the Future of Childhood Summit has been postponed. The planning team at Joan Ganz Cooney Center and Google are disappointed not to be able to host the Summit this March.We will share more details as soon as we are able to do so.   The Joan Ganz Cooney Center
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5 rights foundation

The Future of Free Play in the Digital World

On World Children’s Day, November 20, 2020, the Digital Futures Commission will launch ‘The future of free play in the digital world.’ The work of the Digital Futures Commission will be introduced by Baroness Beeban Kidron, 5Rights Foundation, followed by a panel discussion chaired by Professor Sonia Livingstone OBE, London School of Economics, with Ann
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Future of Childhood Reframing Education for the 22nd Century

Reframing Education for the 22nd Century

2020 was a year unlike any we have experienced before … until 2021. We have witnessed the “hoaxification” of the COVID-19 pandemic, massive civic unrest in response to long-tolerated systemic racism and injustice, continued denial of climate change in spite of an increasingly inhospitable natural environment, and most recently, a violent insurrection seeking to disrupt
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The Missing Middle event

The Missing Middle: Reimagining a Future for Tweens, Teens, and Public Media

Tuesday, May 25, 2021 1:00 PM ET Today’s tweens and teens feel they have outgrown the programming offered by public media as they begin to discover a world of information and entertainment at their fingertips. Yet even though they have access to an abundance of options for watching, listening, playing, and communicating, they are often
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By With For Youth Inspiring Next Gen Public Media Audiences

Next Gen Public Media Accelerator RFP Info Session

Public media professionals are invited to join us for this one-hour information session about the Next Gen Public Media Accelerator RFP. The session will focus on the purpose of the RFP, an overview of its guiding priorities, the key activities that will happen during the Next Gen Public Media Accelerator, and opportunities for potential applicants
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By With For Youth Inspiring Next Gen Public Media Audiences

Next Gen Public Media Concept Design Sprint

This two-hour interactive workshop will help applicants transform their aspirations into compelling proposal concepts. Facilitated by Cooney Center project leaders, applicants will engage in design exercises that help generate ideas that align with Next Gen Public Media Accelerator goals and expectations.   View agenda Wednesday, November 10, 2021 1:00- 3:00 PM ET Register here
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By With For Youth Inspiring Next Gen Public Media Audiences

Next Gen Public Media Concept Design Sprint

This two-hour interactive workshop will help applicants transform their aspirations into compelling proposal concepts. Facilitated by Cooney Center project leaders, applicants will engage in design exercises that help generate ideas that align with Next Gen Public Media Accelerator goals and expectations. View agenda Friday, Nov. 12, 2021 1:00 – 3:00 PM ET Register here.
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Dust or Magic Asimolar

Dust or Magic Asimolar is an opportunity for participants to catch up on the current state of children’s media, in one of the most beautiful locations in the world by way of talks, laser critiques and demos. Dust or Magic has a long tradition of deep dive conversations and honest critiques in a commercial-free setting.
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Playtest with Kids

Please join the Children’s Media Association of the Bay Area and the Joan Ganz Cooney Center for a one-hour virtual event featuring the Playtest with Kids toolkit. The free interactive resource features methods and case studies to help teams get actionable insights when playtesting their products with children. We’ll talk with experts who will share what they’ve learned about how to effectively
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Group Chat: Teens and Adults in Conversation at Media Literacy Week 2022

As part of U.S. National Media Literacy Week, please join the Cooney Center and NAMLE for a “premiere” presentation of three conversations between experts and youth around topics in youth digital culture, moderated by educator Dwight Dunston. Together, adults and teens explore issues like what kids are watching online, where they get their news, how
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FOSI

FOSI 2022 Annual Conference: Trust & Assurance: Online Safety in an Uncertain World

This year’s FOSI conference convenes the best online safety thinkers, practitioners, and experts from around the world for high-level discussions and debates, engaging networking opportunities, and a first-class exhibition of online safety technologies, products, and services. Attendees will have the chance to explore topics such as content moderation, privacy policies and practices, safety in the
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Gen Z in the Room: Making Public Media By and With Youth for the Future

Please join the Joan Ganz Cooney Center on January 18, 2023 for a special presentation celebrating our forthcoming publication, Gen Z in the Room. This report summarizes insights from 30 in-depth interviews with stakeholders involved in public media youth projects across the country. The report documents what public media stations have learned from these youth
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From Surviving To Thriving In A Digital World: A Safer Internet Day Chat

The National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE) and The Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop are teaming up to host a webinar and Facebook Live Event with adult and youth experts for Safer Internet Day on Tuesday, February 7, 2023 (4:00 pm – 5:30 pm EST). “From Surviving To Thriving In A Digital World:
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SXSW 2023

The Joan Ganz Cooney Center is thrilled to participate in two sessions at SXSW 2023 this March. If you’re in Austin, we invite you to join us at the JW Marriott on March 10 and 11th. Designing Tech for Children’s Well-Being There has been a great deal of conversation about technology’s potential harms for children.
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ASU+GSV Summit

Designing Tech for Kids’ Well-Being at ASU+GSV 2023

What does well-being for children in the digital age look like?A growing movement acknowledges that it’s not enough to worry about technology’s potential harm to children; it is time to be more intentional about designing for positive outcomes. How can we design digital experiences that allow children to learn emotional regulation, develop competence and creativity,
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Co-designing the Digital Future with Kids, for Kids

What’s the secret to creating digital media products for kids that makes learning engaging and fun? We’ve found that including kids throughout the design process has many benefits: it empowers kids who find that their opinions are valued; designers gain a fresh perspective from the audience they’re creating for; and the product itself is often
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Creating Digital Play for Children’s Well-Being: From Research to Design

The Cooney Center and the NYU Create Lab are organizing an afternoon of learning and play on June 26 at the NYU Create Lab in Brooklyn. We will dive into the findings from new research from the Responsible Innovation in Technology for Children Initiative (RITEC), which looks at how digital design choices impact the well-being of
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2024 Games for Change Festival

We’re so excited for the Games for Change Festival in just a few weeks! This amazing event is back at Parsons in NYC from June 27-28. We can’t wait to talk about the Responsible Innovation in Technology for Children (RITEC) initiative and the forthcoming Design Guide for Business with our colleagues from UNICEF and the LEGO Group. On Friday, June
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Applying Principles of Well-being to Digital Design for Kids at Play Make Learn 2024

We are thrilled to be heading to Madison for the Play Make Learn conference from July 17-19, 2024. Please join us for a panel where we will discuss our Well-Being by Design Fellowship, a professional development program for designers and producers of interactive kids’ technology and media to center children’s well-being in their products.  Our
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Celebrating Designing for Kids’ Well-Being – Case Studies from the 2025 WBxD Fellows

In this special culminating webinar on May 22, 2025, our incredible cohort of Well-Being by Design (WBxD) Fellows shared how they are designing to support children’s well-being through interactive digital experiences.With products that span a target range from preschool to high school, and representing a spectrum from startups to big tech, from physical toys to
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Well-Being by Design 2026 Fellowship: Office Hours

The Joan Ganz Cooney Center’s Well-Being by Design Fellowship is a professional development program for designers and producers of interactive kids’ technology and media. This is a free program supported by Pinterest with no fee or cost to participate. We are thrilled to announce a call for applications for our third year of the Well-being
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More Content To Explore

Publications

2025 Well-Being by Design Fellowship Case Studies

by JGCC Team | July 28, 2025
Initiatives

Here Comes the Fun Challenge