Forum Convened by The Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop, Common Sense Media, MacArthur Foundation and Google to Explore the Future of Digital Technology in Education
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Oct 27, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- National leaders in education, science, technology and philanthropy will
assemble today for the Breakthrough Learning in a Digital Age
Forum to develop recommendations for using digital media for education
reform. The forum will also feature an exhibition of some of the newest
innovations in education technology presently available. The Joan Ganz
Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop, Common Sense Media, the John D. and
Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and Google, have convened the meeting
at the Google campus in Mountain View.
Building on the renewed federal investment in education, the
participants will develop an action plan to use breakthrough
technologies to help revitalize a school system that has fallen behind.
Emphasis will be placed on key areas where technology can make a
significant difference including addressing America's early literacy
crisis, preparing teachers to integrate technology into classrooms, and
opening new learning opportunities for youth through mobile and
games-based learning.
Presenters over the two day event represent a wide range of education
and technology fields including: Martha J. Kanter, Under Secretary of
the U.S. Department of Education, Reed Hastings, CEO, Netflix, former
Chairman of the California State School Board, Joel Klein, Chancellor of
the New York City Department of Education, Geoff Canada, CEO of Harlem
Children's Zone, Marissa Mayer, VP, Search Products and User Experience,
Google Inc. and Jonathan Miller, Chief Digital Officer for News
Corporation. Joan Ganz Cooney, Sesame Street co-founder, and Sesame
Street Muppet Grover will also make special appearances.
The full agenda, speaker biographies, forum details and instructions on
how to join in and watch the live webcast are available on the forum
website at www.google.com/events/digitalage/index.html.
"We're very excited to host this dynamic group of thinkers and
innovators at Google. Breakthrough Learning can make a tangible
difference in building a new future for our children, and will address
some of the most critical issues facing our education system," said
Maggie Johnson, Director of Education and University Relations, Google
Inc. "Solving the crisis in American education requires the sort of
multi-sector thinking Breakthrough Learning entails, and the
group assembling here truly has the leadership and wisdom to galvanize
the creation of a new model for teaching and learning, leveraging the
power of technology."
In addition to the action plan which will be presented to the Obama
administration and key leaders in business, education, and research in
follow-up meetings beginning in late 2009, several strategic initiatives
were announced:
--
The Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop unveiled the Cooney
Prizes for Innovation, a national competition intended to generate
digital educational innovations for children. The program will
annually award cash prizes and provide ongoing business planning
support and mentorship to children's media entrepreneurs and
visionaries. The Center is challenging innovators in two categories:
Breakthroughs in Mobile Learning and Breakthroughs in Literacy
Learning. This year's prizes include $50,000 towards prototype
development in Mobile Learning category and a $10,000 prize and the
opportunity to work with Sesame Workshop to turn a literacy idea into
a real product for national dissemination via The Electric Company.
Applications will be accepted starting in January 2010. Details are
available at www.joanganzcooneycenter.org/initiatives/prizes-excellence-children-media.htm.
--
Common Sense Media announced a new, three-part Digital Literacy and
Citizenship initiative. Key elements include the creation of a K-12
digital citizenship curriculum aligned with national and state
standards, the formation of a policy coalition with the goal of making
every child in America digitally literate by the 8th grade, and the
launch of a broad public awareness campaign in partnership with
leading media and technology partners to educate parents, teachers,
and young people about how to be responsible digital citizens. The
digital citizenship curriculum is being developed with generous
support from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the
Hewlett Foundation, and the Sherwood Foundation.
--
The University of California, Irvine, today launched a new Digital
Media and Learning Research Hub to nurture exploration of and build
evidence around the impact of digital media on young people's learning
and implications for the future of education. Funded by the John D.
and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Center -- which has physical
space at the university campus and will be available virtually at www.dmlcentral.net
-- will support emerging research on digital media and learning by
hosting international conferences, facilitating workshops and working
groups, and bringing together researchers, practitioners,
policymakers, industry leaders and others working on related projects.
It will also house related research initiatives of the MacArthur
Foundation, the first two of which will focus on 1) the transformation
of learning and assessment in the 21st century and 2) examining the
ways in which technology is enabling youth to participate in the
political and public sphere.
The forum will also feature a technology playground showcasing
cutting-edge digital innovations from academia and industry including:
Siftables, cookie-sized computers with motion sensing, neighbor
detection, graphical display, and wireless communication, SMALLab
(Situated Multimedia Arts Learning Lab), a mixed-reality learning
environment where students interact in real time with visual, robotic,
and sonic media via 3D movements and gestures, LittleBigPlanet, a video
game that allows players to create and modify their own games, and
StoryKit for iPhone, an electronic storybook App where children can add
their own text, drawings, photos, sounds, and creative layout to
storybooks.
Breakthrough Learning in a Digital Age was made possible by lead
sponsor and co-convener Google along with event sponsors: the John D.
and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, The William and Flora Hewlett
Foundation, The Pearson Foundation, Apple Professional Development,
Intel, Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Comcast,
Cisco and Silicon Valley Community Foundation. Learn more on the forum
website at www.google.com/events/digitalage/index.html.
SOURCE: Google, Inc.
Google, Inc.
Aviva Gilbert, 650-930-3555
press@google.com
Copyright Business Wire 2009
