Open Learning Talks | Reach Every Reader

Watch the recording: https://youtu.be/B3LP0cOE3N8

Twitter: #OLTalks

Reach Every Reader is a collaboration with educators, families, researchers, and product developers creating solutions to ensure that every child can unlock the wonder of words and stories. Led by Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) and the MIT Integrated Learning Initiative (MITili), this cross-disciplinary and multi-institutional effort focuses on developing foundational literacy skills, early screening and diagnosis, content-rich intervention, teacher and caregiver support, and reach for sustainable impact.

Reach Every Reader’s latest effort is a suite of Pre-K Home & Family apps to help parents and young children develop important pre-literacy skills through play. In this talk, Elizabeth City, executive director of Reach Every Reader, will give an overview of Reach Every Reader, followed by an introduction to the apps with principal investigator Joe Blatt and PhD student Rosa Guzman. They will cover how the apps work, the research that informed them, and how they are designed to help kids and caregivers. Host Eric Klopfer, professor and director of the Scheller Teacher Education Program and the Education Arcade at MIT and a member of the Reach Every Reader leadership team, will moderate the panel and the audience Q&A.

This event wass free and open to the public. Watch the recording: https://youtu.be/B3LP0cOE3N8.

Bios:

Liz City is Senior Lecturer on Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE), where she is Executive Director of Reach Every Reader and recently served as Director of the Doctor of Education Leadership (Ed.L.D.) Program. Liz has served as a teacher, instructional coach, principal, and consultant, in each role focused on helping all children, and the educators who work with them, realize their full potential. She is currently focused on accelerating the development of equitable, learning-rich environments. She has authored and co-authored several books for educators, including: Meeting Wise; Data Wise; Strategy in Action; Instructional Rounds in Education; Resourceful Leadership; and The Teacher’s Guide to Leading Student-Centered Discussions.

Eric Klopfer is Professor and Director of the Scheller Teacher Education Program and The Education Arcade at MIT. Klopfer’s research focuses on the development and use of computer games and simulations for building understanding of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The games that he works on are designed to build understanding of scientific practices and concepts as well as critical knowledge, using both mobile and web-delivered game platforms. In the realm of simulations, Klopfer’s work focuses on students understanding complex systems through critical thinking and connecting computer programming with scientific practice and real-world issues. Klopfer is also the co-founder and past President of the non-profit Learning Games Network.

Joe Blatt is interested in the effects of media content and technology on development, learning, and civic behavior. Blatt directs the HGSE Faculty Focus on Teaching project and programs the “Entertainment through Education series of Askwith Forum presentations. He was also co-creator and initial project director of the Usable Knowledge website, which makes HGSE faculty research available and accessible to practitioners. Blatt’s expertise in children’s media has led to consulting and advising relationships with many major production companies, including Sesame Workshop, WGBH, Walden Media, PBS Kids, and Pokemon. For more than twenty years he created educational multimedia and broadcast television programs, currently as president and executive producer at RiverRun Media. He also created the Break Through television series to profile contemporary African American, Latino, and Native American scientists and engineers.

Harvard Graduate student and Research Assistant Rosa Guzman’s research interests lie at the intersection between language, literacy, and technology. The presence of technology in children’s lives continues to grow and little is known as to how it impacts children’s development at home and at school. Guzman is currently studying how technology, such as e-readers, shapes children’s literacy and language development. The research is meant to help parents and practitioners make better decisions regarding how, when, and where to use technological devices especially in disadvantaged communities. Her ultimate goal is to find tools that can help children be better prepared for grade school and close the various educational gaps found in the US today. Prior to graduate school, she worked as a lab manager and research assistant at the Harvard Lab for Developmental studies. She has conducted several studies that explored the training of children’s intuitive numerical and spatial abilities, with the goal of creating fun games that could help children’s mathematical abilities in underserved communities. She has also worked on projects that focused on understanding the role of bilingualism in children’s executive function and social skills.