School of Tech

Mobile technology will one day play a major role in learning, says a new study on the untapped potential of mobile learning by The Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop (Yes, the Sesame Street People) .

Called “Pockets of Potential:Using Mobile Technologies to Promote Children’s Learning,” the study outlines a national mobile learning strategy and calls upon the incoming Obama administration to invest in digital learning and teacher training.
 Among the recommendations are to build a digital teacher corps and to change school policies which ban cell phone use in schools to enable them to be used within appropriate boundaries for learning.

 “Mobile devices are part of the fabric of children’s lives today: they are here to stay,” said Dr. Michael Levine, Executive Director of The Joan Ganz Cooney Center. “It is no longer a question of whether we should use these devices to support learning, but how and when to use them. Sesame Street introduced children to the educational potential of television.  A new generation of mobile media content can become a force for learning and discovery in the next decade.”

Sesame Street Podcasts

The answer to your pediatrician’s office waiting room nightmares–the Sesame Street Podcast.

Sesame Workshop recently unveiled an updated website with all sorts of fun things for kids to do. Of course, my son is in classic preschooler mode and doesn’t like change so he didn’t appreciate his games being switched up. 

Among the offerings are Sesame Street podcasts based on its Healthy Habits initiative. You can download these to your computer, video iPod or other media player.

Another feature is “playlists” with groupings of games and videos on topics like Ants or All Things Duckie. This is great for your kid’s latest obsession.

Finally, you can enable a special PlaySafe feature that lets you prevent your child from navigating away from the page you have selected for them. This is great for young children who are new to the Internet and may accidentally click another page. It is also wise for more tech-savvy kids who you want to set boundaries for.  I wonder if other kid’s sites have this. It’s a great idea.

Weekly Links–Discovery Edition

To infinity and beyond . . .

Watching the space shuttle lift off is a sight that still gives me goosebumps. You can watch live video from NASA as the shuttle Discovery orbits the Earth. 

Making a special trip this time around is veteran spaceman Buzz Lightyear! NASA and Disney have partnered to encourage students to learn more about science, technology and math.  A 12-inch action figure is flying in the crew compartment of the latest shuttle flight.

Beginning Saturday, May 31,  online games featuring Buzz Lightyear will be available by visiting NASA’s homepage and clicking on the box for the NASA Kids’ Club

Photo credit:NASA/Steven Siceloff

Get your free copy of Sesame Street Magazine here.  This 16 page PDF can be viewed online and activities can be printed to enjoy with your child. I have some of the print versions of this magazine, and look forward to checking out this option.

Now that summer is here, I am always looking for things to do with my son. I especially love art and discovered this wonderful site filled with creative art projects developed by a real art teacher, Kathy Barbro. The examples of work she posts from elementary school children is really top-knotch. She says on the site that she posts the ideas to help kids get more art in their lives now that so many schools are cutting art education. Kudos!