For better or for worse, as of May 20th I am completety done with school. This means that Progressive Learning might soon turn from a static webpage into vibrant blog! There is so much I’ve been reading/writing and talks I’ve been going to that it will take a while to catch up but hopefully it will and can be done! Hang on, faithful readers
Sesame Workshop lays off 20% of staff
I don’t even know what to say in this post. Sesame Workshop, creators of Sesame Street and my former place of work just laid off 20% of their staff today… this just happened a few hours and I feel quite in the dark about who has actually been laid off and how it was done.
I can’t express how sad I am feeling for so many of my friends who have put so many hours into what truly is quality children’s media. I really can’t express how hard working and utterly dedicated people at Sesame are…. Sesame Workshop is a non-profit organization and full of extremely talented people who could easily be earning double their salary elsewhere (well, at least in a past economy) yet chose to stay at Sesame because of their belief in its mission. I could go into all of the research that supports how much of a difference Sesame Street has made in the lives of children’s social and educational outcomes since it first started 40 years ago, but that’s really not my point. My point is just the unique group of people that make up Sesame Workshop. People who love to learn, love to laugh, love to mess around with puppets and act silly yet believe that what they do – which is bring educational media to children all around the world with utmost seriousness, treating what they do as if it were sacred.
For Sesame Workshop and many of the other “good guys” in the media landscape these are extremely hard times, but it is important to still keep at high value the need for superb informal learning in a child’s life. Learning takes place everywhere — at school, at home, in the supermarket, on the computer, in a museum, or sitting in a car seat playing on Mommy’s iPod. Educators who create wholesome and educational experiences for children outside of the classroom are often overlooked but ostensibly equally important as those who create learning in the classroom. It’s too late at night and I’m too tired to write something truly deep here, but to all of you who have dedicated yourselves to truly wholesome media environments for today’s youth, thank you.
Social websites “bad for kids’ brains”
In a recent article article in the Daily Mail, Susan Greenfield, a Baroness and Oxford University neuroscientist made the bold claim that social networking websites damage children’s brains, “infantilize” them, and and will lead to a generation of people with short-attention spans and instant gratification. While she willingly admits that she has no research to back this up, there is definite proof that our environments can have an impact on brain development, especially at a young age and these neurological changes *might* influence social outcomes. In this respect she has an idea absolutely worth exploring: the developmental implications of social networking sites. BUT for every argument against the use of social networks there is a positive argument to counterbalance these claims. While there are some studies that attribute online social networking to real-life social isolation, there are just as many studies to argue the opposite. We must keep a balanced perspective when making judgment calls about social networks and other sites commonly used by children.
I refuse to side with anybody on this matter because:
- I think you have to be blind to not see both sides of the story and the tremendous opportunity that social networking affords for both constructive and destructive behavior/outcomes.
- We need more empirical research on the subject of children and digital media
- I believe in moderation.
Below is a video that made me cringe, but I cannot resist sharing it. It is a heated debate slightly short of a dog fight between Aric Sigman and Ben Goldacre. Enjoy and feel free to leave your comments below!
more about “BBC NEWS | Programmes | Newsnight | S…“, posted with vodpod
An apology to my readers
For those of you who follow this blog,
My greatest blogging fear has come true: between school, freelance work, and travel my blog resembles a static webpage more than it does a blog! As a way of remedying this, I have decided to include personal events on this blog as well as purely academic thoughts. I apologize for not posting more frequently last semester but I look forward to posting more this semester and beyond. Enjoy!
What’s this blog about, anyway?
Hi! My name is Christine and I am a graduate student at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where I am pursuing an EdM in Technology, Innovation & Education. I started this blog as a way of reflecting on topics relating to educational technology, international education development, and psychology. While I do have a serious passion for making the world a better and more equal place through education initiatives, I will try and keep this blog diverse and fun. I’m hesitant to preset too many promises, as I see it evolving and taking different turns over the course of its life, but…
Some topics that fascinate me, and that I will probably blog about frequently:
TECHNOLOGY
- Technology is not good nor bad, but will have an impact. We need to take active moral responsibility for what we do with it.
- Educational technology is an emerging and very exciting field. Before grad school I worked at Sesame Street exploring and analyzing new platforms for educational content. I loved it and want to continue exploring the possibilities of educational technologies.
PSYCHOLOGY
- I’ve spent much of my life studying human cognition and behaviour. I am constantly fascinated by the human mind and what we are capable of.
- I love learning about anything has to do with human motivation, social psychology, and positive psychology. Intrinsic motivation and flow are of particular interest.
- Music Cognition was my main expertise for a number of years when I worked as a researcher at the McGill University Sequence Production Lab.
EDUCATIONAL EQUITY
- On a domestic and international level, we need to place more emphasis on educational equity.
- I believe that technology gives us a new and powerful way of approaching issues relating to educational equity, as we can now focus on new and possibly informal learning systems rather than antiquated education systems that are slow to change.
- Educational equity, justice, and opportunity are of particular interest to me, as I would not be where I am now if it were not for several programs that have helped me along the way. At some point you will definitely hear more about Prep for Prep and the MAP program at Juilliard.
I am very excited about this blog and look forward to making this a bidirectional musing. Please feel free to message me anytime or comment on any of my postings!
– Christine
