Join us on Twitter Wednesday, January 26th at 8 pm ET/5 pm PT for our next #TechPlayChat. We are honored to welcome Dr. Andres Bustamante to discuss “Research Practice Partnerships.”

Andres Bustamante is an Assistant Professor at the University of California Irvine’s School of Education, and directs the Social, iTerative, Engaged, and Meaningful (STEM) Learning Lab. He designs and implements play-based early childhood STEM interventions in places and spaces that children and families spend time (e.g., parks, school yards, grocery stores etc.). He maintains an intentional focus on translating rigorous science from the lab, into meaningful research in the classroom, and the community. Andres is invested in research that has practical implications for school and life success for children and families from under-served communities.

Join us on Twitter Wednesday, December 15th at 7 pm ET/4 pm PT for our next #TechPlayChat. We are honored to welcome Rana DiOrio to discuss “Charting the Zeitgeist in Children’s Media.”

Rana DiOrio is an award-winning picture book author and children’s media creator and entrepreneur who has helped to define the zeitgeist in children’s literature and has been on the vanguard of emerging technologies. She’s been featured in Duke Magazine, Entrepreneur, Fast Company, IBPA’s Independent, Publisher’s Weekly, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Vanderbilt Magazine, among others. She’s presented at industry conferences all over the world including The Next Web (Amsterdam), Tools of Change (Bologna), Publishing University, RightsTech, the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, among others. To learn more, please visit ranadiorio.com.

Join us on Twitter Tuesday, November 23rd at 3 pm ET/12 pm PT for our next #TechPlayChat. We are honored to welcome Dr. Susana Beltrán-Grimm from Purdue University to discuss “Designing Playful Math.”

Susana Beltrán-Grimm is a postdoctoral research associate in Human Development and Family Studies at Purdue University. Susana holds an Ed.D. in education and learning technologies from Pepperdine University. Her research interests include human development in context and culturally informed approaches that support the whole family in helping children learn concepts early on—in both English and Spanish. Susana has co-designed with media organizations, nonprofits, and early childhood education programs. With over a decade of academic and applied experience, Susana specializes in designing equity-oriented, STEM-focused early learning environments that help learners, educators, and researchers engage Latine families and children.

Join us on Twitter Tuesday, October 26th at 3 pm ET/12 pm PT for our next #TechPlayChat. We are honored to welcome Dr. Fashina (Shina) Aladé from Michigan State University to discuss “Supporting kids' learning from media.”

Fashina (Shina) Aladé is an Assistant Professor at Michigan State University jointly appointed in Communication Arts & Sciences and Human Development & Family Studies. Her work lies at the intersection of media effects, developmental psychology, and early childhood education, with a focus on young children’s learning from educational media. She is passionate about elucidating the ways that media and technology can be used to positively impact the lives of children and families.

Join us on Twitter Tuesday, September 28th at 6 pm ET/3 pm PT for our next #TechPlayChat. We are honored to welcome Dr. Andrew Ribner from the University of Pittsburgh to discuss “Media Use and Self-Regulation.”

Andrew Ribner is a developmental scientist whose work focuses on early childhood cognitive development and education. His work is guided by the overarching goal of setting children up for success as they enter school and improving educational outcomes for all children—particularly children whose lives have been negatively affected by systemic inequity. Currently, he is a postdoctoral scholar at the University of Pittsburgh where his primary area of study is on the development of children’s self-regulatory skills and their role in math learning in and out of classroom settings. Additionally, he studies the antecedents and consequences of screen-based media use in young children.

Join us on Twitter Monday, August 30th at 7 pm ET/4 pm PT for our next #TechPlayChat. We are honored to welcome Dr. Molly Scott from Columbia University to discuss “Playful Learning and Early Language Skills.”

Dr. Molly Scott is a postdoctoral research fellow at Teachers College, Columbia University at the NEED Lab working with Dr. Kim Noble. She received her PhD from Temple University where she worked with Dr. Kathy Hirsh-Pasek studying how we can create playful and meaningful classroom language learning experiences for preschoolers. She is passionate about translating findings from developmental science for parents, teachers, and other stakeholders.

Join us on Twitter Tuesday, July 27th at 7 pm ET/4 pm PT for our next #TechPlayChat. We are honored to welcome Shimira Williams from The Beauty of S.T.E.M. to discuss “Digital Play and Edtech.”

Shimira Williams is a community-focused innovator integrating technology with informal educational environments that support children, youth and their families. She uses her voice and passion to advocate for early learning in resilient communities. Shimira’s forward-thinking and risk taking has allowed her to capitalize on opportunities as a social entrepreneur.

Join us on Twitter Tuesday, June 22 at 1 pm ET/10 am PT for our next #TechPlayChat. We are honored to welcome Dr. Helen Hadani from The Brookings Institution to discuss “Playful Learning Landscapes.”

As a fellow at the Brookings Institution, Dr. Hadani leads Playful Learning Landscapes—an initiative that brings together the fields of developmental science and placemaking with the goal of improving child and community outcomes. She has more than 20 years of experience in research and has worked with toy and media companies, including Disney, Sesame Workshop, and LEGO. Helen holds a B.A. in Cognitive Science from the University of Rochester and a Doctorate in Psychology from Stanford University.

Join us on Twitter Tuesday, May 25 at 7 pm ET/4 pm PT for our next #TechPlayChat. We are honored to welcome Dr. Geetha Ramani from the University of Maryland to discuss “Early Mathematical Development.”

Dr. Geetha B. Ramani is an Associate Professor of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology at the University of Maryland, College Park. She is also the director of the Early Childhood Interaction Laboratory at UMD. Dr. Ramani’s research is focused on the role of social and environmental factors that influence children’s mathematical development. Specifically, Dr. Ramani examines how parent-child interactions, peer interactions, and playful learning can benefit mathematical development, as well as how early experiences can contribute to individual differences in mathematical achievement. She also examines important correlates in mathematical learning, such as executive functioning and language skills, in diverse populations of children. Dr. Ramani’s work has been funded by various agencies and foundations, such as NSF and the Spencer Foundation, and her research appears in top tier developmental and educational psychology journals.

Join us on Twitter Wednesday, April 21 at 7 pm EST/4 pm PST for our next #TechPlayChat. We are honored to welcome Dr. Kelly Sheehan from Age of Learning to discuss “How edtech research impacts the design of media for children and families.”

Dr. Sheehan is a Senior User Researcher at the edtech company Age of Learning, where she leads research on the design of educational products for children, parents, and educators. Before working at Age of Learning, she received her PhD from Northwestern University in 2016 where she studied young children’s spatial and symbolic understanding. She then completed a 2-year post-doctoral fellowship at the Center on Media and Human Development where she researched how preschool children learn STEM from educational games, apps, and videos, and how parents can support children’s learning through media. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and her rescue pup.

Join us on Twitter Tuesday, March 23 at 3 pm EST/8 pm GMT for our inaugural #TechPlayChat. We are honored to welcome Dr. Gemma Taylor and Dr. Joanna Kolak from Salford Cognitive Development Lab to discuss “Educational Apps.”

Gemma Taylor, Ph.D. is a lecturer in Developmental Psychology at the University of Salford and PI for an ESRC funded project titled “Investigating the educational potential of touchscreen apps for children’s early vocabulary acquisition” in collaboration with Professor Padraic Monaghan at the University of Lancaster. The researcher on the project is Joanna Kolak, Ph.D. The aim of this project is to investigate children’s language learning apps to develop a scientific understanding of the app marketplace and to apply developmental theories of learning, memory and language acquisition to the development of educational touchscreen apps.