The Joan Ganz Cooney Center is an independent research and innovation lab within Sesame Workshop that advances positive futures for kids in the digital world, working with academic, industry, and NGO partners to develop a shared understanding of children’s well-being in digital play; build awareness of and interest in designing for children’s well-being in digital play environments; and encourage the adoption of our framework and research findings.
2023-24 Action Plan
Description
Responsible Innovation in Technology for Children (RITEC)
We are working with academic, industry, and NGO partners to develop a shared understanding of children’s well-being in digital play; build awareness of and interest in designing for children’s well-being in digital play environments; and encourage the adoption of our framework and research findings.
Measurement
- Community growth – number of partners (industry representatives, NGOs, researchers, etc.) that sign on
- Engagement in our events, accessing and contributing to our resources
- Additions to the Design Well, Play Well website, particularly examples of promising and successful practices, and other efforts aligned with our focus
Alignment
- Tune for emotional well-being
- Share lessons collaboratively across the tech industry
Description
Well-being by Design fellowship
Our goal is to promote “well-being by design” as an aspirational and accessible goal for industry by supporting designers to workshop well-being-informed ideas in their work on digital products for kids. The Cooney Center will support fellows through workshops, consultations with industry experts and youth, and collaborative learning and sharing as they make progress on their designs. We will also engage further with the larger community of designers who applied to the fellowship and create opportunities for them to learn.
Measurement
We will document and share publicly the fellows’ work in case studies that specify how they have implemented design features to support well-being in their technology and media products for kids.
Alignment
- Tune for emotional well-being
- Share lessons collaboratively across the tech industry