The Joan Ganz Cooney Center
Encyclopedia
The Joan Ganz Cooney Center is an independent, non-profit
research and innovation lab in the United States founded by Sesame Workshop
in order to advance children’s literacy
skills and foster innovation in children’s learning through digital media
.
White House CTO, announced the inaugural prize winners during the E3 Expo in June, 2010.
launched in November 2009 to “harness the excitement and educational potential of video games to advance STEM learning (science, technology, engineering, and math)."
and Susan Zelman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting
which held its first meeting at Sesame Workshop on January 28, 2010. The council's sixteen members from academia, industry, and policy are assessing current practices in early education and elementary school teaching. They will then design a professional development "blueprint" to advance the use of effective digital media in teaching and learning, with a special emphasis on instruction for underserved students. The final report will be issued in Fall/Winter 2010.
Research Center have formed a research collaboration to explore ways in which mobile media can support family communication and literacy. Dr. Glenda Revelle, a Senior Fellow at the Cooney Center is the recipient of the Center's first Nokia-funded research fellowship.
The first key project resulting from this collaboration, Story Visit, examines the role technology can play to support family communication while empowering adult family members to foster their children's literacy development. The second is an exploration of the potential for using mobile technologies in conjunction with Web-based programming to create participatory, interactive Webisodes of The Electric Company, Sesame Workshop's literacy-based multi-media initiative show for 6-9 year-olds.
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
research and innovation lab in the United States founded by Sesame Workshop
Sesame Workshop
Sesame Workshop, formerly known as the Children's Television Workshop , is a Worldwide American non-profit organization behind the production of several educational children's programs that have run on public broadcasting around the world...
in order to advance children’s literacy
Literacy
Literacy has traditionally been described as the ability to read for knowledge, write coherently and think critically about printed material.Literacy represents the lifelong, intellectual process of gaining meaning from print...
skills and foster innovation in children’s learning through digital media
Digital media
Digital media is a form of electronic media where data is stored in digital form. It can refer to the technical aspect of storage and transmission Digital media is a form of electronic media where data is stored in digital (as opposed to analog) form. It can refer to the technical aspect of...
.
History
The Joan Ganz Cooney Center was founded in 2007 by Sesame Workshop, to study the role of digital technologies in promoting childhood literacy particularly among children aged 6–12, as well as diverse and struggling readers. According to the organization's mission statement, the Cooney Center exists "to advance children’s literacy skills and foster innovation in children’s learning through digital media."Activities
The Cooney Center concentrates its activities on four primary areas:- Research: supporting interdisciplinary research among leading scholars engaged in the educational and developmental aspects of new media innovation. Each year, a research fellow from academia, industry, or policy is chosen to work at the center and help the Cooney Center advance its action research mission. The Cooney Center develops practical knowledge to meet the research needs of media producers and tracks new trends through its series of industry research reports.
- Production: collaborating with media companies (commercial and nonprofit) and independent producers to design and test models and prototypes based on academic research. Partners currently include GoogleGoogleGoogle Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
, NokiaNokiaNokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational communications corporation that is headquartered in Keilaniemi, Espoo, a city neighbouring Finland's capital Helsinki...
, the USC Game Innovation Lab, the Corporation for Public BroadcastingCorporation for Public BroadcastingThe Corporation for Public Broadcasting is a non-profit corporation created by an act of the United States Congress, funded by the United States’ federal government to promote public broadcasting...
, and E-Line Media.
- Investment: initiating public/private partnerships, making new applications available to commercial investors for further development, and collaborating with distributors to influence product launches. The Cooney Center also runs an annual prize competition to reward and recognize innovation in children's digital media. In 2011, the Cooney Center held the first annual National STEM Video Game Competition in partnership with E-Line Media and with sponsors AMD Foundation, Entertainment Software Association and Microsoft. Inspired by President Obama's "Educate to Innovate" campaign, an initiative to promote a renewed focus on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education, the challenge aimed to motivate interest in STEM learning among America's youth by tapping into students' natural passions for playing and making video games.
- Policy: catalyzing policy change by disseminating research and convening leadership across pivotal sectors to inform national debate and stimulate effective reforms. The Cooney Center's 2009 Leadership Forum: Breakthrough Learning in a Digital Age, hosted at the Googleplex, attracted more than 200 thought leaders from research, policy, education, and industry. In 2011, the Cooney Center will host its annual leadership forum focusing on scaling-up effective models that support children's learning with an emphasis on harnessing the largely untapped potential of digital media, especially for struggling learners. Learning From Hollywood: Can Entertainment Media Ignite a Digital Revolution? will bring together over 200 leaders from the creative media industries, education, research, policy, and philanthropy to take action and find answers to the question, How can we take the best of kids' entertainment media to inspire kids to want to learn more? Recent research publications on the potential of video games and mobile platforms for children's learning have received wide attention in the media and among national and state policymakers.
Reports
The Cooney Center catalyzes change by disseminating research that informs the national debate, stimulating investment in effective reforms. It does so through its publications on timely topics, including children’s interactive media landscape, mobile learning, and the debates over media multitasking—all of which have received national media attention. The Cooney Center’s inaugural report was Challenge Paper: The Power of Pow! Wham!: Children, Digital Media and Our Nation's Future by Rima Shore, Ph.D.Significant reports
- Always Connected: The new digital media habits of young children by Aviva Lucas Gutnick, Michael Robb, Lori Takeuchi and Jennifer Kotler.
- Learning: Is there an app for that? by Cynthia Chiong & Carly Shuler
- Can Video Games Promote Intergenerational Play & Literacy Learning? by Cynthia Chiong Ph.D.
- The Impacts of Media Multitasking on Children’s Learning & Development by Claudia Wallis
- iLearn: A Content Analysis of the iTunes App Store's Education Section by Carly Shuler, Ed.M.
- Game Changer: Investing in Digital Play to Advance Children's Learning and Health by Ann My Thai et al.
- Pockets of Potential: Using Mobile Technologies to Promote Children's Learning by Carly Shuler, Ed.M.
- Getting Over the Slump: Innovation Strategies to Promote Children's Learning by James Paul Gee, Ph.D.James Paul GeeJames Gee is a researcher who has worked in psycholinguistics, discourse analysis, sociolinguistics, bilingual education, and literacy. Gee is currently the Mary Lou Fulton Presidential Professor of Literacy Studies at Arizona State University...
Initiatives
The Cooney Center focuses on four key strategies: action research, innovation and model development, partnership building and dissemination. These strategies reflect the Center's field-building mission, which calls for the creation of new knowledge, the creative application of that knowledge in practice, and the engagement of key decision-makers in making investments to drive innovation and scale up what works.Cooney Center Prizes for Innovation in Children’s Media
The goals of the Cooney Center Prizes for Innovation are to identify, inspire, nurture, and scale breakthrough ideas in children's digital media and learning. Launched in the Spring of 2010, the program annually awards cash prizes and provides ongoing business planning support and mentorship to a new generation of children's media entrepreneurs and visionaries. Aneesh ChopraAneesh Chopra
Aneesh Paul Chopra is the first Federal Chief Technology Officer of the United States .Chopra previously served as Virginia’s fourth Secretary of Technology. Prior to his government service, Chopra was Managing Director for the Advisory Board Company, a health care think tank for hospitals and...
White House CTO, announced the inaugural prize winners during the E3 Expo in June, 2010.
STEM National Video Game Competition
The Cooney Center, in collaboration with E-Line Media, hosts the National STEM Video Game Challenge as part of part of the "Educate to Innovate" campaign, which President Barack ObamaBarack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
launched in November 2009 to “harness the excitement and educational potential of video games to advance STEM learning (science, technology, engineering, and math)."
Cooney Center Fellows Program
Cooney Center Fellows assist with high priority research, program development and dissemination activities that examine the potential and challenges associated with digital media applications in promoting children's learning and healthy development. In addition, the Center has established a research fund to help support priority areas.Digital Age Teacher Preparation Council
The Cooney Center, in collaboration with the Stanford Educational Leadership Institute, has convened a Digital Age Teacher Preparation Council, co-chaired by Linda Darling-Hammond of Stanford UniversityStanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
and Susan Zelman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting
Corporation for Public Broadcasting
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting is a non-profit corporation created by an act of the United States Congress, funded by the United States’ federal government to promote public broadcasting...
which held its first meeting at Sesame Workshop on January 28, 2010. The council's sixteen members from academia, industry, and policy are assessing current practices in early education and elementary school teaching. They will then design a professional development "blueprint" to advance the use of effective digital media in teaching and learning, with a special emphasis on instruction for underserved students. The final report will be issued in Fall/Winter 2010.
Story Visit
The Cooney Center Sesame Workshop, and NokiaNokia
Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational communications corporation that is headquartered in Keilaniemi, Espoo, a city neighbouring Finland's capital Helsinki...
Research Center have formed a research collaboration to explore ways in which mobile media can support family communication and literacy. Dr. Glenda Revelle, a Senior Fellow at the Cooney Center is the recipient of the Center's first Nokia-funded research fellowship.
The first key project resulting from this collaboration, Story Visit, examines the role technology can play to support family communication while empowering adult family members to foster their children's literacy development. The second is an exploration of the potential for using mobile technologies in conjunction with Web-based programming to create participatory, interactive Webisodes of The Electric Company, Sesame Workshop's literacy-based multi-media initiative show for 6-9 year-olds.
Founders
- Joan Ganz CooneyJoan Ganz CooneyJoan Ganz Cooney is an American television producer. She is one of the founders of the Children's Television Workshop , the organization famous for the creation of the children's television show Sesame Street. Cooney received her B.A...
, Chairman of the Executive Committee, Sesame Workshop - Lloyd N. MorrisettLloyd MorrisettLloyd Newton Morrisett, Jr. is an American experimental psychologist with a career in education, communications, and philanthropy...
, Chairman Emeritus of the Board, Sesame Workshop - Gary E. Knell, President and CEO, Sesame Workshop
Key staff
- Michael H. Levine, Ph.D., Executive Director
- Lori Takeuchi, Ph.D., Director of Research
- Pam Abrams, Director of Partnerships and Strategy
- Catherine Jhee, Director of Web and Strategic Communications
National Advisory Board
- Sandra Calvert, Ph. D., Chair and Professor of the Department of Psychology at Georgetown UniversityGeorgetown UniversityGeorgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...
and the Director of the Children's Digital Media Center - Milton Chen, Ph. D., executive director of The George Lucas Educational Foundation (GELF)EdutopiaEdutopia is a Web site published by The George Lucas Educational Foundation . Founded in 1991 by filmmaker George Lucas and venture capitalist Steve Arnold, the Foundation celebrates and encourages innovation in K-12 schools ....
- Josh Cohen, Managing Partner at City Light Capital
- Stephen DeBerry, partner at Kapor Capital
- Allison Druin, Ph. D., Director of the Human-Computer Interaction Lab and an Associate Professor in the University of MarylandUniversity of MarylandWhen the term "University of Maryland" is used without any qualification, it generally refers to the University of Maryland, College Park.University of Maryland may refer to the following:...
's College of Information Studies - James Paul GeeJames Paul GeeJames Gee is a researcher who has worked in psycholinguistics, discourse analysis, sociolinguistics, bilingual education, and literacy. Gee is currently the Mary Lou Fulton Presidential Professor of Literacy Studies at Arizona State University...
, Ph. D., Mary Lou Fulton Presidential Professor of Literacy Studies at Arizona State UniversityArizona State UniversityArizona State University is a public research university located in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area of the State of Arizona... - Alan Gershenfeld, Founder and President of E-Line Media
- Sharon Lynn Kagan Ph. D., Virginia and Leonard Marx Professor of Early Childhood and Family Policy, Co-Director of the National Center for Children and Families, and Associate Dean for Policy at Teachers College, Columbia UniversityTeachers College, Columbia UniversityTeachers College, Columbia University is a graduate school of education located in New York City, New York...
, and Professor Adjunct at Yale UniversityYale UniversityYale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
's Child Study Center. - Nichole Pinkard Ph. D., senior Research Associate, as well as the Chief Technology Officer and Director of the Information Infrastructure System (IIS) project at the Center for Urban School Improvement (USI) at the University of ChicagoUniversity of ChicagoThe University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
- Delia Pompa Ph. D., Vice President for Education at the National Council of La RazaNational Council of La RazaThe National Council of La Raza is a non-profit and non-partisan advocacy group in the United States, focused on improving opportunities for Hispanics. It is sometimes confused with La Raza Unida...
- Linda G. Roberts, Ed. D., former director of the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Educational Technology
- Marshal (Mike) S. Smith, former Program Director for Education at The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
- Megan Smith, Vice President, New Business Development and General Manager of Google.org.
- Vivien Stewart, Vice President for Education at Asia SocietyAsia SocietyThe Asia Society is a non-profit organization that focuses on educating the world about Asia. It has several centers in the United States and around the world Hong Kong, Manila, Mumbai, Seoul, Shanghai, and Melbourne...
- Andrea L. Taylor, director for North America Community Affairs for Microsoft Corporation
- Ellen Ann Wartella, Ph. D. Professor of Communication Studies and of Psychology at Northwestern UniversityNorthwestern UniversityNorthwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
External links
- The Joan Ganz Cooney Center's Website
- The Joan Ganz Cooney Center's Twitter Feed
- The Joan Ganz Cooney Center's YouTube Page
- The Cooney Center Prizes Facebook Page
- Cooney Center Reports
- Cooney Center Initiatives
- Cooney Center Press Room
- Cooney Center Events
- Cooney Center People
- Education Week, 9/17/2008 "Let's Get Over the Slump"
- New York Times, 12/6/2007, "Institute Named for ‘Sesame’ Creator"