Tag Archives: microsoft

Today we are living in a world where our lives are being shaped in fundamental ways by the products of science and their application in technology. For millions of youth, videogames are a big part of some of their earliest and up-close encounters with advanced technologies that incorporate computer simulations, visualization, communication, and digital art among other things. Playing videogames is gaining increased recognition as a valuable educational activity both within formal (in-school), and informal (out-of-school) settings. Research studies have…

Over the past decade, the steady increase in the accessibility of the Internet has put new technologies at the fingertips of many. This evolving platform presents a niche for the development of digital literacy and a growing market for information technologies. With deep commitment to a mission serving the youth who need us most, my team and I at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Washington (BGCGW) take on the responsibility of ensuring that every member who comes through…

What really matters for early-grade reading? That’s a question we tackled in a recent paper for policy makers and other non-academic audiences, titled “Launching Successful Readers:  The Role of ICT in Early-Grade Literacy Success.”  Our aim was to help guide and frame discussions about how to have more effective investments in technology for early-grade literacy, in both developed and developing countries, based on research about what really matters for literacy growth. No one disputes that many investments in technology for…

Hello again! When I wrote my blog post on my experiences as one of the Educator Winners from the 2012 STEM Video Game Challenge, I didn’t have a chance to discuss my method for designing games for students. I’ve thought about this quite a bit, and wanted to share some of my tips with other aspiring game designers here. First, there are two good articles on video games and learning at the STEM Challenge website at the bottom of their Resources page. These…

Hello everyone! My name is Marty Esterman and I am the Educator Grand Prize winner for the PBS Kids stream in this year’s STEM Video Game Challenge event for my entry, AdditionBlocks. I have been quite humbled by this whole experience-and I want to thank The Joan Ganz Cooney Center, PBS Kids, E-Line Media, and the AMD Foundation for all their support. I have met some really great people! I also want to thank my wife, Stacy, who has also been…

This year’s National STEM Video Game Challenge was a record-breaking event for the Cooney Center and our partners at E-Line Media. With more categories and subcategories than ever before, we counted more than 3,700 entries from middle and high school students and nearly 100 within the adult categories from all over the country. The student winners—28 from 11 states and the District of Columbia—were honored at the Celebration for Success at the Smithsonian American Art Museum last Monday. The youth winners will…

An adventure game where your character moves around by manipulating the attractive and repulsive forces of the atom. A 3D battle against pathogens inside the human body. An early learning game starring a shark that teaches first graders about inequalities. They could be the latest releases from a premiere educational game studio, but these and 14 other incredible games were all made by students between the ages of 10 and 18: the winners of the 2012 National STEM Video Game Challenge Youth Prize. On Monday, May…

Where we’re going, we won’t need remotes. In the slim chance that you haven’t heard yet, Microsoft released a game-changing new system called Kinect on Thursday. As the Wii revolutionized the market with a motion controller, Kinect throws the controller out the window altogether and literally puts you, the player, in the driver’s seat. Kinect attaches to the Xbox 360 and lets you use your very own arms, legs and body (it tracks 48 parts of your body) to make…

Reprinted from the February 2010 Cooney Center Bits Newsletter: The Cooney Center kicked off 2010 with the 3rd annual Consumer Electronics Show Kids@Play Summit in Las Vegas on January 8. The jam-packed agenda included an announcement by the Cooney Center that our Prizes for Innovation in Children’s Learning are now open for submissions. White House executives, including FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski and Department of Education Director of Technology Karen Cator delivered remarks. Panels included a mix of industry, public media,…

Reprinted from the February 2009 Cooney Center Bits Newsletter: I had the pleasure of attending my first TED conference earlier this month in its new Long Beach, CA venue. I have watched TED talks over the years, but before founding the Cooney Center had not thought much about participating in the meeting, which seemed more about invention and technology design than education or children. Technological, Educational, Design wonders from TED’09: Elizabeth Gilbert on creative genius RWJF’s Pioneers Luncheon MIT’s Siftables —…