Beyond Screen Time -- Early Learning and Digital Media

New America Foundation
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
1:00 pm - 5:30 pm

The vast majority of children today are growing up hearing, seeing and interacting with digital media and communications technologies of all kinds. This brings a profusion of new challenges and opportunities to early education through age eight. What are researchers, educators and parents discovering at the intersection of digital media and early learning? How do their discoveries stack up against current policies to support quality interactions at home and in classrooms?

AGENDA

1:00 pm: Welcome, Introductory Remarks, and Recap of Research Roundtable in October

Lisa Guernsey
Director, Early Education Initiative, New America

Members of Alliance for Early Learning in a Digital Age
Fred Rogers Center for Early Learning and Children's Media at Saint Vincent College, Joan Ganz Cooney Center, Ounce of Prevention Fund, Public Broadcasting Service, Sesame Workshop, TEC Center at Erikson Institute

1:15 pm: Fostering Relationships and Building Skills: The Potential and Pitfalls of TV, Video, and Interactive Games

Illah Nourbakhsh
Professor of Robotics, The Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University
Lauren Rubenzahl
Program Coordinator, Center on Media and Child Health, Children's Hospital Boston
Lesli Rotenberg
General Manager, Children's Programming, PBS
Shelley Pasnik
Director, Center for Children and Technology, Education Development Center

Moderator
Lisa Guernsey
Director, Early Education Initiative, New America

2:30 pm: Break and Innovation Showcase
Coffee and tea provided

3:00 pm: Proposal for new policy framework
Presentation by New America

3:10 pm: Toward Mindful Media Environments for Children: Modernizing Policies to Reflect New Realities

Ann Hanson
Manager of Research and Policy Initiatives, Ounce of Prevention Fund
Chip Donohue
Director, Technology in Early Childhood Center, Erikson Institute
Michelle Figlar
Executive Director, Pittsburgh Association for the Education of Young Children
Lori Romero
Supervisor and Coordinator, Arapahoe Library District Child and Family Library Services, Colorado

Moderator
Sara Mead
Senior Associate, Bellwether Education Partners

4:10 pm: Concluding remarks

Michael Levine
Executive Director, Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop
Ellen Wartella
Professor of Psychology and Professor of Human Development and Social Policy, Northwestern University

4:30 pm: Innovation Showcase and Wine-and-Cheese Reception

FEATURED EXHIBITS

Children's Innovation Project, Carnegie Mellon University's CREATE Lab, Pittsburgh
• Jeremy Boyle, Assistant Professor of Art, Clarion University
• Melissa Butler, Kindergarten Teacher, Pittsburgh Public Schools
• Junlei Li, Associate Professor at Fred Rogers Center, Saint Vincent College

Talk to the innovators behind a kindergarten project that incorporates hands-on block play, take-apart toys, and even screwdrivers as part of a new way to introduce technology.

Research Findings from the "Baby Elmo" project
Rachel F Barr, Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Georgetown University

Learn about an intervention that examined how to use video modeling to increase the bond between young incarcerated parents and their children and evolved into much more. Inmates, mothers, children, and even juvenile hall staff reported improvements in emotional responses between fathers and babies.

New Approaches: Apps that Foster Joint Learning Between Adults and Children
The Early Learning Environment (ELE)
Michael Robb, Director of Education and Research, Fred Rogers Center
Meet the forces behind a new genre of apps designed to spark curiosity and conversation and stimulate simple, joyful games that parents, caregivers, teachers and children play together.

Also on Exhibit:
New apps from PBS and Sesame Workshop that promote joint engagement between parents and their children.

To RSVP for the event:
http://newamerica.net/events/2014/beyond_screentime

For questions, contact Liana Simonds at New America at (202) 735-2829 or simonds@newamerica.org