NAEYC Webinar: Tech in Early Childhood: Playful, Sensible Strategies for the Digital Age
2017-11-02 | Webinar, Select a Country:
Five years after releasing the joint position statement, Technology and Interactive Media as Tools in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children from Birth through Age 8, Chip Donohue, Roberta Schomburg, and Sabrina Burroughs will be discussing further developments and findings on the use of technology and interactive media in early childhood programs. RSVP for the free webinar taking place Thursday, November 2 at 3pm ET.
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Dust or Magic 2017 Fall Institute
2017-11-05 - 2017-11-07 | Venue Lambertville, NJ, Lambertville, NJ
A group of reviewers, designers and researchers meet to review the past year in children’s interactive media, as well as the latest research, writing and trends. The three day event includes review of child development theory applied to the latest interactive media, plus demos, critiques, testing and brainstorming sessions. 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

2017 NAEYC Annual Conference
2017-11-15 - 2017-11-18 | Atlanta, GA
The Annual Conference of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) is the largest gathering of thought leaders, classroom teachers and faculty, administrators, and other important practitioners and contributors in early childhood education.Learn More

Family Online Safety Institute Conference
2017-11-16 | Venue Washington D.C., Washington D.C., United States
The FOSI Annual Conference is the premier gathering of the online safety community. Hear from leaders in government, industry, the NGO sector as well as leading researchers, academics and practitioners in this growing space. This year’s theme is “Trust & Civility in a Challenging World”. The conference will address a wide range of issues that weaken trust, safety and civility online and the positive ways to respond to these challenges. Learn More

2018 Kids@Play Summit
2018-01-10 | Venue Las Vegas, Nevada, Las Vegas, Nevada
The Kids@Play Summit looks at the new tools and services that digital natives use to learn, create and communicate. Attend a half-day conference and four day exhibition on the CES show floor promoting the next generation of digital hardware, software, and media for kids from toddler to high school.
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Future of Education Technology Conference
2018-01-23 - 2018-01-26 | Orlando, FL
For nearly 40 years, the Future of Education Technology Conference has gathered the most dynamic and creative education professionals from around the world for an intensive, highly collaborative exploration of new technologies, best practices and pressing issues. Its impact has been felt by thousands of districts, schools, educators—and ultimately students.
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2018 ALA Midwinter Meeting & Exhibits
2018-02-09 - 2018-02-13 | Venue Denver, Colorado, Denver, Colorado
The American Library Association invites you to join more than 8,000+ key library professionals from around the country for a series of presentations, panels, and exhibitions. With more than 450 exhibiting organizations, multiple pavilions, and stages featuring the hottest authors, and numerous related fun events, the ALA Midwinter Meeting is an exciting opportunity for learning, professional development, and networking.
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Kidscreen Summit
2018-02-12 - 2018-02-15 | Miami, FL
Kidscreen Summit is renowned as the kids entertainment industry’s most important annual event. Top executives attend Kidscreen Summit to take advantage of the year’s best business networking, and to engage in critical dialogue on issues that affect the industry.
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Webinar: Tapping the Potential of NextGen Technology
2018-02-27
The role of technology in early learning is growing as fast as our children. So how is technology really being used to support parents of infants and toddlers? What does the landscape of tech products for parents look like? Where are the gaps and opportunities? And what improvements can be made to the way parent-support technology is funded, developed, evaluated, and shared with parents?

Find out during the Early Learning Lab’s “Tapping the Potential of NextGen Technology” webinar on Tuesday, February 27 from 3-4pm ET.
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Designing for Digital
2018-03-05 - 2018-03-07 | Venue Austin, TX, Austin, TX, United States
Designing for Digital is meant to bring together UX professionals, web designers, managers, researchers, strategists and librarians of all types to examine the current user’s experience of the library and design the future of libraries in the modern, digital world.
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SXSW Edu
2018-03-05 - 2018-03-08 | Venue Austin, TX, Austin, TX, United States
SXSW EDU features a diverse array of speakers, sessions, workshops, learning experiences, policy discussions and film screenings programmed to foster learning and discovery for all education stakeholders.
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COSN 2018 Annual Conference
2018-03-12 - 2018-03-15 | Venue Washington D.C., Washington D.C., United States
We are living during a time of unprecedented and rapid change. New technologies like artificial intelligence, 3D printing, and robotics are emerging with the potential for having a transformative impact on industry, the economy and society as a whole. Our physical and digital worlds are fusing, resulting in breakthroughs that were only imagined in the past. The speed and scope of this technological transformation is exponential with the potential for unlimited possibilities and endless opportunities. What are the implications for schools, educators and students? How do we provide leadership in a time of rapid change?

The CoSN 2018 Annual Conference will dive deeply into the issues as we seek answers to these questions and design learning in the 4th Industrial Revolution.
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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.

ASCD Empower18
2018-03-24 - 2018-03-26 | Venue Boston, MA, Boston, MA
ASCD connects educators with the resources, knowledge, and community to implement a whole child approach. Through learning paths, educators can direct their own professional learning—receiving exactly what they need to empower their schools and students.
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Dust or Magic Masterclass in Bologna
2018-03-25 | Bologna, Italy
The 5th Annual Dust or Magic Masterclass—held in conjunction with the Bologna Children’s Bookfair—will be held Sunday afternoon, March 25, 2018 in the headquarters of the Bologna Children’s Bookfair, in Bologna Italy. The international gathering brings leading digital experts together for demos and deep conversation about trends and design issues affecting children’s publishing.
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Webinar: Mimi Ito Interviews Mitch Resnick on "Lifelong Kindergarten"
2018-03-27 | Webinar, Select a Country:
Join Mimi Ito, director of the Connected Learning Lab at UC Irvine, as she interviews Mitch Resnick, the director of the Lifelong Kindergarten group at the MIT Media Lab, about his new book, “Lifelong Kindergarten: Cultivating Creativity through Projects, Passion, Peers and Play.”

Mimi Ito is a cultural anthropologist, studying youth new media practices in the U.S. and Japan. She oversees research activities of the Digital Media and Learning Hub and is Chair of the MacArthur Research Network on Connected Learning and Director of the Connected Learning Lab at the University of California, Irvine.

Mitchel Resnick, an expert in educational technologies, is Professor of Learning Research at the MIT Media Lab. He has worked closely with the LEGO toy company for thirty years, collaborating with them on such innovative projects as the LEGO Mindstorms robotics kits, and he holds the LEGO endowed chair at MIT. He leads the team developing the Scratch programming software and online community, and he is cofounder of the Computer Clubhouse project, a network of after-school learning centers for youth from low-income communities.
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Lego Idea Conference
2018-04-09 - 2018-04-11
Under the theme of Empowering Children to Shape Tomorrow, the 2018 LEGO Idea Conference seeks to explore how learning through play can be a powerful part of addressing the global learning crisis. Through an experiential and content-rich conference, it aims to build a deeper understanding of behaviors, motivations, and aspirations that will help unlock more adoption of learning through play, transforming how children learn in the home, community and classroom.
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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.
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Children's Screen Time Action Network Conference
2018-04-20 - 2018-04-21 | Venue Boston, MA, Boston, MA
The very first conference dedicated to reducing children’s screen time.

Learn about health risks related to screen and device overuse.
Attend workshops designed to help you communicate more effectively with parents.
Meet other professionals who believe that reducing children’s screen time is necessary and possible.
Explore opportunities for partnerships.
Participate in round table discussions and working groups.
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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.
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Dust or Magic AppCamp
2018-06-01 - 2018-06-03 | Asilomar, CA
A gathering of top children’s interactive designers, editors and reviewers who review the year and critique the field. The reviewers share what they’ve seen and explain what they like. The publishers demonstrate their latest apps.

What do you do at App Camp?
Give demos and get feedback from an expert audience.
Meet old friends, and make new ones.
Help critique the latest apps by way of demonstrations.
Get the latest news on hardware and app store policies.
Get a crash course of the “magic” of interactive engagement.
Leave inspired to make smarter, better products.
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2018 ALA Annual Conference
2018-06-21 - 2018-06-26 | New Orleans, LA
The ALA is the oldest and largest library association in the world and holds its Annual Conference & Exhibition each summer. As the world’s biggest library event, it brings together up to 25,000 librarians and library staff, educators, authors, publishers, Friends of Libraries, trustees, special guests and exhibitors to engage and participate in the ongoing transformation of libraries and to network. With around 2,500 scheduled events of which more than 500 are programs, sessions and in-depth facilitated and information conversations, attendees engage in a wide range of library- and professional development-related topics.

The ALA Annual Conference and Exhibition brings together bestselling authors, experts, political luminaries, thought leaders, and influencers in the library field and all over the world.
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15th Annual Games For Change Festival
2018-06-28 - 2018-06-30 | New York, NY, New York, NY, United States
Join a community of game experts, developers, technologists, funders and social innovators to share groundbreaking ideas and interact with new impact games and immersive media. Attendees will also engage in three days of thought-provoking conversations, workshops, and networking events.
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The Children’s Media Conference
2018-07-03 - 2018-07-05 | Sheffield, United Kingdom
The Children’s Media Conference is an important event in the United Kingdom for everyone involved in developing, producing, and distributing content for kids. We open our doors to delegates from television, radio, film, games, interactive media, magazine and book publishing, the licensing and toy sectors, and the arts and culture sectors.
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Scratch @ MIT 2018
2018-07-26 - 2018-07-28 | Cambridge, MA
The theme of this year’s Scratch conference is “The Next Generation”.

https://scratch.mit.edu/conference

Connected Learning Summit at MIT Media Lab
2018-08-01 - 2018-08-03 | Cambridge, MA
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.
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