Tag Archives: after school

The experience of childhood During the initial phase of onboarding and professional development exercises with the SparkleLAB team, we spend a good part of our time remembering the experience of childhood. Growing up in the Philippines in the 80’s and 90’s, my fondest childhood memories are those of the rainy season—the torrential downpour that marks the months of August and September. I recall huddling under a blanket with a flashlight while rain thundered down on a tin roof overhead, journeying…

Ask Americans where kids are learning the skills they’ll need to participate in the 21st-century workforce, and you’ll likely hear the same answer over and over again: home or school. That’s how most members of the U.S. public respond when asked about where learning takes place, according to the work we’ve done at the FrameWorks Institute, a communications think tank in Washington, DC. And that way of thinking applies to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education, our new report…

A new study on public libraries highlights their role in digital literacy and family engagement A recent survey of more than 400 public library directors provides new evidence of how public libraries are transforming to help families build digital literacy skills and become familiar with new technology. The results, published last month in Public Library Quarterly, raise the question: Are public schools doing enough to take advantage of these resources in their backyards? The results are part of a larger research…

Educators and researchers have long argued that engaging families and making connections between home and school learning are key elements that foster children’s academic success and strong communities. In communities where parents may have had few educational opportunities themselves, or may have been educated in very different systems outside the U.S, it is especially important to build a common understanding and empower families. To help address this need, Chula Vista Elementary School District (CVESD) in Chula Vista, the largest K-6…

Remarks delivered by Michael Levine at the Anytime, Anywhere Summer Learning Forum co-hosted by New America and the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop in partnership with the National Summer Learning Association and the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading on June 10, 2014. Thanks Lisa, and thanks very much to New America, the Campaign for Grade Level Reading, and the National Summer Learning Association for convening the first of what I hope will be a series of conversations on the…

Personally, I believe in general, when you look at the new assessments, you look at the new standards, you look at what employers want, you look at what people really need to thrive, they tend to align well with inquiry-based learning, blended learning. … But the fact is it’s really hard to design, develop, implement and support those types of learnings. I believe the people who can do that are going to experience enormous success. – Alan Gershenfeld, president and…

This post originally appeared in TASC’s “The ExpandED Exchange” blog. Read more to find out what our New York Action Team members have been up to! Wouldn’t you love to be a kid in one of these two new pilot after-school programs at Quest to Learn, a tech-powered public middle school in New York City? The program in green design grew out of seventh graders’ desire to invent more sustainable ways to live on this planet. The school’s multi-media news…

Cooney Center Research Associate Ingrid Erickson is teaming up with Ruth V. Small from Syracuse University and Eric Meyers from the University of British Columbia to co-edit a special issue of the journal Learning Media & Technology on the topic of digital literacy in informal learning environments. I’m excited to be co-editing an upcoming special issue of the journal Learning, Media and Technology that will be published in late 2012. We’re seeking proposals for papers that will focus on the…

Afterschool Matters, a national, peer-reviewed journal dedicated to promoting professionalism, scholarship and consciousness in the field of afterschool education, is seeking material for the Fall 2011 issue. Published by the National Institute on Out-of-School Time with support from the Robert Bowne Foundation, the journal serves those involved in developing and running programs for youth during the out-of-school time hours, in addition to those engaged in research and in shaping youth development policy. Afterschool Matters seeks scholarly work, from a variety…