Whether kids are jumping in front of Microsoft’s Kinect, tapping on an iPad, building worlds on Minecraft, or sending tweets in kindergarten classrooms, the ways they use technology are sparking new teaching methods in elementary education—and providing some cautionary tales. As interactive media become an animating force in children’s lives, how can teachers and schools make the most of its educational value? How can we tell the difference between technologies that belong in the classroom and those that are best suited for afterschool entertainment? And what might young kids’ use of media teach us about the ways they learn?
On Thursday, Aug. 9, Slate, the New America Foundation, and Arizona State University will host a Future Tense event titled “Getting Schooled by a Third Grader: What Kids’ Gaming, Tweeting, Streaming and Sharing Tells Us About the Future of Elementary Education” in Washington, D.C.
Our speakers will include Lisa Guernsey, author of Screen Time: How Electronic Media—From Baby Videos to Educational Software—Affects Your Young Child Annie Murphy Paul*, author of Origins: How the Nine Months Before Birth Shape the Rest of Our Lives and the forthcoming Brilliant; Joel Levin, the famous “Minecraft Teacher”; Scott Taylor, founder of 360KID; Alice Wilder, co-creator and head of research and education for Super Why! on PBS; and Reed Stevens, a learning sciences professor at Northwestern University.
For more information and to RSVP, visit the New America Foundation website.
Correction, Aug. 3, 2012: This post originally misidentified Annie Murphy Paul as Annie Paul Murphy.
