Changers People, Products, and Policies That Empower 21St Century Kids
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presents Gamechangers People, Products, and Policies That Empower 21st Century Kids April 28 and 29, 2011 Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA Sandbox Summit® is a series of conferences designed to address how technology affects the ways kids play, learn, and connect. As technology is woven into every aspect of our children’s lives, Sandbox Summit raises the bar on questions surrounding the use and development of their new toys and tools. Through high-energy panels, innovative demonstrations, original research, and thought-provoking discussions with industry and media leaders, analysts, journalists, educators and parents, each Summit strategically intermingles disciplines and viewpoints so that we never talk to a room full of nodding heads. The goal of every Sandbox Summit is to stimulate the means that encourage kids to become creative, critical thinkers in the 21st century. Our Mission: Play is how kids learn. By creating a forum for conversation around play and technology, Sandbox Summit strives to ensure that the next generation of players becomes active innovators, rather than passive users, of technology. ® 2 Sandbox Summit Game Changers Welcome. As we open our seventh Sandbox Summit®, and our second annual event at MIT, we can’t help but reflect on how the conversation has changed in the past three and a half years. We began talking about traditional toys and tech, wondering about the value of adding a chip or going online; now, both the vocabulary and the toys have evolved. Today, toys include tools, and the technology extends to multiple platforms, 24/7 connections, touch screens, and body language. Yet, our concerns are essentially the same: how to help our kids become creative, caring, sharing citizens. Game Changers: The People, Policies and Products That Empower Kids in the 21st Century takes a look backward and forward. We reflect on what works and what doesn’t — and why. We are privileged to hear from some of the key people who are leading these epic changes. And to learn how these innovators optimistically propose new ways and means to challenge and engage kids — using technology — to ensure that they become key players in the 21st century. We’re so glad you can join us. Claire and Wendy People, Products, and Policies That Empower 21 st Century Kids 3 The Sandbox Summit® Team Claire S. Green, Cofounder Claire is the president of Parents’ Choice Foundation, the nation’s oldest nonprofit guide to quality children’s media and toys. Since taking the helm in 1999, Claire has been determined to preserve and promote the organi- zation’s reputation as a leading authority in and advocate for quality chil- dren’s media and toys. One of the ways she does that is by getting down on the floor herself and playing with her minions of mini testers. Claire serves on the selection committee for the National Toy Hall of Fame® at the Strong National Museum of Play® and was a member of the 2011 Nomination Commit- tee for the TOTY Awards. Prior to heading Parents’ Choice Foundation, Claire wrangled the national press corps for Presidential visits, the international press for the 1996 Olympics Broadcasting Unit, produced award-winning film and video projects, served as Deputy Campaign Manager for a U.S. Senate race, and directed large-scale public events. Claire lives in a cabin in the woods in Maryland with her husband, Tom, and their dog, Sammy. Wendy Smolen, Cofounder Wendy has been an astute player in the children’s toy and media industry for nearly 20 years. She tests, evaluates, and rates products, and often blogs about the best of them. Because her office is wall-to-wall toys, she refers to her business appointments as “playdates.” Wendy has held senior editorial positions at Nick Jr. Family Magazine, Parents, and Toy Wishes. At all three publications, she established synergistic relationships with the magazines’ online counterparts. She has appeared on numerous television shows, and has been interviewed by national publications discussing both parenting and play. She was a member of the 2011 Nomination Committee for the TOTY Awards. Wendy earned a B.S. at Cornell University. She and her husband, Paul, live in Westport, CT. They have three children whom she credits with keeping her up to speed in social media and occasionally moving her up a level on Angry Birds. Scot Osterweil Scot slid sideways into game design from a career in video animation, and prior to that television production. While designing his first game (Zoombi- nis) he kept recovering his earliest memories of childhood play, and began to recognize all the ways those experiences informed his life’s passions, as well as the ways play continued to be a significant component of his work. It was these discoveries that have motivated all of his subsequent work in the field. What he particularly likes about being at MIT (besides getting to work with really smart people) is the chance to encourage young adults to nourish their playful selves, and not yield to the pressures to get serious, or grow up. Scot is married to Marcia Hulley, an award-winning TV producer at WGBH. They are the parents of sons Willie and Peter. Susanna Pollack Susanna joined the Sandbox Summit team in 2011 to help drive business development and strategic partnerships. Susanna has spent the past 15 years forming all kinds of partnerships that facilitate creative collabora- tion — specializing in children’s content, transmedia production, and idea forums. Past and current clients include international organizations such as BBC Worldwide, PACT UK, KidScreen, Rose D’Or Festival, TEDxEast, as well as many innovative production companies who make really cool stuff. She is a bourgeoning “idea” junkie and thoroughly enjoys being in an industry that allows her inner child to shine (although, it has occurred to her that her inner child is a 10-year- old boy). Susanna lives in Fairfield, CT with her husband, Perry, and her two sources of inspiration, Isaac and Ian. ® 4 Sandbox Summit Game Changers Sandbox Summit®Advisory Board Warren Buckleitner, Ph.D. Jane Gould Editor, Children’s Technology Review Senior Vice President, Consumer Insights, Nickelodeon/MTVN Kids and Alice Cahn Family Group Research, Nickelodeon Vice President of Social Responsibility, Cartoon Network US Lisa Guernsey Journalist and Author, Harold Chizick Into the Minds of Babes Vice President, Global Communica- tions and Promotions, Spin Master Ltd. Andy Kaplan CFO, DonorsChoose.org David Elkind, Ph.D. Professor Emeritus of Child Alexandra Kennedy Development at Tufts University, Executive Director, The Eric Carle Author, The Hurried Child Museum of Picture Book Art Judy Ellis Michael H. Levine, Ph.D. Founder and Chair, Department of Toy Executive Director, Joan Ganz Cooney Design, Fashion Institute of Technology Center at Sesame Workshop Jim Engle Maggie McGuire President, Little Kids, Inc. Vice President, Kids and Parent Channels Online, eScholastic Terry Fitzpatrick Executive Vice President, Scot Osterweil Distribution, Sesame Workshop Creative Director, MIT Education Arcade Ellen Galinsky President, Co-founder, Mitchel Resnick, Ph.D. Families and Work Institute Professor of Learning Research, MIT Media Lab Richard Gallagher, Ph.D. Director of Special Projects, Institute Nancy Schulman of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Director, 92nd Street Y Nursery School and Behavior Disorders, Assistant Professor of Child and Adolescent Alice Wilder, Ed.D. Psychiatry, NYU Child Study Center Co-creator, Think It, Ink It Publishing and Head of Research and Education, Stephen Gass PBS Super Why! President, Every Baby Company, Inc. Special thanks to Our MIT hosts: Comparative Media Studies and The Education Arcade. Our speakers, moderators, and panelists, who are really what makes this, and every Sandbox Summit, so special. Our sponsors: Toy Industry Association, 360PR, Parents’ Choice Foundation, Open Action, Women In Children’s Media, Kidscreen, and Engage Digital Media. Our favorite players: Alex Chisholm, Jessica Hensley, John Jenkins, Eric Klopfer, Stacy Leistner, Ashley Mannetta, Caitlin Melnick, Hayley Ostrager, Victoria Renwick, Carol Shufro, Dana Smolen, Riki Smolen, Zak Smolen, Keri Stelmack, Jessica Tatlock, Laura Tomasetti, and Andrew Whitacre. People, Products, and Policies That Empower 21 st Century Kids 5 The Game Plan Thursday, April 28 8:00 AM BREAKFAST 8:30 AM WELCOMING REMARKS Claire Green and Wendy Smolen, Cofounders, Sandbox Summit Scot Osterweil, Creative Director, MIT Education Arcade 8:45 AM – 9:30 AM KEYNOTE Learning 3.0: Why Technology Belongs in Every Classroom Karen Cator, Director of the Office of Educational Technology, U.S. Department of Education The National Education Technology Plan articulates a vision for a 21st century model of learning. Empowering all students with technology is central to that vision. Setting the tone and direction for the 2nd annual Sandbox Summit @ MIT, Cator will provide an overview of the plan and give a from-the-trenches perspective of the actions that are needed, as well as the perceived barriers to adoption. Get your mobile devices charged and ready to let the world know you’re a part of this interactive discussion. 9:35 AM – 10:20 AM Plays Well With Others: Leadership in Online Collaboration Amy Bruckman, Associate Professor, School of Interactive Computing, Georgia Tech Modern digital play engages kids and adults in creating and sharing stories, photos, videos and animations. Where once it took an animation studio to complete a project, now total strangers work together