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Mindshift:Media in Support of Early Learning

McCormick Center for Early Childhood LeadershipPublic Policy Forum

Wheeling, IL • May 12, 2011

Milton Chen, PhDSenior Fellow

George Lucas Educational Foundationmilton.chen@edutopia.org

edutopia.org/digital-generation

edutopia.org/digital-generation

Old Wine, New Bottles? 20th C. TV to 21st C. Technology

1. Excessive Screen Time2. Decline in Socialization3. Increased Aggression4. Gender Stereotypes5. Parental Apathy6. Decline in Academic Learning7. Loss of Hands-On Learning (Nature) 8. Childhood Obesity9. Loss of Community10. Moral Decay

“Accentuate the Positive, Eliminate the Negative”

Educate for Positive Use.

vs.

Technology is Bad. Ban it.

Smart Parent’s Guide to Kids’ TV (KQED, 1994)

• Balanced TV Diet (Cut TV calories)

• Educational Main Course,Occasional Dessert

• Get Active! Parent/Caregiver–Child Interaction

“TV may be the only appliance that becomes more useful after it’s turned off.”

-- Fred Rogers

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The New World of Learning

Imagine an Education Nation…

A learning society where education of children is the highest priority, on par with a strong economy, high employment, and national security.

A nation is only as good as its educational system.

The U.S. an Education Nation?

• Of 50 1st-grade students behind in reading, 44 still behind in 4th-grade

• A HS student drops out every 26 seconds,6,000 each day (Tough Choices or Tough Times, 2006)

• CA students 1 year behind U. S. average, 2-3 years behind best states (NAEP 2007, 8th-gr. math)

• Closing the gap could contribute $2 trillion per year in GDP (McKinsey & Co., 2010)

• Innovation: The Key to Creating an Education Nation

• A “Must Do” Rather than “Nice to Know”

• Internet Time: Google 12 Years, YouTube 5 Years

• Every Minute, 24 Hours of New Video on YouTube

6 Leading Edges of K-12 Innovation

1. Thinking2. Curriculum & Assessment 3. Technology4. Time/Place5. Co-Teaching6. Youth

1. The Thinking Edge A Smarter, Hybrid Mindset

Not Either-Or, But Both-And

• Phonics and Whole Language

• Arts and “Core Curriculum”

• Nature and Technology

3. The Technology Edge• Weapons of Mass Instruction, 1:1 edutopia.org/maine-project-learning-

schools-that-work

• iPod, iListen, iReadsites.google.com/a/eusd.org/eusd-iread/

• Online Learningedutopia.org/stw-online-learning-new-breakthroughs

• Wiki-Based 8th-Gr. US History

• Intelligent Text

• Assistive Tech/Universal Design

“Average students learn subject matter in a third or less of the present time, pleasurably

rather than painfully.”

George Leonard, Education and Ecstasy, 1967

“Technology provides wheels for the mind.”

Seymour Papert, MIT Media Lab

Sesame Street & Counting

Positive Policymaking and Funds• Close the Digital Divide

• Develop Educational Software

• Parent Education

• Professional Development

• Educating, Not Eliminating

What’s your definition of a great early childhood center?

Make it short and measurable!

Do the kids run in at the same rate they run out?