Tag Archives: research

It was December 2013. I was finishing my master’s program in Media Design for Learning at NYU when one of my professors told me about a position at Sesame Workshop that, according to him, had my name all over it. Soon, three more people shared the same position with me, saying it “would be a perfect fit.” The position was for a bilingual qualitative researcher with professional experience working with young children to work on the Families and Media Initiative…

Jason Yip was a Cooney Center Fellow from 2013-2014 and remains a frequent collaborator through his work with KidsTeam UW. My time at the Cooney Center (2013 – 2014) came immediately after a stint as a doctoral student at the University of Maryland (UMD). At the time, I was completing my PhD in curriculum and instruction in science education, with some work in child-computer interaction. While I had a lot of projects at UMD (such as investigating the way children…

Alan Nong was a Cooney Center research intern from February 2014 to March 2015.   At the Cooney Center, I had the opportunity to work with some of the most amazing people as we investigated the issues facing modern Latino families and media use. From creating a Mission Impossible-style briefing video to site visits with the kids and their families, I knew the work we were doing was truly impactful. My time with the Cooney Center had played a major…

Jessica Millstone was an Education Fellow from 2011-2014, where she honed her expertise in edtech and game-based learning. I first learned about the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at a pivotal moment in both my life and career. After years of working in K-12 schools and cultural institutions as a technology integration specialist, I had just invested in an advanced master’s degree from Bank Street College of Education and also gave birth to my second child (who is turning 12 next…

​​Do you remember 2007? It’s a year that sparked a massive transformation in technology. Yes, there have been mobile phones since the 1970s— and many of us remember our Motorola Razrs or Blackberries with fondness. But in 2007, Apple introduced the iPhone, followed quickly by Google’s Android operating system and Amazon’s Kindle. These devices and operating systems unleashed a powerful wave of digital media designed for children. Today’s 15-year-olds have never experienced a life without smartphones, streaming music and video…

Carly Shuler authored several reports, including D is for Digital, Pockets of Potential, and  Learning: Is there an app for that? during her time with the Joan Ganz Cooney Center from 2007-2012.   The Cooney Center didn’t just play a role in shaping my career—the term isn’t strong enough. The Cooney Center incubated my career. My company. The 50 people who work for Hoot, the 900 teachers in our teacher network, and the thousands of kids we work with. Our impact…

To mark this year’s National Media Literacy Week, the Joan Ganz Cooney Center joined the Children’s Media Association, the LEGO Group, and the National Association for Media Literacy Education to present an interactive virtual session called “Building Toward Digital Well-being for Children” on October 26, 2022. Moderator David Kleemen (Dubit) served as host of this “news magazine” evening exploring the questions: “What is children’s digital well-being?” “Why is it important?” and “how can we all build towards it?” with New…

When we design for children, we design both for the present and for the future. Childhood experiences have an impact on children, which translates into long-term effects on the population and society—our collective future. Excluding children from our thinking is a systemic bias and we work to change that.  Designing for Children’s Rights (D4CR) is a global non-profit association, working in collaboration with UNICEF to create awareness about the importance of keeping children’s rights in mind when building products and…

Conducting playtesting with kids can be tricky. It can be challenging to get feedback from children that can really help producers make great products—but it’s definitely not impossible. We are thrilled to share Playtest with Kids, a new digital toolkit that shares best practices gathered from dozens of kids researchers. “Do you like this?” seems like a very reasonable question to ask children. But we’ve noticed that asking this seemingly-straightforward question will often result in an immediate “yes!” —not because…

Can you feel the excitement? The buzz of conference-planning is in the air! We’re zooming with friends and colleagues across the country—and beyond!—as we make plans to attend our first in-person event in more than two years. The Cooney Center is thrilled to participate in this year’s ASU+GSV Summit in San Diego. We’re organizing and hosting some panels with our colleagues at Sesame Workshop, launching a project, and looking forward to talking about education, innovation, and equity! Come find us…