Ypulse Guest Post: A Very Important Play-Date

Today’s Ypulse Guest Post is from the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop’s Carly Shuler, who is also author of D is For Digital and a couple of forthcoming studies on mobile learning and kids perceptions of “the digital den.” Carly offers us a recap of the Center’s recent invite-only symposium “Logging into the Playground: How Digital Media Are Shaping Children’s Learning.” If you have an idea for a Ypulse Guest Post, just email me today!

A Very Important Play-Date: Logging into the Playground: How Digital Media Are Shaping Children’s Learning

On May 9th, a rainy Friday in New York City, about 200 thought-leaders in the field of children’s educational media “logged into the playground.”  Though “logging in” meant convening on the 50th floor of McGraw Hill’s New York Headquarters, and “the playground” was actually a day-long symposium, this was one play-date that anyone interested in kids’ educational media would not want to miss.

The event was the inaugural symposium for The Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop, a new organization housed at Sesame Workshop with the mission of advancing children’s learning through digital media.  The packed room of invite-only guests spent five hours listening to presentations from a diverse group that included scholars, game developers, teachers, philanthropists and policymakers.  But as diverse as the group was, all were working towards one common goal:  to set a new benchmark for the way in which digital media is used to improve children’s literacy, learning and development.

The day kicked off with a warm welcome from McGraw Hill’s William Oldsey, Sesame Workshop’s Gary Knell, and the founder of Sesame Street herself, the amazing Joan Ganz Cooney. Following these inspirational welcomes, The Cooney Center revealed the results of three special reports.  Michael Levine, The Cooney Center’s Executive Director, presented The Power of Pow! Wham!: Children, Digital Media and Our Nation’s Future, a challenge report that focuses on the recommendations of over 60 industry leaders.  Getting over the Slump: Innovation Strategies to Promote Children’s Learning was presented by its author, Arizona State University professor and gaming Guru James Paul Gee; the paper features strategies to promote children’s literacy and learning.  And finally, Jim Steyer, Founder and CEO of Common Sense Media, talked about the results of a national survey Growing up Digital: Adults Rate the Educational Potential of New Media and 21st Century Skills, which explores the perception of parents and educators about new media’s educational potential.

Next up were two panel discussions; one about children’s digital media usage and trends, and the other discussing how to address literacy challenges in a global age.  Over lunch, guests were treated to presentations from special guest Congressman George Miller, Chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, and keynote speaker Bing Gordon, Chief Creative Officer of Electronic Arts.  Gordon surprised guests by pointing out the amount of mathematics, statistics and probability that are an integral part of the popular video game franchise, Madden Football.  He brought the house to laughter when he analogized “congressmen being cool” to “video games being educational;” both of which he agreed with after hearing the Congressman’s call for a new emphasis on 21st Century skills and ways to “unlock the power of digital media for kids benefit.”

The last panel was the most controversial, and perhaps the most inspirational, challenging key sectors to capitalize on digital media to advance children’s learning, and debating which priorities the next President should tackle first.  As Connie Yowell, Director of Education for MacArthur Foundation articulately pointed out, “the commercial industry is driving learning. They are fundamentally driving learning. They have outstripped anything the textbook industry is doing or anyone else. What has to shift in a significant way is the relationship with and our understanding of the relationship between public and private, and I think that’s a good thing.”

The day ended with a technology forum and tech demo, where guests had the chance to get their hands on a selection of promising educational digital media products. International Children’s Digital Library, Google Earth, and Kerpoof are just three highlights out of the over 30 products available.  And though attendees were certainly entertained, rocking out with products like Guitar Hero and Rock Band, all left with a renewed vision of how such products have the potential to go beyond entertaining to become truly educational.