Vikki Katz, PhD
Vikki Katz is Associate Professor at the School of Communication and Information at Rutgers University, and a Senior Research Scientist at the Joan Ganz Cooney Center.
Her research focuses on Latino families and how they engage each other and technology for different kinds of activities. She is currently partnering with the JGCC to explore how low-income Latino families make decisions about adopting broadband and digital technologies that are offered through digital equity initiatives, to establish how these can be better leveraged for learning gains. This research is being generously funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Her work has been published in a number of journals, including Journal of Children and Media, Journal of Communication and Journal of Information Policy. Her book, Kids in the Middle, examines the roles that children of immigrants play in their families’ social integration by brokering language, culture, and media content(Rutgers University Press). She also co-authored Understanding Ethnic Media (Sage Publications).
Dr. Katz holds a B.A. from UCLA and an M.A. and Ph.D. from the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California, where she also held an Annenberg Foundation postdoctoral fellowship for two years. You can learn more about her work at vikkikatz.com
Anna Ly
Ms. Ly is the Senior Manager of Programming and Operations for Sesame Workshop. Until 2015, she was the Senior Manager of Business and Creative Ventures for the Cooney Center. Previously, she completed an undergraduate degree in Business, Finance and Human-Computer Interaction with a focus in Communication Design from Carnegie Mellon. After several years in finance, she linked business with technology at IBM, where she worked for three years as a Business Strategy Consultant. She then completed a Master’s degree at Stanford’s Learning, Design and Technology program. At Stanford, her work focused on UX Research and Design, educational Tangible User Interfaces, and socio-emotional learning for children with autism. She has worked on interactive paper-based electronics including Papert Tronics and launched several applications to help children and adolescents with autism understand emotions in the context of their own lives, including Emotionary and Me.Mu for Kinect. While at Stanford, Anna worked for Intel as a UX Design Specialist where she focused on designing user experiences for the future, primarily in education. In the Fall of 2012, the Joan Ganz Cooney Center selected Anna to be the 2012-2013 Fellow to work on research and industry efforts under the Games and Learning and Learning Together core initiatives. A year later, Anna was named the Industry Fellow, a role in which she supported research efforts, assisted with strategy and partnerships, and created tools for media producers and investors. During her stint, the Fred Rogers Center named Anna an Early Career Fellow and provided her a grant to develop games for joint-media engagement. Now, in her new position as Senior Manager of Business and Creative Ventures at the Cooney Center, Anna is responsible for strategic planning and growth, forming partnerships, producing media and publications that inform and raise the sector, staying aware of trends, influencers, and innovation in digital media and learning, and building out game and media development projects. She is also part of the Content Innovation Lab group at Sesame, which develops innovative learning experiences for preschool age children using emerging technologies.
Carly Shuler
Ms. Shuler is a researcher, developer, and author in the children’s media and toy industry. As our inaugural Fellow, Carly researched and authored a number of Cooney Center reports, including D is for Digital and Pockets of Potential. Since her fellowship, Carly continued her work with the Center, leading many of our industry initiatives and research projects with a particular focus on consumer trends, informal learning, and mobile devices.
Throughout her career, Carly has worked with a host of children’s media and entertainment groups, including Sesame Workshop, Spin Master Toys, the Michael Cohen Group, and WGBH. She holds a master’s degree in Technology, Innovation, and Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where she studied how media and technology can be used to educate children effectively. Carly frequently tweets, blogs, and speaks at conferences worldwide on the topic of children’s informal learning through technology. Carly is passionate about the magic that happens when fun, research, and education converge, and is dedicated to working on quality children’s products that inspire thought and creativity.