From Surviving To Thriving In A Digital World: A Safer Internet Day Chat
2023-02-07
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 from young people on what they need in order to thrive when their lives are digital by default.To register to attend the webinar, visit shorturl.at/dBKW9 Watch the event live on Facebook Live (No registration required) on the National Association for Media Literacy Education’s (NAMLE) page at facebook.com/medialiteracyed.

SXSW 2023
2023-03-10 - 2023-03-11
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 competence and creativity, feel empowered and self-actualized, and connect with others in a diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment, while also keeping them safe? We will discuss the Responsible Innovation in Technology for Children (RITEC) project—a global, multi-stakeholder, and cross-sectoral initiative that aims (1) to create a framework that maps how the design of children’s digital experiences affects their well-being, and (2) to provide guidance as to how informed design choices can promote positive well-being outcomes.
March 10 | 2:30 pm CST | JW Marriott Salon 7-8

Designing for Digital Thriving
How can we create & foster healthy, inclusive digital spaces that enable individuals and communities to thrive? Riot Games, the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop, the Fair Play Alliance & IDEO came together to host an Open Innovation Challenge to champion responsible design practices that foster healthy, inclusive communities in a rapidly changing digital world. By learning how to intentionally design online spaces with digital thriving in mind, we believe that anyone can help individuals, groups, & communities truly thrive in today’s connected world. No matter what industry you’re a part of, we invite you to share in our vision of creating a thriving digital world for all.
March 11 | 11:30 am CST | JW Marriott Salon 7-8

We also invite SXSW participants to take a break in the LEGO Play Lounge in Room 403 of the JW Marriott on March 10. Recharge and play with us!

Designing for Digital Well-Being at SRCD 2023
2023-03-24 | Salt Lake City, UT
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 together multidisciplinary experts in social-emotional learning in children’s media; learning through games; youth co-design of technology; and inclusive technology design. The conversation will address questions around how developmental science can help identify opportunities and pathways to design equitable, accessible, and enriching digital experiences for children and families.

Designing Tech for Kids' Well-Being at ASU+GSV 2023
2023-04-18 | San Diego, CA
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 exploring the links between games and well-being, the value of child-centered design, and insights from the Responsible Innovation in Technology for Children (RITEC) and Digital Thriving projects that offer guidance to developers looking for ways to create digital experiences that promote positive well-being for young people.
Michael Preston (Executive Director, Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop) will moderate a panel with Bruce Homer (Professor, “The Graduate Center, CUNY”), Elizabeth Milovidov (Global Digital Child Safety Lead, The LEGO Group), Natasha Miller (Senior Research Scientist II, Blizzard Entertainment / Fair Play Alliance)
Date & Time: Tuesday 4/18, 2:30 – 3:10 PM PT
Location: Harbor I, Level 2
Channel: K-12 Transformation Learn more

Growing Up Online: Youth Mental Health in a Modern World at Milken Institute Global Conference
2023-05-03
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 a Modern World
Wednesday, May 3: 11:50am PT /2:50 pm ET

Growing up in a radically transformed modern world, the way children and adolescents communicate and consume information all affects their mental health. Now there is a growing movement to ensure youth’s safety online and to design tools that foster positive outcomes. With a host of intensified social and environmental issues affecting Generations Z and A, how can we empower children and adolescents to learn emotional regulation, develop creativity, and connect with others in an inclusive environment? How might we lay the foundation for youth to live more resilient, healthy, and meaningful lives?

IDC 2023
2023-06-19 - 2023-06-23
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 Hu (Lando Interactive) and Jillian Orr (GBH Kids) on Wednesday, June 21. She will also be sharing a paper with Mona Leigh Guha as part of the Works in Progress group on Wednesday as well.

The conference agenda can be found here.

Designing Digital Play for Well Being at Games for Change 2023: Panel and Workshop
2023-07-19
Panel: Designing Digital Play for Well-Being at Games for Change 2023
July 18, 2023 at 1:45pm
The Times Center | Main StageHow 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 their work?In this session at the Games for Change Festival, Michael Preston will explore these questions with Jeffrey Burrell (Riot Games), Carolina Giuga (The LEGO Group), and Kevin Bedau (Scratch Foundation) while diving into the challenges and opportunities for creating digital spaces that contribute to the thriving of both kids and adults.

Speakers will highlight two initiatives seeking to provide answers, resources, and communities of practice to help answer these challenging questions: Responsible Innovation in Technology for Children (RITEC) and Digital Thriving.

WORKSHOP: Building Digital Play for Well-being
July 19, 2023 at 5:00pmMicrosoft Center | Music Box

Please join the Joan Ganz Cooney Center, the LEGO Group, and the Fair Play Alliance for an interactive workshop. Participants will take part in a 1.5 hour playful and interactive session to generate new ideas for designing better digital play experiences for well-being. Attendees will envision and construct a physical representation of a digital space that allows children and adults to thrive – drawing from the Responsible Innovation in Technology for Children (RITEC) and Digital Thriving initiatives – and work in groups to explore case studies of how to integrate concepts of well-being and thriving into design.

Participants will leave with concrete ideas on ways that they can incorporate these concepts into their work and a connection to communities of practice looking to learn from each other to advance this work.

Learn more

ARVR Policy Conference
2023-08-29 08:00 - 17:00 (America/New_York)
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 should make sure these technologies are designed with young people in mind. Policymakers on both sides of the aisle have regularly called for making technology appropriate for young people to use, making safety a priority in the implementation of immersive learning programs. What are the unique benefits of immersive learning in comparison to other technologies (e.g., mobile and personal computing)? What are the special accommodations that educators should take in mind when deploying AR/VR tech in the classroom? How can policymakers ensure that immersive learning programs don’t widen the digital divide?

Speakers include Brooke Morrill (Schell Games); Muhsinah Morris (Morehouse College); Monya A. Ruffin (NSF); Medha Tare (Joan Gantz Cooney Center, Sesame Workshop); and Stephanie Montgomery (XR Association) – Moderator
The conference is free to attend.

Register here.

FOSI Webinar: Digital Learning: Prepping for the School Year Ahead
2023-09-07
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 as everyday life.

Cooney Center Executive Director Michael Preston joins a discussion with Amanda LaTasha Armstrong, Janell Burley Hoffman, Judy French, and Yalda Uhls about how parents and kids can set themselves up for success this school year in the midst of a quickly evolving digital environment at home and at school.
Learn more and register here

2023 IES Math Summit
2023-09-12 - 2023-09-26
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 (IES), joined by the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO); the Council of the Great City Schools (CGCS); the National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB); the National Science Foundation (NSF); and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy will convene a free three-day summit to bring together national, state, and local leaders to explore efforts to address this crisis.Leading experts will discuss the latest scholarship on strategies for mathematics instruction and academic interventions; highlight solutions rooted in research and successful classroom practices; and explore emerging resources.Tuesday, September 19 at 3:45 PM ETEveryone can teach, everyone can learnThe Joan Ganz Cooney Center’s Executive Director Michael Preston will speak with Sonny Rodriguez-Mena (Bilingual Special Education Teacher at the NYC Department of Education) about how K-2 computer science provides opportunities for joy, expression, agency, and intergenerational learning – especially for bilingual students and students with disabilities.
Learn more and register here

ED Games Expo
2023-09-20 - 2023-09-21
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 ED Games Expo.

Attendees are invited to stop by the Joan Ganz Cooney Center’s table between 4pm-6pm on Thursday, September 21 to learn more about techniques for playtesting products for children, how to engage in co-design, and how to design for childrens’ well-being in digital spaces.

Learn more

Co-designing the Digital Future with Kids, for Kids
2023-09-27
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 partners, including The GIANT Room, KidsTeam, Oko Labs, Mrs Wordsmith, and the Scratch Foundation. We talked about methods, balancing business interests with research-informed goals, and how teams have implemented findings from sessions with children into their product designs.For more information about working with us, please contact us here.

Speakers:

Michael Preston is the Executive Director of the Joan Ganz Cooney Center, an independent research and innovation lab within Sesame Workshop that advances positive futures for kids in the digital world. The Center conducts research on emerging technologies and collaborates with technologists, digital media producers, and educators to support young people’s learning and well-being. Michael has 25 years of experience leading educational innovation and technology programs in K-12, university, and informal learning contexts. His work focuses on child-centered approaches to design, new models for teaching and learning, and systemic change at local and national levels. He co-founded CSforALL, the hub for the national Computer Science for All movement, and led digital learning initiatives at the NYC Department of Education, Columbia University, and New Visions for Public Schools. He earned a PhD in Cognitive Science in Education from Teachers College, Columbia University and a BA from Harvard College.

Medha Tare is an experienced researcher in the learning sciences and technology area. Her work centers on addressing the needs of the whole child, including considering individual differences among learners, their environments, and the media through which they learn. Prior to the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop, she was the Director of Research for the Learner Variability Project at Digital Promise, where she developed public resources on the cognitive, socio-emotional, and background factors that impact children and adults’ learning. This work involved research translation, science communication, and studies of educational efficacy with school districts and edtech product developers. She has also served as a Learning Sciences Exchange Fellow through New America, working across sectors to promote early learning and help young children and their families thrive. Medha earned her PhD in Developmental Psychology at the University of Michigan and her BA in Cognitive Science and English at Rutgers University. She has served as an advisor on national and international educational initiatives and has numerous peer-reviewed publications including in the Journal of Research on Technology in Education, Language Learning and Technology, and Journal of Cognition and Development. With

Elizabeth Bonsignore is an assistant research professor in the University of Maryland’s College of Information Studies and Human-Computer Interaction Lab (HCIL). Her research explores the design of interactive play and social experiences that promote new media literacies, arts-integrated science learning, and participatory culture. She co-designs and advocates with youth, families, and local communities with the goal of including and empowering youth historically underrepresented in STEM/computing to advance in these fields.

Tif Gagnon is the Design Director at Scratch Foundation with over 15 years of experience in the EdTech sector. She believes in the power of creative learning and strives to combine her skills and passions to support making Scratch accessible and engaging for all learners around the world.

Chris Garrity is a developer and product manager with the Scratch Foundation (and formerly the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at the MIT Media Lab). She has many years of experience building tools, designing playful activities, and facilitating hands-on workshops to introduce creative coding to children and educators with Scratch and ScratchJr. She is passionate about lowering the barriers to learning to code through providing developmentally appropriate tools in the learners own language, and by making the tools more inclusive and accessible.

Azadeh Jamalian is founder and CEO of The GIANT Room creative STEM organization, helping the next generation of creatives and inventors to think big and act on their most ambitious ideas. Jamalian is a TED speaker, former head of education strategy at littleBits, and co-founder of Tiggly. She has a proven record of designing learning products and programs that millions of children have engaged with, and thousands of schools have implemented in their programs. Through her work at The GIANT Room, they have provided creative STEM programs to more than 30,000 families in person and online, and through their partnership with schools, museums, libraries, and cultural organizations such as TED Ed and Joan Ganz Cooney Center. She has a PhD in cognitive studies in education from Teachers College, and has publications on a broad range of topics such as designing learning platforms for children, emerging educational tech, game design, mathematical education, and cognition.

Pierre Lagrange is Executive Chairman of Huntsman and Mrs Wordsmith. Before acquiring Huntsman in 2014 and Mrs Wordsmith in 2021, Pierre co-founded GLG Partners, acquired by Man Group in 2010, and sat on Man Group executive committee. Before founding GLG, Pierre worked at Goldman Sachs from 1990, where he managed global equity portfolios. He started his career in finance at JP Morgan, where from 1985 he worked in government bond sales and trading. Pierre holds an MA in Engineering from Solvay Business School in Brussels.Pierre has regularly invested in movie productions, executive producer of Kickass and Hollywood blockbusters Kingsman: The Secret Service and the sequel, Kingsman: The Golden Circle

Matt Miller, Co-Founder and CEO of Oko Labs, is a seasoned technologist, product leader, and business strategist in the education space. Oko is a dynamic AI-powered platform that enables small group differentiation in elementary classrooms through collaborative games, enhancing academic progress and social-emotional development for every student in an inclusive and personalized way. Prior to founding Oko Labs, Matt served as Chief Technology Officer and VP of Labs at Amplify Education, and VP of Product at Flatiron School. Matt is also an active consultant, mentor, and advisor in the education technology sector, with a deep background in AI, Machine Learning, and Information Security. Matt holds BS and MS degrees in Computer Science from Columbia University with a focus on Intelligent Systems.

Lady San Pedro is Director of Business Innovation at Mrs Wordsmith. With a solid background in product design, Lady has led the creation of Mrs Wordsmith’s extensive and award-winning print catalog of children’s literacy books. As the company expanded into the digital sphere, Lady has taken the reins in developing Planet Agora: a gamified chat app designed to foster social-emotional development in kids aged 8-13.

FOSI 2023 Annual Conference: New Frontiers in Online Safety
2023-11-14 | Washington, DC, Washington, DC, Select a Country:
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 Literacy: A Holistic Approach

How do we develop a comprehensive understanding of media, digital, and social and emotional literacy in order to navigate our information-dense world? At a time when the importance of these literacies are paramount, experts will debate the best ways to teach people of all ages about the importance of topics such as critical thinking, identifying misinformation, and cybersecurity, and how these skills are strengthened by media, digital, and social emotional literacy. As we continue to navigate new technologies such as genAI, panelists will provide guidance on how to use these literacies to have safe and positive online experiences.

Learn more and register here.

Co-Design for a More Inclusive EdTech Ecosystem at SXSW Edu
2024-03-07
March 7, 2024
Austin Convention Center Room 12ABThe 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. We’re excited to talk about how innovators & funders can work together to create a more inclusive edtech ecosystem that inspires real learning.
Medha Tare, Joan Ganz Cooney Center, moderator
Joanna Cannon, Walton Family Foundation
Shayla Cornick, Digital Promise
Maria Janelli, Scratch Foundation
More information

Cultivating Citizenship Through Digital Connections at SXSW 2024
2024-03-10
Please join us in Austin for SXSW 2024!March 10, 2024
2:30-3:30 pm | JW Marriott Salon 6Can 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 we can create a healthier internet by developing good citizens through digital interactions, as well as some of the frameworks that designers can use to build online spaces that foster good citizenship among users of all ages.
Michael Preston, Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop, moderator
Tami Bhaumik, Roblox
Jeffrey Burrell, Riot Games
Katie Salen, UC Irvine
Learn more

GDC 2024 - Fair Play Workshop
2024-03-18 - 2024-03-24
Harmonizing Multiplayer ExperiencesLocation: 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 Play Alliance Summit. Together, we will go through some best practices for risk assessment to determine where you can anticipate player behavior problems in a game, identifying what good looks like for your game, and using behavior subgroups to create a framework for how to think about the player dynamics within a game. We will then spend time working on practical features or interventions to help enhance your desired dynamics and reduce the problematic ones. We’ll also look at how you can set and measure outcomes to assess how your game and its community are doing from a player-dynamics lens.TakeawayAttendees will leave knowing how to assess risk for disruptive behavior, identify healthy behavior for your game, and measure ROI as well as have a tool for thinking about player dynamics through your game lens, and potential interventions to try out at their own studios. Intended AudienceGame developers, designers, trust and safety professionals, and anyone interested in increasing prosocial behavior and mitigating disruptive behavior in your game.

The Fair Play Alliance is an organization of over 300 gaming companies from around the world committed to fostering healthy player interactions as a core part of how we make games.

Learn more and register to attend GDC

Kid-Tested, Evidence-Approved: The Future of EdTech Design at ASU+GSV
2024-04-16
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 a role in designing the products made for them? We’ll discuss how and why evidence-based approaches to co-designing with children, educators, and investors can lead to kid-centered EdTech products that make a real difference.

Moderator: Michael Preston | Joan Ganz Cooney Center Panelists:
Brandon Cardet-Hernandez | Mrs Wordsmith
Jared Joiner | Chan Zuckerberg
Rebecca Kockler | AERDF (Advanced Education Research & Development Fund)
Michele Leardo | Walton Family Foundation Learn more

Digital Parenthood Summit
2024-06-04
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 and philanthropist, Jeffrey Katzenberg who will host an intimate chat with a very special guest about the ups and downs of modern parenthood in the spotlight. Cooney Center Executive Director Michael Preston will speak on a panel, Building a Better Internet.The Digital Parenthood Summit is produced by AURA in partnership with Common Sense Media, the American Academy of Pediatrics Center of Excellence in Social Media, The Walton Family Foundation, The Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop and the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence.

Register here: Digital Parenthood Summit

Creating Digital Play for Children’s Well-Being: From Research to Design
2024-06-26
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 important to children

Jan Plass and Bruce Homer from NYU CREATE Lab will share results from their research with kids around the world

Pia Breum Corlin from the LEGO Group and Lise Borgstrøm Henriksen and Ole Kjær Thomasen from the LEGO Foundation will discuss how they are approaching translating RITEC research into LEGO’s work

Everyone will have a chance to play!

For more information, please contact us at cooney.center@sesame.org

Speakers:

Michael PrestonJoan Ganz Cooney Center

Shuli GilutzUNICEF

Bruce HomerCUNY Graduate School

Jan PlassNYU

Sarah Jacobstein Joan Ganz Cooney Center

Pia Breum CorlinThe LEGO Group

Ole Kjær Thomasen The LEGO Foundation

Lise Borgstrøm HenriksenThe LEGO Foundation

Fabian FroehlichResearcher, NYU CREATE Lab

Yuli ShaoResearcher, NYU Create Lab

2024 Games for Change Festival
2024-06-27 - 2024-06-28
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! How can we design digital play for children, that supports and enhances their wellbeing? How can we go beyond safety to create games kids will thrive in? What’s between child rights and wellbeing and how can they be incorporated in the design process? UNICEF & the LEGO group share their findings.

Then at 2:00 PM, join us for How to Build Digital Play for Well-being, an interactive workshop with Michael Preston and Sarah Jacobstein from the Joan Ganz Cooney Center, Shuli Gilutz, Ph.D. from UNICEF, Pia Breum Corlin from the LEGO Group, Nikita Khalid from Scratch Foundation, and Grace Collins from Snowbright Studio. In this 90-minute workshop, participants will learn about the Responsible Innovation in Technology for Children (RITEC) initiative’s research findings on how digital play can impact children’s well-being. We will share guidance being developed to assist businesses in incorporating these findings into the games they design, along with case studies.

Mark your calendars and get your tickets at https://bit.ly/G4C2024_SPEAKER

Applying Principles of Well-being to Digital Design for Kids at Play Make Learn 2024
2024-07-17 - 2024-07-19
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, more engaging, and more enriching digital environment for kids with well-being at the center of the experience.Our inaugural cohort of fellows met regularly from January -April 2024 to explore different facets of well-being, including creativity, social connection, and empowerment and workshopped their own products with these principles in mind. The Cooney Center’s Senior Director of Research, Medha Tare, will lead a conversation with three of our fellows, Melissa Gedney (PBS Kids), Olivia Levenson Korchagin (Global Tinker), and Keeana Saxon, Esq. (Kidogo Productions) in a panel and interactive Q&A.

July 19, 2024
10am-11am
Multicultural Greek Council Room (4th Floor)

Seeing and Solving Through Multiple Lenses: New Ways to Transform Education
2024-09-18
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.

EdTech Week: “Can You Tell Me How to Get to Sesame Street? Designing EdTech for Impact”
2024-10-10 | New York, NY, New York, NY, United States
Columbia University, Teachers College
Thursday, October 10, 2024
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM [Invite-only] 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 your target audience in different stages of product development, from goal setting to measuring success. They’ll also feature design principles and processes, considering on-going improvements, as well as the impact of innovation in the context of a larger ecosystem. Speakers
Azadeh Jamalian, The Giant Room, Founder and CEO
Emily Reardon, Sesame Workshop, Director of User Experience
Lalitha Vasudevan, Digital Futures Institute at Teachers College, Professor of Technology and Education, Vice Dean for Digital Innovation, and Managing Director
Michael Preston, Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop, Executive Director
Thomas Bailey, Teachers College, Columbia University, President

Learn more

The RITEC Design Toolbox: Supporting Children's Well-being in Digital Play
2024-11-19 - 2024-11-20
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 findings in their work.
Launch Webinar:
The RITEC Design Toolbox
Supporting children’s well-being in the design of digital playTuesday, November 19th, from 18:00-19:00 Geneva / 12:00-13:00 NYC / 9:00-10:00 LA👉🏼RegisterAgenda:Introduction of the RITEC Design Toolbox
Remarks from the project partners and collaborators:

Ida Margarita Hyllested, Senior Adviser, Child Rights and Business, UNICEF

Mathilde Heegaard Bausager, Programme Manager, Digital Child Rights, Safety & Wellbeing, The LEGO Group

Michael Preston, Executive Director, Joan Ganz Coney center at sesame Workshop

Shuli Gilutz, Programme Officer (Child Rights & Digital Business), UNICEF
Panel of gaming industry professionals sharing their perspectives on implementation:

Nate Sawatzky, Head of Player Care (Trust & Safety and Player Support), Supercell

Anna Wendelin, Director of User Experience Design, Mojang Studios

Glen Gillis, CEO and Chair G4C Africa, Sea Monster Entertainment

Petter Karlsson, Senior Play Designer, Toca Boca

👉🏼Register

World Children’s Day: A Global View of Current Practices for Children and Digital Environments
2024-11-20 10:00 - 12:00 (America/New_York)
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 create awareness for the importance of inclusion of children from less privileged environments. We will discuss successful directions with specific examples and practices for responsible development of digital tools and Artificial Intelligence.

The Joan Ganz Cooney Center’s Executive Director Michael Preston will be delivering the keynote talk as part of this AI for Good webinar, organized by Vicky Charisi (Berkman Klein Center, Harvard University), Selma Šabanović (Indiana University Bloomington), and Judith Okonkwo (Imisi 3D)

Speakers include:
– Adam Ingle, the LEGO Group
– Andrea Blasco, EU Science, Research and Innovation
– Francisco Marmolejo-Cossío, Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University
– Grace Lin, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
– Michael Preston, The Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop
– Randy Gomez, Honda Research Institute Japan Co. Ltd.
– Sonia Livingstone, The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)
– Spyros Doukakis, Hellenic Institute of Educational Policy – Ινστιτούτο Εκπαιδευτικής Πολιτικής,
– Steven Vosloo, UNICEF Innocenti

November 20, 2024 at 16:00 CET Geneva | 10:00-12:00 EST, New York | 23:00-01:00 CST, Beijing

Learn more and register here.

Digital Media and Kids with Dr. Michael Rich and Dr. Rosemarie Truglio
2025-02-05 17:30 - 19:00 (America/New_York) | MSDL Theater @ the West Side YMCA, 10 West 64th Street, New York, NY 10023
The Joan Ganz Cooney Center and the West Side YMCA invite you to join us for a book party to celebrate an incredible resource for parents of all children of the digital age: The Mediatrician’s Guide: A Joyful Approach to Raising Healthy, Smart, Kind Kids in a Screen-Saturated World. We are thrilled to host an event featuring three experts in children’s media and health. Dr. Hina Talib, MD, a pediatrician and adolescent media specialist at the Atria Health Institute, will share her observations about kids and digital media today, followed by a fireside chat with Dr. Michael Rich, MD, MPH, “The Mediatrician” and Founding Director, Digital Wellness Lab at Boston Children’s Hospital, and Dr. Rosemarie Truglio, PhD, Senior Vice President of Curriculum and Content, Sesame Workshop.

Event Details:
Topic: Screen Time and Digital Wellbeing for Kids of All Ages
Date: February 5, 2025
Time: 5:30-7:00 pm
Location: MSDL Theater @ the West Side YMCA, 10 West 64th Street, New York, NY 10023

During this interactive session, Dr. Talib, Dr. Rich and Dr. Truglio will share practical strategies and research-based insights into how parents can guide their children toward balanced and mindful media use. There will be an opportunity for Q&A, so bring your burning questions about navigating screen time and digital wellbeing in today’s fast-paced digital world.

Whether you’re the parent of a toddler, a teenager, or somewhere in between, this conversation promises to leave you feeling informed and empowered.

Reserve your spot now—spaces are limited!

The first 75 to arrive will receive a free copy of the book.

Register here!

Dr. Michael Rich is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and practices Adolescent Medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital. Dr. Rich spent his first career as a Hollywood filmmaker before transitioning to medicine, which provided him with a unique understanding of the power of screens to engage, connect, and change us all. He founded the Digital Wellness Lab and the Clinic for Interactive Media and Internet Disorders at Boston Children’s Hospital to bring together researchers, clinicians, and tech/media leaders to research the positive and negative effects of media and technology on children’s and teens’ health and wellbeing, and to use this research to respond to and innovate a digital environment in which we can raise healthy, smart, and kind children. In 2024, Dr. Rich published The Mediatrician’s Guide: A Joyful Approach to Raising Healthy, Smart, Kind Kids in a Screen-Saturated World, a holistic guide for families seeking digital balance, drawn from research and decades of professional practice.

Dr. Hina Talib is Director of Adolescent Medicine and Co-Director of Pediatrics at the Atria Health Institute. She is a leading pediatrician and adolescent medicine expert who holds academic titles at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, and NYU Langone Medical Center. She frequently speaks about teen and young adult health in the media, and she lives in New York City with her family.

Rosemarie T. Truglio is the SVP of Curriculum and Content at Sesame Workshop. She is responsible for curriculum and content development for Sesame Street and all new show productions, including Bea’s Block, Mecha Builders, Esme & Roy, Helpsters and Ghostwriter. Dr. Truglio has written numerous articles in child and developmental psychology journals. Her current book is Ready for School! A Parent’s Guide to Playful Learning for Children Ages 2 to 5 (2019). Dr. Truglio received a Ph.D. in Developmental and Child Psychology from the University of Kansas, and a B.A in Psychology from Douglass College, Rutgers University.

SXSW EDU 2025: AI Tools to Support Literacy & Computational Thinking
2025-03-03 16:00 - 17:00 (America/Chicago) | Austin Convention Center, 500 E Cesar Chavez St, Austin, TX, 78701, United States
AI tools to support literacy & computational thinking

Generative AI is arguably one of the most disruptive forces in the current tech landscape— with undeniable impact in K-12 learning. It has the potential to be an effective tool to personalize learning by curating content and promoting student collaboration. But we must also address important questions about how to integrate AI in safe, equitable, and ethical ways within classrooms.

This panel at SXSW EDU will share lessons learned through the creation and implementation of an AI-storytelling platform co-designed with students and educators in a low-income NYC public school district, and we will discuss effective strategies for implementing STEM, AI literacy, and creative writing activities in elementary school classrooms.

Lisa Guernsey (New America) will moderate AI Tools for Literacy and Computational Thinking with Azadeh Jamalian (The GIANT Room), Medha Tare (Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop), and Laina Vlasnik Yip (Robin Hood Fund for Learning and Technology) on Monday, March 3 at 4pm CT in Room 10AB.

This is an accredited session for CPE credit.

Monday, 03/03/2025
4-5 pm CT
Austin Convention Center
Room 10AB

ASU+GSV 2025- Build It Together: Co-Designing Edtech with Children and Educators
2025-04-07 13:00 - 14:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | San Diego Convention Center, 111 Harbor Dr, San Diego, CA, 92101, United States
What happens when edtech products are co-designed from day one—with children, educators, and schools at the center? This session explores how early-stage design interventions can lead to more engaging, equitable, and effective learning tools. We’ll discuss how LitLab, an AI-powered literacy platform, has partnered with Leanlab Education, the Joan Ganz Cooney Center, and school district teams to co-design a product that shows measurable classroom impact. Panelists will share the unique insights each kind of engagement—from children to educators to researchers—can bring to the development process. Attendees will leave with practical strategies for building stronger partnerships between researchers, startups, and schools.

Where: ASU+GSV, San Diego Convention Center, in Regatta A on Level 4

When: Monday, April 7th, 1-2pm PT

Panelists:

Katie Boody Adorno, Leanlab Education

Varun Gulati, Litlab.ai

Michael Preston, Joan Ganz Cooney Center

ASU+GSV 2025 - ChatECE: Empowering Educators and Families with AI
2025-04-07 14:51 - 15:21 (America/Los_Angeles)
Step into an inspiring conversation about the promises and risks of AI with the early childhood education (ECE) workforce with the power of AI. Facing mounting challenges like burnout and high turnover, the ECE sector is at a crossroads—and AI offers a transformative path forward. This dynamic session will showcase how AI can reimagine the way educators work, empowering them with tools that lighten administrative burdens and amplify their ability to connect meaningfully with children. Gain actionable insights into how AI can create personalized learning journeys, foster creativity, and deepen engagement in the classroom. We’ll also explore the critical importance of equitable access and robust training to ensure that AI serves as a bridge—not a barrier—in addressing existing disparities. Hear practical examples of how AI can empower families with tailored resources and data-driven insights to support their children’s learning, creating a more inclusive and equitable future for education. Moderator: Michelle Kang (CEO, National Association for the Education of Young Children) Panelists:
Celia Stokes (President, Product, Teaching Strategies)
Isabelle Hau (Executive Director, Stanford Accelerator for Learning)
Michael Preston (Executive Director, Joan Ganz Cooney Center, Sesame Workshop)
Date & Time: 4/7/2025, 2:51-3:21 PM (30 minutes) Location: Harbor D, Level 2
Channel: Early Childhood Education Summit
Session Type: Panel

Listen to this session as a podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcast

SRCD 2025: Breaking Through Silos
2025-05-02 - 2025-05-03 | Minneapolis Convention Center, 1301 2nd Ave S, Minneapolis, MN, 55404, United States
Breaking Through Silos: Apply Your Research across Media, Tech, Homes, and Classrooms

Imagine your research becoming a driving force for education transformation. Imagine breaking out of purely academic spaces and attracting the interest of leaders in schools and education systems, media and tech development companies, and social-impact organizations. What would it take to develop a career that brings you into cross-sector collaboration with talented people from diverse perspectives, all of whom are motivated to give more children opportunities to learn and thrive? What types of strategies and skills might help you apply your research in the real world? These are not just imaginary ideas or hypothetical questions. Researchers who have been part of the Learning Sciences Exchange at New America (LSX) can attest that mid-career professionals can come together from many sectors to generate new ideas and tackle urgent problems in human development and education. In this session, you will learn about the LSX approach, which aims to break down silos among the fields of education leadership, entertainment, journalism, social-impact entrepreneurship, and research on the science of learning. Hear how collaboration across these sectors can unleash creative ideas and long-lasting professional relationships. Through video showcases, interactive discussion, and self-reflection activities, this workshop will help you chart a course for applying your research far outside the boundaries of your institution.

Date: Friday May 2, 2025
Time: 8:30 AM – 10:00 AM

Lisa Guernsey, New America
Roberta M. Golinkoff, Ph.D., University of Delaware
Meredith L. Rowe, Ed.D., Harvard University
Medha Tare, Ph.D., The Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop
Andrea Paula Goldin, Ph.D., Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET)
Susana Beltran-Grimm, Ed.D., Portland State University

Learn more here
