2010 Conference Program and Events

March 21 - 23, 2010

Pittsburgh and Latrobe, Pennsylvania

This conference will bring to bear national and regional thought leadership on a concrete agenda of new programs, research, and policy positions that advance the potential of technology and new media for nurturing a young child’s natural curiosity as foundational for learning.  The following Program and Events are subject to change.  Please visit often to stay up to date. 

Welcoming Reception Sunday March 21, 2010
Reception and Presentation of TEDx Leadership Pittsburgh Prize for Teachers

More Real than Real: Technology as a Facilitator of Imagination, Knowledge, and Understanding
Don Marinelli, Ph.D., Executive Producer, Entertainment Technology Center, Carnegie Mellon University
This talk aims to go beyond the usual rhetoric extolling edutainment as emphasizing fun and enjoyment at the expense of educational content. The aim will be to explore the scientific and experiential principles that make technology an edutainment facilitator.

Learning Lives Documentary Project
Ellen Galinsky, President, Families and Work Institute
This will be a presentation on the Learning Lives project under development by Families and Work Institute, New Screen Concepts, and the Fred Rogers Center.  The presentation will address the impact of this project on public awareness about learning, technology, and media.

New Work Expo
Moderator: Illah Nourbakhsh, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University
Panelists:
Angela C. Santomero, Founder and Executive Producer, Out of the Blue Enterprises
Nancy Steingard, Academy of Television Arts and Sciences
Jane Werner, Executive Director, Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh
The New Work Expo features the work of early career Fellows of the Fred Rogers Center as well as other projects produced by emerging talent from across the country.  The Expo is designed to engage the conference attendees through participatory exhibits located throughout the Fred M. Rogers Center building.

Keynote Speaker
Milton Chen, Ph.D., Senior Fellow, The George Lucas Educational Foundation, Edutopia
An inspiring presentation exploring the potential of technology and new media to help nurture the young child’s instinctive curiosity, creativity, and drive for learning. 

Ideation Session
Moderator: David Kleeman, President, American Center for Children and Media
Panelists:
Warren Buckleitner, Ph.D., Editor, Children’s Technology Review
J.J. Johnson, Partner, Sinking Ship Entertainment
Donna Mitroff, Ph.D., President, Mitroff & Associates
Linda Simensky, Vice President, Children’s Programming, PBS
An extended session designed as a “development simulation.”  Conference attendees will work in groups to debate and create media concepts for building emotional literacy in children ages 3 to 5, and then pitch the concepts for discussion by the plenary group and a panel of industry and child development experts. 

Reception and Dinner on Monday March 22, 2010
Presentation of the 2010 Fred Rogers Memorial Scholarships, Academy of Television Arts and Sciences

New Day in the Neighborhood
Family Communications, Inc. - Kevin Morrison, Cathy Cohen Droz, Lesli Rotenberg
This session will detail the many ways in which FCI is building on Fred Rogers’ legacy using today’s media to reach today’s children and families.  FCI will highlight its partnerships with innovative organizations in and beyond Pittsburgh, and outline how it is working with PBS and key children’s television producers to bring Fred’s unique approach to new generations of children.  Kevin Morrison, FCI Chief Operating Officer, Cathy Cohen Droz,  FCI Director of Special Projects, and Lesli Rotenberg, PBS Senior Vice President of Children’s Media will guide you through FCI’s new ‘Neighborhood’.

Public Policy in Early Learning and Children’s Media
Moderator:  William Isler, President, Family Communications, Inc.
Panelists:
Joan Lombardi, Ph.D., Deputy Assistant Secretary and Inter-Departmental Liaison for Early Childhood Development, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Harriet Dichter, Acting Secretary, Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare
The moderator will engage the two guests in a discussion on the challenges of building strong systems and developing effective public policy on behalf of early childhood education, at the state and national levels. The moderator will present a series of audience questions to enable the two guests to discuss the Pennsylvania experience at length and to talk about the plans and the hopes in this area of the Obama Administration. This format provides an opportunity to exchange thoughts on how policy making in the arena of early childhood education and media/technology can most effectively be advanced.

Panel Discussion: Creative Play and Children’s Media
Moderator:  Ellen Wartella, Ph.D., University of California Riverside, Fred Rogers Center Fellow
Panelists:
Cheryl Charles, Ph.D., President and CEO, Children and Nature Network
Jim Gray, Ed.D., Director of Learning, Leapfrog
Susan Linn, Ed.D., Associate Director, Media Center at the Judge Baker Children’s Center, Harvard University
Rosemarie Truglio, Ph.D., VP of Education and Research, Sesame Workshop
In the past few years there has been an increasing conversation about the role of play in preschool children’s development.  This session will explore the relationship between media and play. 

Panel Discussion: Digital Access Through Digital Diversity
Moderator:  Michael Levine, Ph.D., Executive Director, Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop
Panelists:
Kristen Purcell, Ph.D., Associate Director, Research, Pew Internet and American Life Project
Susan Zelman, SVP, Chief Advisor & System Consultant for Education Policy, Corporation for Public Broadcasting
The goal for this session is to focus on the potential of handheld and other new technologies to help close the digital divide for underserved and under-resourced groups.  The moderator and panelists have taken the lead in addressing the access issue by studying and supporting the development of creative, educational applications of the cutting-edge technologies.

NAEYC Position Statement on Technology and Media
A collaboration between the National Association for the Education of Young Children and the Fred Rogers Center
Moderator: Chip Donohue, Ph.D., Erikson Institute, Fred Rogers Center Fellow
Panelists:
Jerlean Daniel, Ph.D., Executive Director Designate, National Association for the Education of Young Children
Roberta Schomburg, Ph.D., Carlow University, Fred Rogers Center Fellow
This session will provide a forum for conference attendees to provide input into the development of the NAEYC technology position statement.  NAEYC can provide support and guidance to early childhood educators as they struggle with the appropriateness of various types of technology and screen media in the classroom.  Technology can be used well…or badly.  Read More

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