Fall Institute 2017 Agenda
[highlight]Archived content below:[/highlight]
[highlight]Sunday November 5, 2017[/highlight]
UNDER CONSTRUCTIVISM
2-5:00 PM AppFest East
A chance for small publishers or students to come and set up a “micro booth.” There is no cost, there are no strings. Attendees of Dust or Magic who arrive early can view your demo as we set up the room.
Handout & swag table. There is no selling or PR activity permitted at Dust or Magic, however, anyone is welcome to send promotional materials (handouts, fliers w/download codes, white papers and so on) for the attendees. These are kept on a separate table clearly marked as “promotional materials.” No cost and no strings. Send no more than 50 copies to Dust or Magic, 126 Main Street, Flemington NJ 08822 by October 23; we’ll put them out.
5:00 pm – Welcome
“The State of Children’s Interactive Media 2017” — and informal “sharing of notes” panel moderated by Robin Raskin; with Chris Byrne of TTPM; Raul Gutierrez of Tinybop; Jason Krogh of Sago Mini; Emmet O’Neill of Storytoys; and Mitchel Resnick of MIT’s Endless Kindergarten Group.
Let’s define the topics that will help us form discussions over the next three days.
Essential topics:
- “Alexa, tell me a story.” The dust and the magic of audio interactive content for voice driven devices.
- ARKit is here. Who’s using it to well?
- What’s the state of subscription models?
- iOS 11 and children. What did Apple do right (and wrong)?
- The state of ethics and children’s content. Is there a realistic path ahead?
- Is Tinybop’s approach (and pricing) for schools a smart one?
- Pokémon GO is 18 months old. What have we learned?
- “Code is the new Mandarin” (Robin Raskin). That was last year. What’s that state of constructivism and technology (specifically maker kits, coding experiences, Scratch, the Foos and so on). Who’s doing the best work? What’s next for Scratch in the age of Chrome and mobile?
- Video content for kids on mobile devices. We’ll discuss YouTube and Netflix, and assess what their services are doing right (and wrong).
- What’s new with toys and toy tech?
- How do you win an award in 2018. Who chooses, and what do they look for? Learn about the 2018 KAPi awards, and review the winners of the 2017 BolognaRagazzi Digitial Award.
- That state of children’s digital storytelling, and news from the recent Highlights Digital Storytelling retreat.
6:15 Dinner at the famous Lambertville Station Restaurant, where we’ve now dined informally for 17 years. (Note: this is in the old train station depot located by Bridge Street, with the train car attached).
Welcome and Introductions (Riverside Room)
Greetings from Tinybop; from Raul Gutierrez of Tinybop
RETURN TO THE RIVERSIDE ROOM
This year’s after-dinner talk will be by Mitchel Resnick (@mres), Professor of Learning Research at the MIT Media Lab. Mitch develops new technologies and activities to engage people (especially children) in creative learning experiences.
His Lifelong Kindergarten research group develops the Scratch programming software and online community, the world’s largest coding platform for kids. His group also collaborates with the LEGO Company on the development of new educational ideas and products, including LEGO Mindstorms and LEGO WeDo robotics kits.
Resnick co-founded the Computer Clubhouse project, an international network of 100 after-school learning centers, where youth from low-income communities learn to express themselves creatively with new technologies. Resnick earned an undergraduate degree in physics from Princeton, and a Masters and PhD degrees in computer science from MIT.
Mitch was awarded the McGraw Prize in Education in 2011 and the AACE EdMedia Pioneer Award in 2013. He is author of the book Lifelong Kindergarten, published by MIT Press in 2017. Participants will each get a copy. For more information about his research and publications, see http://www.media.mit.edu/~mres
[highlight]Monday[/highlight]
November 6, 2017
7:30 Breakfast. Riverside Room
8:30 Reviewer’s panel with Chris Byrne of TTPM, Warren Buckleitner of CTREX; Robin Raskin of LIDT; and Jo Booth of Teachers With Apps. What’s hot? What’s not? What will 2018 bring?
9:00 Designer brainstorm. Small groups explore emerging opportunities and upcoming challenges, from ROI (Return on Investment) to improving a play pattern.
10:00 Emmet O’Neill, StoryToys. The maker of My Very Hungry Caterpillar AR will talk about what he learned.
10:45 Demos and Nice Touch
11:00 Chris Byrne, TTPM 2018 Toys — Some Dust, Some Magic.
12:00 Group Photo/Lunch; a non-augmented, non-virtual lunch
1:00 Chip Donohue The NAEYC/Fred Rogers Center Position Statement turns 5: What We know Now that We Didn’t Know Then. Chip Donohue, PhD, is Dean of Distance Learning and Continuing Education and Director of the Technology in Early Childhood (TEC) Center at Erikson Institute in Chicago. He was named a children’s media Emerging Pioneer at the KAPi (Kids At Play International) Awards.
1:40 Jason Krogh, Sago Mini. Some thoughts about design for children.
2:30 BrainSprints and Tango Dancing With Daren Carstens and Barbara Chamberlin
We’ll come up with a set of current issues facing the field of children and digital media, and brainstorm some solutions.
3:00 Field Trip to Mediatech
3:00 Bus trip to Mediatech Foundation: Meet some real kids and tour CTR’s new headquarters.
Mediatech is a non-profit public library based technology center/maker space started in 2003 as an experiment. It serves as CTR’s testing center, and provides free public access to technology. Video games circulate alongside books, and children play games designed to increase, rather than reduce social growth and collaboration. You’ll get a chance to talk to some of the kids, and test some of the products.
4:00 Kids panel
4:45 CTR open house. Toast the new headquarters, and see the servers spin.
5:30 Bus leaves exactly at 5:00 PM to return to the Inn at Lambertville Station.
6:00 Dinner (on your own. Your chance to venture to another state — Pennsylvania — and cross the river from George Washington’s point of view)
8:00 Demos
10:00 – Free play and late night discussion.
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[highlight]Tuesday[/highlight]
November 7, 2017
7:30 Breakfast
8:30 Interactive Designer’s Cookbook. Part of the annual, and ongoing crash course on child development applied to the latest interactive media, by Jean Piaget, BF Skinner, John Dewey and Fred Rogers.
9:00 Amanda Armstrong “What we’ve Learned about Creating Diverse Characters.”
9:30 Bill Shribman, WGBH, Boston. Kids, Media, News and Media Literacy.
What does modern media literacy need to look like in a world of mobile tech, fake news, and an endless sea of information? How do we help kids become critical thinkers in a world where facts may not be what they seem? And what trade-offs are there when we give kids unfettered access to the highs and lows of the Internet? Bill Shribman will lead us on an exploration of kids’ online lives.
10:00 Break
10:15 Mark Schlichting: Creating the Illusion of A.I. in Children’s Products
10:45 Meagan Rothschild: Group Cognition and Workflow as a Pathway to Magic — Lessons from ABC Mouse.
Final panel: with a conclusion and summary. What have we learned this year, and what can we expect for 2018?
If you’re staying in the Inn, make sure you checkout of your room by 10:00 AM. It is OK to store bags in the Riverside room.
12:00 Lunch
12:20 Transbridge Bus #1 leaves to Newark Liberty, arriving 1:35 PM (for early flights). Note that departure is from the Hess Station, 5 blocks from the Inn.
1:30 Dust or Magic bus departs to Newark Liberty International Airport, arriving 2:45 PM
1:55 Transbridge bus departs to Newark Liberty Airport, arriving 3:15 PM
5:50 PM last Transbridge bus departs to Newark Liberty Airport, arriving 7:15 PM (departs from the Hess Station, 5 blocks from the Inn). You can buy tickets from the Valparaiso Deli, Rt 165 & Rt 518, 609-397-1116
Speaker details
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