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.
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 metaverse, digital wellbeing, and much more. Cooney Center Executive Director Michael Preston will speak at a morning breakout session at 11:30am, "Inside a Child's Mind:…
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 projects over time. By looking at the various ways participants have thought about, approached, and experimented with youth engagement, the public media system can develop…
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: A Safer Internet Day Chat” will be a conversation about the importance of designing online experiences with kids’ well-being in mind, including providing insights…
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. But what does well-being for children in the digital age look like? Can we design digital experiences that allow children to learn emotional regulation, develop…
On Friday, March 24, the Cooney Center's Senior Director of Research Medha Tare will moderate Designing for Digital Well-being: Frameworks for Optimizing Positive Media Experiences for Children and Families, a roundtable at SRCD 2023 in Salt Lake City. Panelists include Amanda LaTasha Armstrong, New Mexico State University and New America; Bruce Homer, The Graduate Center, City University of New York; Remi Torres, University of California, Los Angeles; Sesame Workshop; and Jason Yip, University of Washington, Seattle. This conversational roundtable brings…
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, feel empowered and self-actualized, and connect with others in a diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment while keeping them safe? We will discuss recent research…
The Milken Institute Global Conference takes place May 1-May 3, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. This year’s theme of 'Advancing a Thriving World' will tackle the most pressing challenges and capitalize on the most exciting opportunities of our time. The conference is available to view via live stream here. Cooney Center Executive Director Michael Preston will participate on the following panel, moderated by Savannah Sellers, with Jean Accius, Nina Davuluri, and John McPhee: Growing Up Online: Youth Mental Health in…
The 22nd annual ACM Interaction Design and Children (IDC) Conference will be held on June 19-23, 2023 at Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois. IDC is the premier international conference for researchers, educators, and practitioners to share the latest research findings, innovative methodologies, and new technologies in the areas of inclusive child-centered design, learning, and interaction. This year's theme is "Rediscovering Childhood." Senior Director of Research Medha Tare will participate in an industry panel discussion chaired by Bill Shribman, with Felix…
Panel: Designing Digital Play for Well-Being at Games for Change 2023 July 18, 2023 at 1:45pm The Times Center | Main Stage How do we define well-being in a digital world and what does it mean to thrive? How can developers incorporate diverse perspectives into game design to benefit players from different backgrounds around the world? How can we balance responsible design with business pressures? How can we empower game designers to embed designing for well-being and digital thriving into…
On Thursday, September 14, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) and the XR Association present the third annual AR/VR Policy Conference in Washington, DC. The event will feature a series of expert talks and panels discussing critical policy questions covering privacy and safety, the use of AR/VR in education, children and teenager safety, and more. Panel #4: Back to School in the Metaverse (2:25 PM ET) As AR/VR technology becomes a valuable tool for educational purposes, developers and educators…
Getting kids back in the classroom this Fall means tackling tech use from many different angles. In the coming months, parents will be contending with how to balance the extra screen time needed for homework, helping kids navigate complex social dynamics online, and striving to teach them what good behavior looks like by example. Additionally, both parents and kids are learning about generative AI in real time, and how these brand new technologies will impact academics and learning as well…
In October 2022, The Nation’s Report Card revealed that fourth- and eighth-grade students assessed in the 2021-22 school year experienced the largest declines in mathematics performance in the program’s history. These national declines highlight the unprecedented learning crisis facing students following the COVID-19 pandemic. Even before the pandemic, gaps in mathematics achievement of students with the highest and lowest performance were already widening. In September 2023, the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and the Institute of Education Sciences…
The 9th annual ED Games Expo will occur in Washington, DC, at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts REACH on Wednesday, September 20 and Thursday, September 21, 2023. The ED Games Expo is designed to provide an engaging and meaningful experience for children, students, parents and caregivers, educators, and all stakeholders interested in learning about emerging forms of education-related technologies and the government programs that support EdTech innovation and research. There is no cost to attend the…
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 more impactful as a result. On Wednesday, September 27, the Cooney Center hosted a webinar to discuss the Cooney Center Sandbox with some of our…
The FOSI Annual Conference gathers experts in Washington, DC to debate topics such as content moderation, privacy policies and practices, digital wellbeing, and more. This year's program features research around critical issues such as AI, and practical approaches to ethics, safety, and parenting in the online space. Senior Director of Research Medha Tare on a panel moderated by Richard Culatta (ISTE), with Megan Fromm (NAMLE), Matthew Johnson (MediaSmarts), and Gwen Oldham (AT&T) at 1:10 pm: Media, Digital, and Social Emotional…
March 7, 2024 Austin Convention Center Room 12AB The current edtech market is full of products that claim to fulfill lesson plans and make assessment easier for teachers. But what if, in addition to helping kids master important concepts, digital products could make learning truly impactful, and help diverse students and teachers feel empowered and engaged? We’ll talk about how we can bring kids and teachers into the design process in order to create kid-centered products that students enjoy using.…
Please join us in Austin for SXSW 2024! March 10, 2024 2:30-3:30 pm | JW Marriott Salon 6 Can we create online spaces that foster positive behaviors and social experiences that teach users the skills they need to create strong and resilient connections that help them thrive? Video games and social media have been at the center of debates about mental health and a myriad of social issues, but not all digital experiences are created equal. We'll talk about how…
Harmonizing Multiplayer Experiences Location: Room 209, South Hall Date: Monday, March 18 Time: 9:00 am - 12:00 pm Natasha Miller (Senior Research Scientist II, Blizzard Entertainment) Kimberly Voll (CEO, Brace Yourself Games) Weszt Hart (Head of Player Dynamics, Riot Games) Michael Preston (Executive Director, Joan Ganz Cooney Center, Sesame Workshop) Sarah Jacobstein (Project Manager, Joan Ganz Cooney Center, Sesame Workshop) The Cooney Center is delighted to join the Fair Play Alliance at GDC this year to present a workshop as part of the Fair…
Kid-Tested, Evidence-Approved: The Future of EdTech Design Tuesday, April 16 3:50 - 4:30 pm PT The current EdTech market is full of products that claim to make teaching, learning, and assessment easier for learners and educators. But what if, in addition to helping kids master important concepts more efficiently, digital products made learning truly empowering and engaging by drawing deeply from the science of learning and utilizing rigorous participatory R&D methods to ensure that children (and their grownups) had…
Come join us at the Digital Parenthood Summit (June 4th from 9:30-3 at the Times Center in NYC), for a day of thoughtful conversation about raising the connected generation. This free event features top parenting and mental health experts, including Dr. Becky Kennedy, Dr. Alfiee Breland-Noble, Dr. Aliza Pressman, and a live podcast with Dr. Lisa Damour. Dive into hot topics like social media and youth mental health, cyberbullying, and phones in schools. We’ll also be joined by producer, entrepreneur…
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 kids, and explore how to apply these insights in a business environment. Shuli Gilutz from UNICEF will introduce the RITEC project and why it is…
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 28, join Shuli Gilutz, Ph.D. for a keynote talk on the Main Stage at 10:00 AM: Designing for Well-being in Digital Play - It's possible!…
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 goal is to develop a supportive ecosystem that encourages tech and media creators to design with children’s best interests in mind, ultimately fostering a safer,…
On Wednesday, September 18, New America hosts the biennial summit of the Learning Sciences Exchange (LSX) in Washington, DC. The Joan Ganz Cooney Center's Senior Director of Research Medha Tare is a former LSX Fellow, and will participate on a panel about co-design with parents and teachers. Registration for the full-day, hybrid event is free. Learn more and register here.
Columbia University, Teachers College Thursday, October 10, 2024 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM Lunch & Learn: “Can You Tell Me How to Get to Sesame Street? Designing EdTech for Impact” Sesame Street has been a successful edtech innovation for more than 50 years because it is both engaging and educationally effective for children and families. Over lunch in an interactive session, panelists who work at and with Sesame Workshop will share how they design for impact. They will discuss how to engage…
We are pleased to invite you to the upcoming launch of the RITEC Design Toolbox (RDT), part of the Responsible Innovation in Technology for Children (RITEC) initiative in partnership between UNICEF and The LEGO Group and supported by The LEGO Foundation. The RDT was developed based on the RITEC research about children’s well-being in digital play, created with over 750 children in 18 countries. The RDT is a set of practical tools for design teams, supporting the integration of the research…
This webinar celebrates children’s rights in the era of AI. It brings together leading experts in the field of Artificial Intelligence and Children’s Rights to discuss the latest advancements, ethical considerations, policy initiatives, practices and future directions with a focus on children’s inclusion. This webinar emphasizes the need for multi-stakeholder discussion and invites experts from academia, industry and policy while a panel of young people will contribute their perspective. This webinar will celebrate participation from the Global South trying to…
