2016 National STEM Video Game Challenge Awards Ceremony & Reception
2016-11-14 | Washington, D.C.
Inspired by President Obama’s Educate to Innovate Campaign to promote a renewed focus on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education, the National STEM Video Game Challenge taps into middle and high school students’ passion for playing video games and motivates them to work as individuals or in teams to design and make original, playable games or written game design documents about any subject.

On November 14, 2016 at the National Geographic Museum in Washington, D.C., winners of this year’s cycle will be announced, with a reception to follow.

Learn more about the National STEM Video Game Challenge.

Webinar: The Evolution of Literacy in the Digital Age
2016-12-01 | Webinar, Select a Country:
This event is free and open to the public.

Young children’s developing brains are learning to follow the sequence of a narrative as well as develop the complex literacies that are demanded by our digital and global age. In this webinar, Tap, Click, Read authors Michael Levine and Lisa Guernsey will discuss how content creators and publishers can help foster new pathways to learning by creating “transmedia” offerings that allow “blended learning” experiences beginning in preschool. Young children will increasingly need to learn how to navigate between print and digital images that are in their immediate surroundings. We will also discuss how educators and parents can help children grow into strong, passionate readers using media of all kinds—print, digital, and everything in between.
Register Now

Educational Media and Technology: A Conversation with Michael Levine, Ph.D.
2017-01-24 | New York, NY, New York, NY, United States
This event is open to the public. Join us for a conversation about education media between Michael Levine and Bill Baker. January 24, 5:30-8:30 pm Fordham University
12th-Floor Lounge | E. Gerald Corrigan Conference Center
Lowenstein Center | Lincoln Center Campus
5:30 p.m. – Doors Open
5:40 p.m. – Welcome and Introductions
5:50-7:10 p.m. – Lecture and Q&A
7:10-8:30 p.m. – Reception
Learn More

Webinar: How and Why to Integrate STEM into Early Childhood Education
2017-03-15 | Webinar, Select a Country:
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. So why is STEM not woven more seamlessly into early childhood education? What can we do — in the classroom, in homes, in museums, in research labs, and in the halls of legislating bodies – to ensure that all young children have access to high-quality STEM learning early in life?

This panel consists of authors of and contributors to two major early STEM reports released this year from the Early Childhood STEM Working Group, and from the Joan Ganz Cooney Center and New America. The latest research findings on the importance and impact of early STEM, as well as practical recommendations, will be discussed. The recommendations identify specific steps involving research, policy, and teaching practice that will promote dramatic improvement in early STEM education for all young children.

Available for one-hour of PD credit.Learn More

Webinar: What’s Next for STEM Education? Boosting Teachers and Teaching
2017-03-16 | Webinar, Select a Country:
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? How are they trained? Should education schools approach preparation differently? And what about educators in the early grades, kindergarten, and pre-K? What stands in the way of enabling high-quality STEM teaching and learning experiences for young children?

100Kin10’s efforts to name and map the grand challenges in STEM teaching are providing insights and recommendations for tackling these questions. So are two new reports: STEM Starts Early: Grounding Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math Education in Early Childhood, published by the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop and New America with support from the National Science Foundation, and Can UTeach? Assessing the Relative Effectiveness of STEM Teachers, published by the National Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research (CALDER), a program of the American Institutes for Research (AIR).

Join New America, the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop, AIR, and 100Kin10 for a wide-ranging discussion of the ideas emerging from these reports and initiatives—and what they mean for policy making at the local, state, and federal levels.
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Cyberlearning 2017: What’s Next? Making Connections to Shape the Future
2017-04-18 - 2017-04-19 | Arlington, VA
Cyberlearning 2017 will facilitate connections among Cyberlearning researchers across disciplines and with practitioners and stakeholders. Together, attendees will envision a strong path forward for cyberlearning research, taking into account their aspirations and today’s uncertainties. The program will provide opportunities to share insights on cyberlearning designs, genres, and research methods.
Learn more and register for the webcast Featured PanelBroader Impacts: Connecting to Opportunities | April 18
Jamie Bell, Project Director, CAISELori Takeuchi, Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame WorkshopJoseph South, Former Director, Office of Educational Technology at U.S. Department of Education

STEM researchers and those charged with developing broader impacts plans, activities and proposals are increasingly looking for innovative strategies and generative collaborations. Broadening participation of underrepresented groups in these activities is a particular challenge that designers and researchers of cyberlearning experiences are building knowledge about. After a brief review of how investments in infrastructure have changed the landscape of informal STEM education expertise and resources, this will be a facilitated discussion of what cyberlearning projects bring to the table.

Invention & Intervention: Blending Research with Practice to Develop Effective Media for Youth
2017-05-25 | San Diego, CA
By bringing together media producers, industry researchers, and children’s media scholars from around the world, the intent of this preconference is to:

provide guidance and information to academic researchers on the types of research currently conducted within the children’s media industry;
identify how academic researchers might be influential in conducting research that will drive more impactful media productions;
and brainstorm ways to facilitate improved communication between researchers and (media) practitioners.

This daylong preconference (lunch included) will include three panel sessions with research scholars and industry leaders as well as a keynote luncheon speaker. Speakers will include:

(1) World-renowned children and media scholars with experience bridging research with practice;
(2) Scholars (PhDs) who currently work in the children’s media field that can speak to the influence of their formal training in their industry research;
(3) Industry leaders and developers who are successfully incorporating research into their design process (with an emphasis on media exemplars designed to improve the health and/or well-being of youth today).

Speakers have experience across various media, with an emphasis on interactive media (i.e., online content, videogames, app development) and transmedia applications.
Learn More and Register

67th Annual Conference of the International Communication Association
2017-05-25 - 2017-05-29 | San Diego, CA
The theme of the 67th annual International Communications Association conference is Interventions: Communication Research and Practice. The conference takes place in San Diego from May 25-29.

Cooney Center Senior Fellow Sarah Vaala will present “Parents’ reactions to Descriptions of Children’s Apps: Results from a Parent Survey Experiment” in a panel chaired by Matthew A. Lapierre and Erica Scharrer at 3:30pm on Monday, May 29.

On Thursday, May 25, the Center for research on Children, Adolescents, and the Media at the University of Amsterdam, the Center on Media & Human Development at Northwestern University, and the Joan Ganz Cooney Center present Invention & Intervention: Blending Research with Practice to Develop Effective Media for Youth, a preconference by the by the Children, Adolescents, and the Media division of the ICA. View the program here.
Learn More and Register

Jean Piaget Society Annual Meeting 2017
2017-06-08 - 2017-06-10 | San Francisco, CA
The 47th Annual Meeting of the Jean Piaget Society takes place in San Francisco, CA from June 8-10, 2017. This year’s theme is Technologies and Human Development, wth a lens on child, youth, and adult learning and development with games, social media, digital archives as cultural tools.

Reesearcher Tamara Spiewak Toub will present “Navigating the world of digital apps: How parents choose apps for young children” at the “Taming Technology: Making Evidence-Based Decisions Regarding Digital Media” session at 3pm on June 8.

View the Jean Piaget Society website for more information.

Media Literacy in Early Childhood Pre-Conference Symposium
2017-06-26 | Chicago, IL
The Technology in Early Childhood (TEC) Center at Erikson Institute, in partnership with The National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE), is hosting a one-day pre-conference symposium, Media Literacy in Early Childhood: A Critical Conversation on June 26, 2017, prior to NAMLE’s 2017 conference. The day will focus on why media literacy is a critical habit of mind and the set of skills for young children growing in the digital age.

Michael Levine will serve as a Working Group Leader for two sessions during the pre-conference:

10:45-11:45am
5 Essential Skills for Media Literacy

2:30-3:15pm
Teaching 5 Essential Skills to Media Mentors
Learn More

Games for Change Festival 2017
2017-07-31 - 2017-08-02 | New York, NY, New York, NY, United States
Discover how games can impact education, healthcare, research, civics, and social issues. The first two days of the Festival showcases the best and brightest game creators and changemakers with panels and keynotes, demos, networking events, and an expo. On the third day of the Festival the brand-new VR for Change Summit explores the positive power of virtual technologies in storytelling, science, and social justice. Learn More

LEAP InnovatED Summit 2017
2017-08-28 | Chicago, IL
The LEAP InnovatED Summit is the convening for educators, edtech innovators, and civic and philanthropic leaders to inspire, imagine, and innovate a new future for education.

The Summit will feature a wide range of sessions on personalized learning, edtech, and other transformational topics led by local and national experts. The Learning Innovation Showcase will highlight Chicago’s most innovative school models and feature curated edtech companies from across the country.
Learn More

Media Literacy Week
2017-11-06 - 2017-11-10
Media Literacy is the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, communicate, and create using all forms of communication. The mission of the United States Media Literacy Week is to highlight the power of media literacy education and its essential role in education today. There are countless ways to participate in Media Literacy Week and the Media Literacy community!Learn More

TELOS Learning Across Boundaries Symposium
2017-11-08 | Stanford University
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?

Join the TELOS Initiative and FamLAB for a special symposium highlighting ongoing national research presented by members of the FamLAB project (Families Learning Across Boundaries) and featuring examples of practice from Remake Learning, based in Pittsburgh.
Learn More Speakers: FamLAB sponsors: With support from:

Global Education Conference
2017-11-13 - 2017-11-16 | Online
The Global Education Conference Network is a collaborative, inclusive, world-wide community initiative involving students, educators, and organizations at all levels. Conference activities are designed to significantly increase opportunities for connecting classrooms while supporting cultural awareness and recognition of diversity and educational access for all. The event is free and takes place entirely online.Learn More

Webinar: Tackling World Issues by Fostering Global Competence in the Classroom
2018-03-13 | Webinar, Select a Country:
In a rapidly changing and complex world, how can we make sure that our young people develop an understanding of global issues and the empathy necessary to engage in making change? Join the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop, World Savvy and World’s Largest Lesson at 3pm ET on Monday, March 13 for a free Share My Lesson webinar on creating global citizens. These three organizations will provide you with three distinct, but complementary ways for students to understand the world around them.

First, World’s Largest Lesson will introduce you to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the Global Goals, which are a plan for people and planet, set out for the world to deliver by 2030 and agreed by 193 Heads of State. When introduced into the classroom, and woven throughout your curriculum, students see new purpose for learning, build an understanding of what makes a sustainable world for all and realize how they can play a part in making this happen. World’s Largest Lesson will provide you with free resources and tools for educators and guidance for students to take action – personal, local, national and global – in support of the Goals.

World Savvy will lead you through an interactive session, exploring global competence and how to create meaningful, student driven learning experiences using World Savvy’s Case Study approach. World Savvy’s Case Studies highlight global issues with local significance and include a variety of curated resources to ensure access points for all learners. Participants will actively engage in the World Savvy Case Study approach as learners, acquiring background knowledge while building empathy, investigating multiple perspectives and deepening their understanding through inquiry. The session will also include discussion about how students have engaged in this approach in middle and high schools in Oakland, CA, Minneapolis, MN, and Newark, NJ.

Next, the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop will introduce you to Digital Play for Global Citizens, which is a guide to some playful resources that educators and parents can use to help children learn about, understand, and engage with our increasingly interconnected world. Divided into three parts, the guide introduces tools to 1) help students build awareness of themselves and the world around them, 2) recognize and investigate the complex and systemic causes of events across cultures and history, and 3) use digital play to explore the natural world. From exploring boundaries, borders, and geography in context; to developing empathy and understanding of diversity; from investigating the systemic causes of economic injustice; to developing a sense of curiosity and wonder about nature, we introduce tools and techniques for using digital play to develop in students all aspects of global competence.

Finally, all three organizations will engage in a broader discussion about the importance of creating global citizens.

Available for one-hour of PD credit. A certificate of completion will be available for download at the end of your session.Learn More and Register

Children and Families in the Digital Age Book Launch Event
2018-03-14 | Digital Promise, Redwood City, CA
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 session will highlight research conducted as part of the Families and Media Project that is featured in the new book Children and Families in the Digital Age (Routledge).

A reception will follow the discussion. The book will be available for purchase at a discount at the event.

Panelists include:

Elisabeth Gee, Arizona State University
Lori M. Takeuchi, Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop
Ellen Wartella, Northwestern University
Brigid Barron, Stanford University
Briana Ellerbe, USC-Annenberg
Amber Levinson, Stanford University
Sinem Siyahhan, California State University San Marcos
Savitha Moorthy, Digital Promise
Maria Alvarez, Common Sense Media

Learn more about the book and RSVP for the event here.

American Educational Research Association (AERA) Annual Meeting
2018-04-13 - 2018-04-17 | New York, NY, New York, NY, United States
The AERA Annual Meeting is the largest gathering of scholars in the field of education research. It is a showcase for ground-breaking, innovative studies in a diverse array of areas—from early education through higher education, from digital learning to second language literacy. It is where to encounter ideas and data that will shape tomorrow’s education practices and policies, and where to connect with leading thinkers from the U.S. and around the world.

Featured Session:
Cooney Center Research Manager Alexia Raynal will present on findings from Children and Families in the Digital Age: Learning Together in a Media Saturated Culture in a roundtable session on equity and learning technologies on Tuesday, April 17.
Learn More

2018 International Communication Association Conference
2018-05-24 - 2018-05-28 | Prague, Czech Republic
Against a backdrop of evolving technologies and shifting sociocultural and political dynamics, the 2018 ICA conference theme, Voices, encourages scholars to delve more deeply into a concept inextricably linked with communication.

For those attending, join Cooney Center Acting Executive Director Lori Takeuchi for a panel discussion on Designing Media to Encourage Tolerance and Empathy in Youth on Friday, May 25.
Learn More

Future of Childhood Salon: Immersive Media and Child Development
2018-11-07 - 2018-11-08
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 immersive media—i.e., virtual, augmented, and mixed realities—in the lives of preadolescents before these technologies become ubiquitous among children this age. A cross-sectoral group of approximately 65 child development and media researchers, learning scientists, child health experts, hardware and content developers, educators, journalists, and funders will look at these emerging media via a cascading series of considerations. These will be organized around necessary choices in order for VR, AR, and MR—from such time they are approved for use by pre-teens—to be unique, essential, safe, engaging, and beneficial to children’s socio-emotional, cognitive, and physical development. The goal is to emerge with an agenda for needed research, a framework for responsible development of immersive experiences for children, and industry-wide best practices that can evolve over time via cross-sectoral partnerships.

Reframing Learning Across Boundaries: Building Public Understanding and Support
2019-06-06
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 targeted expanded learning opportunities as a national priority. But research by the FrameWorks Institute has identified a disconnect that needs to be addressed: most people don’t fully appreciate the value of learning outside of school or the need to connect learning between different environments. This lack of appreciation for how, where, and when learning occurs holds important implications in building public support for needed reforms. Practitioners, program designers, and advocates need strategies to build greater understanding among their constituents about the value of these connections.

At the Summit, co-hosted by the Joan Ganz Cooney Center, the FrameWorks Institute, and PBS, a carefully selected group of leaders from across sectors and geographies will craft creative new strategies to support programs and policies that advance learning across boundaries. The Cooney Center will share findings from its research on how parents and teachers are connecting children’s learning across settings, and FrameWorks will share insights on how the general public and decision-makers think about children’s learning environments. The event will use these resources to launch a toolkit for the “reframing” of the national conversation and provide a chance to advance organizational alliances moving forward.

Immersive Media Design and Children Workshop
2019-06-15 | Boise, ID
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 augmented, virtual, mixed, and cross reality—for children, while taking into account children’s developmental needs, equity, and inclusivity. At the workshop, participants will discuss and make connections across their work, participate in hands-on activities, and begin producing a set of design guidelines for immersive media for children, grounded in their collective experiences, research, and knowledge of the field. After the workshop, we will publish these guidelines as a white paper to distribute to interested industries, developers, designers, and more to positively impact the future of childhood. https://imdc-workshop.wixsite.com/idc2019

The Education Market: VR’s Best Hope? at XR for Change Summit
2019-06-17 08:00 - 17:00 (America/New_York)
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 when they first try a VR headset, industry reports suggest there continue to be signs of instability in the hardware marketplace, and that consumer demand hasn’t been as strong as anticipated. Perhaps the classroom is where AR and VR will really shine.

Children are enthusiastic about AR and VR, and teachers have expressed greater engagement around lessons that incorporate immersive media. But is it safe? How are these technologies being deployed in the classroom – are teachers receiving the training and support they need to implement successful lessons? What happens when the novelty wears off? And as AR and VR continue to gain traction in the education marketplace, how can we ensure equitable access to these learning experiences for all students?

View the full agenda for the XR for Change Summit.

2019 Connected Learning Summit
2019-10-02 - 2019-10-05 | University of California, Irvine
The mission of the Connected Learning Summit is to fuel a growing movement of innovators harnessing emerging technology to expand access to participatory, playful, and creative learning.

The Connected Learning Summit represents a merger between three community events with this shared vision and values: the Digital Media and Learning Conference, the Games+Learning+Society Conference, and Sandbox Summit. With a unique focus on cross-sector connections and progressive and catalytic innovation, this event brings together leading researchers, educators and developers.

Learn more and register

CSforALL Summit 2019
2019-10-21 - 2019-10-23
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 from October 21-23, 2019.

The Joan Ganz Cooney Center’s Executive Director Michael Preston will lead “Leveraging Public Media to Inspire All Kids to See Themselves in Tech,” a fireside chat with Debra Sanchez from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Milton Chen, senior fellow and executive director emeritus of the George Lucas Educational Foundation during the Systems for CS session on Tuesday, October 22.

View the full agenda

FOSI 2020 Annual Conference
2019-11-21
The Family Online Safety Institute’s 2020 Annual Conference theme is “2020 Vision: The Future of Online Safety.”

Leaders from industry, government, law enforcement and non-profits will come together in Washington, DC to collaborate and innovate new solutions to Internet safety challenges. There will be keynotes, plenary panels, breakout sessions, alongside exhibits and a networking reception.

Michael Preston, the Cooney Center’s executive director, will participate in a panel on designing for children.

Learn more and register for FOSI 2020 here

2020 NETA Conference & CPB Public Media Thought Leader Forum
2020-01-26 - 2020-01-30 | Arlington, VA
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, with a focus on the following areas: Media in the Classroom, Content, Community Engagement, Station Management, and Youth Voices.

The Joan Ganz Cooney Center will share highlights from our Families Learning Across Boundaries (FamLAB) Project with representatives from PBS SoCAL and Idaho Public Television, who were on project teams that were recipients of our Spark Grant awards.

Future of Childhood Summit
2020-03-03 - 2020-03-05 | San Francisco, CA
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 at Sesame Workshop and Google will convene a Summit aimed at realizing our most positive visions of childhood in this tech-saturated age. This invitation-only event will bring together leaders from industry, research, education, and advocacy to create a unified vision of the future of childhood, in which all children grow up in a world where their interactions with media and technology enrich their learning, wellbeing, and safety. The summit will kick off on the evening of March 3 with an opening session and reception followed by two days of conversation and hands-on planning. We will reflect on how to nurture, empower and protect children while building new skills. The summit will be an opportunity to engage in discussion across industries and disciplines, and also develop a shared agenda for the decade ahead.

New York Academy of Sciences Webinar: COVID-19: Screen Time and the Developing Brain
2020-07-22 12:00 - 13:30 | Online
During COVID-19, children are spending more time in front of screens than ever before, with virtual school, video streaming, social media, and multiplayer games. Given that kids’ brains are still developing, should parents be concerned? What are the long-term effects? Is there such a thing as too much screen time? What will happen to kids and teens in a post-COVID world? How will they adjust to a life with less screen time? This panel will bring together experts in pediatrics, education, and digital media to discuss the effects of extensive screen time on the developing brain.

Speakers: Michael Preston, PhD, Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop; Sonia Livingstone, Dphil, The London School of Economics and Political Science; Jenny Radesky, MD, University of Michigan Medical School; and Michael Robb, PhD, Common Sense Media.

The event is free for NYAS members and $10 for non-members.

Learn more about the webinar and register here.

Parenting for a Digital Future
2020-07-29 12:00 - 13:00
Wednesday, July 29, 2020
9:00am PT / 12:00pm ET / 5pm BSTPlease join the Joan Ganz Cooney Center in celebrating the release of Parenting for a Digital Future, a new book by Sonia Livingstone and Alicia Blum-Ross that offers a balanced, in-depth exploration of the realities of parenting today. The authors will be joined by Anya Kamenetz, an education correspondent for NPR and author of The Art of Screen Time in a conversation hosted by Michael Preston, Executive Director of the Joan Ganz Cooney Center.

Together, they will discuss the challenges facing parents as they grapple with a digital age that is full of both opportunity and risk. What does a child’s growing independence mean in terms of digital technology, when the risks of online activity may be eclipsed by the public health dangers of the pandemic? Where do parents of tweens go for advice?

The event is free and open to the public.

Register here»
Learn more about Parenting for a Digital Future here »
Learn more about The Art of Screen Time here »

Speakers:

Sonia
Livingstone
Alicia
Blum-Ross
Anya
Kamenetz
Michael
Preston
