Starting From Scratch: Making STEM Easy, Kid-Friendly & Fun

Update: July 30, 2014  Scratch Junior (scratchjr.org) was just released for the iPad today, and it's FREE. Thx @360Kid for sharing that news!  Original Post June 13, 2011: I get far too geeky and jargon-ish when it comes to enthusiasm over kids’ science, technology, engineering, and math innovations, (STEM) in hopes of engaging and retaining girls in the field, so I’ll cap the … [Read more...]

Youth in Egypt: Freedom, Phones- And A New World Media Order

Feb 12, 2011 I love editorial cartoons… they’re storytellers in a sound bite, with a wink and nod to profound societal changes and a snappy headline to boot. I use cartoons in media literacy deconstruction a lot, because like meaningful manga and graphic novels, they ‘cut to the chase’ with youth appeal and enable us to uncork deeper conversations in give and take style; a … [Read more...]

Is There A “Decline” In Kids Reading Or Is It Just Shifting Forms?

Nov. 16, 2010 When I lobbed the “what do you read just for fun” query at some middle and high school kids recently, reactions ran the gamut from quizzical, “what do you mean by “for fun” to disturbing, “I don’t have TIME to read for fun" or "I have too much school work”…and yet their nose-in-the-text-screen antics tells another story by sheer observation. Kids are CONSTANTLY … [Read more...]

CoLABoratory of Creativity: Program for the Future 2010

March 1, 2010 Once upon a time, I spent 25+ years as a creative director at virtual agency:  Copy/Concepts. Collaboration came very naturally to me, as we all divvied up our specialty areas and functioned as one global brain with seamlessness and ease. Now as a nonprofit? Not so much. The nonprofit world is new to me, with all kinds of new fiefdoms to learn, toes to step on … [Read more...]

iPad makes women iMad? Gender or Generational Naming Gaffe?

Jan. 28, 2010 While the Baltimore Sun visual at left handily depicts the pros and cons of the new iPad tablet gizmo at a glance, geek girls and IT career women have been raising an iBrow at the iPad feminine hygiene connotations, as well as the more affordable than expected price. Teens, however? Not so much. One girl vehemently claimed it was ‘idiotic’ to make the leap … [Read more...]