Spotlight on Digital Media And Learning

6.10.09 | What started with a few colleagues brainstorming over breakfast has grown into an avant garde group of 130 education and technology professionals focused on enhancing children’s creativity through digital media.

The “Kids + Creativity Group” includes Pittsburgh’s leading institutions and innovators, from universities and museums to gaming companies and after-school programs. Much like Pittsburgh native Fred Rogers did with his television program in the 1950s, our members are using today’s cutting-edge technology to bring the joy of learning to kids’ lives. I like to call them modern-day Fred Rogers.

Besides sparking important dialogue, Kids + Creativity has led to collaborations that are generating new opportunities for children to learn and play. Here are a few examples:

• The Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh worked with the company roBlocks to enhance its exhibits with robotics technology. The museum’s executive director will discuss the success of the project on a panel at the 8th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children in Italy June 3-5.
• Carnegie Library and the Entertainment Technology Corporation at Carnegie Mellon University launched My StoryMaker. This interactive program advances early literacy by allowing kids to create their own characters and stories.
• The Sprout Fund introduced Spark, which funds small-scale initiatives that engage children up to age 8 through the creative use of technology and media.
• The Steeltown Entertainment Project partnered with Holy Family Institute in a youth and media initiative. It pairs Pittsburgh ex-pats who are now Hollywood film professionals with Holy Family students to tell their transformational stories.
• CREATE Lab at Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute and UPCLOSE (the University of Pittsburgh Center for Learning in Out-of-School Environments) developed Robot 250. Marking Pittsburgh’s 250th anniversary in 2008, this city-wide art and technology program gave children and others the chance to build their own customized robots.
• Group member Larry Berger, executive director of the family radio program The Saturday Light Brigade, built a website to track youth media resources. It features the MacArthur-supported Quest to Learn school, among other sites.

As this exciting field of digital media and learning continues to develop, we in Pittsburgh welcome comments and inquiries from the Spotlight community.