April 24, 2023 The Saturday Light Brigade Live Broadcast – Remake Learning Days Are you interested in learning more about the world of radio? Join SLB Radio for a special live-audience broadcast of The Saturday Light Brigade! Attendees will tour the SLB Youth Media Center, then join the live studio audience as SLB Radio welcomes live musical acts, hears from youth guests, plays word games, and much more! This event is FREE to attend and open to all ages. When: Saturday, 5/6 | 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. Where: SLB Youth Media Center, Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, 10 Children’s Way, Pittsburgh, PA. 15212 For more information or questions, visit the Remake Learning Days – Southwestern PA event page, or contact Tai Chirovsky at tai@slbradio.org.
November 2, 2020 Raising Racially Just Kids In Today’s Media Environment Are you interested in learning how movies and television shape children’s ideas about race and ethnicity? Join EmbraceRace on November 11 for their webinar, “Lights, Camera, Representation! TV, Movies, and Children’s Thinking About Race.” About This webinar will explore how movies and television shape children’s ideas about race and ethnicity, what adults can do to encourage the development of more high-quality racial representations in TV and movies, and how adults can help the children they love critically engage critically with media. Time for questions and community insights will be provided. Registration To register, visit the event webpage.
September 30, 2020 Digital Media Literacy: A Deeper Look Are you interested in exploring guidance on technology and digital media use with young children? Join Trying Together on October 8 for our virtual session, “Digital Media Literacy: A Deeper Look: NAEYC/Fred Rogers Center Position Statement.” About This professional development course is designed for educators and administrators to critically examine and develop a deep understanding of the intentions and guidance of the NAEYC Fred Rogers Center position statement. The course will encourage reflective practices to positively influence teaching, policy development, and dialogue about young children and technology. Session Details Session Date: Thursday, October 8, 2020 | 6:30 – 7:30 p.m. Instructor: Katherine Gullone Core Knowledge Area: Professional and Leadership CDA Content Area: Maintaining Professionalism Registration Deadline: Tuesday, October 6, 2020 Registration To register, visit the course PD Registry page. Space is limited. Participants will receive the course Zoom link via email within 24 hours before the start date for the course. PQAS and Act 48 credit available. If you do not have a PD Registry account, please complete this online form to create one. If you are unable to create an account, please contact Jasmine Davis at jasmine@tryingtogether.org for more information. More Information For questions or more information, contact Jasmine Davis at jasmine@tryingtogether.org.
August 4, 2020 Supporting Children’s Emotional Wellness with Digital Technologies More than ever before, early childhood practitioners play a critical role in supporting children’s social and emotional wellness. When used intentionally, digital technologies can serve as tools to help children navigate emotions and express thoughts and feelings. Join Trying Together on September 2 for a conversation on promoting children’s communication skills and emotional development through the use of technology and media. Participants will engage in discussion and reflection on their current practice and the impact of COVID-19. About Connections and Conversations Virtual Check-Ins are interactive sessions that highlight topics of interest to the field of early childhood education. Participants will engage in virtual discussions via Zoom with child development experts while interacting with early learning practitioners to share questions, experiences, and expertise about the highlighted topic. Participants will receive the course Zoom link via email within 24 hours before the start date for the course. For questions, contact Rosie Hogan at rosie@tryingtogether.org. Session Details Session Date: Wednesday, September 2 | 6 – 7 p.m. Instructor: Katie Gullone CKC: K1.4 C2 Registrations must be submitted by Monday, August 31. Space is limited. Sessions will be offered biweekly and will offer one hour of PQAS credit. Act 48 credit will not be offered. Learning Objectives Identify strategies to address children’s social and emotional development through the use of technology and media. Reflect on current practice and the role of technology tools in early childhood environments. Registration To register for this session, complete our online registration form. Session Rules and Guidelines These virtual discussions are designed to provide educators the opportunity to grow professionally and share knowledge on early childhood topics. During the meeting, participants should follow the guidelines below to ensure a successful virtual meeting for all participants. Please allow all participants a chance to speak. Listen respectfully and actively. Commit to learning about each other, not to debating the topic. Embrace differences of opinion as healthy and support each person’s authentic self-expression. Participants will be muted for the beginning portion of the session. Participants may use the “Raise Hand” feature in Zoom to request an opportunity to comment or ask a question. Individuals will be temporarily unmuted by the moderator. Participants may type a comment or question in the Chat or may send comments or questions directly to the moderator for them to share. To receive PQAS credit, you must complete an evaluation at the end of the session and include your PD Registry number. Have fun, make connections, and engage in the conversations! More Information For questions or more information, please contact Rosie Hogan at rosie@tryingtogether.org.
September 26, 2019 How to Balance Children’s Digital Media Consumption In their 2017 “Common Sense Census” report, Common Sense Media found that “children age eight and under spend an average of about two-and-a-quarter hours a day with screen media.” While digital media can be fun and informative, caregivers must be intentional in regulating their own and their child’s media consumption. The Common Sense Census To better understand the types of technology available to young children and how children utilize those technologies, Common Sense Media surveyed a representative sample of over 1,400 parents from regions across the United States. The survey included low- and high-income families, parents who received varying levels of education, and families from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds. Through the survey, Common Sense Media found that 98 percent of children age eight and younger have access to some type of mobile device in their home, with 98 percent having access to a television, 95 percent having access to a smartphone, and 78 percent having access to a tablet. In fact, 42 percent of the families surveyed reported that their child now has their own tablet device, a drastic increase from the reported seven percent four years ago. Through these developments, children now spend more time consuming digital media per day than they do reading or being read to, with the survey average daily reading time reported as 30 minutes. Read the full report. Risks of Excess Exposure All media types, from movies and television shows to social platforms and gaming apps, expose consumers of all ages to a variety of content and messaging. While digital devices can be fun and incorporated as learning tools, they also pose threats to the early experiences of young children by: increasing the likelihood that a child accidentally views violent or inappropriate content, reducing the daily total time spent outside and being active, and limiting children’s early opportunities to develop relationships and social, emotional, and communication skills. With these risks, parents and caregivers must be intentional in monitoring the media content their children consume and the daily total time spent inside on digital devices. However, families must go one step further. Caregivers must also model healthy media balance behaviors themselves, integrating the same practices into their daily lives that they’re teaching their children. It’s critical that families establish a healthy balance between their offline and online activities. Resources and Tools To increase awareness and provide strategies on tackling this issue, Common Sense Media launched a series of resources for families and professionals, including: a free weekly text with healthy media habit tips (text KIDS to 21555)*, a printable coloring book for kids, a song and video about media balance, a digital citizenship curriculum, a family engagement toolkit, and television, book, app, and other digital media recommendations filtered by child age. *By texting the word KIDS to 21555, families can receive weekly text message tips on how to practice healthy media habits with their family and young children. Tips provided through this service are suitable for caregivers of children ages three to eight years old. Texts are available in English and Spanish. Standard messaging rates apply. Learn More To learn more about digital balance, visit the Common Sense Media website.
August 20, 2019 Webinar: An Interview with Dr. Sherry Turkle Join Brazelton Touchpoints Center on Wednesday, September 25 for an interview with professor and author, Dr. Sherry Turkle, Ph.D. About In this webinar, Sherry Turkle will discuss digital media’s role in society and culture, including its impact on child development, empathy, and communication. Dr. Sherry Turkle is the Abby Rockefeller Mauzé Professor of the Social Studies of Science and Technology in the Program in Science, Technology, and Society at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the founding director of the MIT Initiative on Technology and Self. Sherry Turkle is also the author of “Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age,” a book investigating the impact of technology on and the importance of face-to-face communication. Registration To register for this webinar and learn more, visit the event webpage. More Information For questions, contact Kayla Savelli at kayla.savelli@childrens.harvard.edu.
October 17, 2018 Trying Together Updates Privacy Policy Today, Trying Together released their updated Privacy Policy. This update was guided, in part, by the recent announcement that Facebook “will begin offering businesses a first-party cookie option with the Facebook pixel.” With this change, Trying Together works to remain proactive in letting their users know about and understand how this may affect their daily usage. Although internet browsers have been using cookies since the 1990s, internet tracking has remained a hot subject in the conversation digital privacy and security. This is no surprise as cookies themselves store specific pieces of a user’s information such as usernames, passwords, web histories, and more. However, when it comes to understanding the varying types and uses of cookies, the average American citizen may not be up to speed. What Are Cookies? In addition to a delicious snack, the term “cookies” is used to refer to small packages of data that are stored on our computers. These packages, or files, contain specific pieces of data in an attempt to better personalize the user’s experience. This data may consist of information such as entered usernames, saved passwords, entered addresses, and more. It’s because of these packets that users can remain logged into social media sites between uses, create “shopping carts” on online purchasing sites, and receive personalized ads based on your own shopping preferences. However, when considering internet privacy and security, it’s important to look deeper into what types of cookies are in place, which parties have access to cookies, and how each party utilizes that data. First-Party and Third-Party Cookies First-party cookies, as mentioned in the recent Facebook announcement, are packets of information collected by the website you are visiting. For example, if someone uses the Trying Together page and enters their name and email, cookies may pick up that information and store it just in case the user may need to insert that information on that website again in the future. These types of cookies are allowed in every web browser by default and enable features such as creating a “shopping cart” and staying logged into a social platform between uses. In general, websites utilize these cookies to increase ease of access or to curate website traffic analytics, however additional features may be included as well. Third-party cookies, however, are packages of information that are collected by a domain that is not the website the user is visiting. One of the primary uses of third-party cookies is to track browsing history to detect trends, generally represented through benefits such as personalized ads or recommendations. In relation to affecting a user’s day-to-day usage, third-party cookies play a very small role. These cookies are also enabled by default. As a consideration, all cookies are public, regardless of their type. It is best to monitor what type of information you are providing and to read through each website’s privacy statements to see how that data may be utilized. Cookie Concerns Concerns surrounding cookie use typically include topics related to privacy and security. For privacy, one concern is that because websites store packages of data and website usage, third-parties such as advertisers, users, and even government agencies can gain access to that information if given permission. For security, a major concern is security holes in browsers that may enable malicious parties to gain access to sensitive information such as credit card information, emails, and passwords. Both of these concerns hold weight and users should be proactive in looking into and understanding how their data is being utilized by the websites they are frequenting. Disabling Cookies If all of this talk about cookies and data storage is making you antsy, no need to worry. Users can disable both types of cookies at any time by changing their browser settings. Simply click on the “Help” menu or “Help Center” in your browser settings to learn how to adjust your tracking settings and cookie preferences. On mobile devices, this can be done by editing your “Privacy” settings through your browser. Keep in mind that disabling cookies may impact your ability to interact with a website. While disabling third-party cookies hardly impacts a user’s daily usage, disabling first-party cookies may affect website functions such as login credentials, purchasing ability, and general efficiency. How Does Trying Together Utilize Cookies and Data? As a brief overview, Trying Together utilizes cookies and collected data to provide customized content, contact users, fulfill orders, and more. We use various technologies such as cookies, web beacons, and pixel tags to store limited information when users interact with our site and emails. As an example, information may include non-personal data such as a mobile device identifier or MAC address, browser type, device model, and more. It may also include elements of service usage such as date and time of access, page visits, duration of visits, and others. On occasion, more personal information may be stored such as name, username, demographic information, and other publicly-observed data. To learn more about how Trying Together collects and utilizes user data, read our Privacy Policy. Questions If you have any questions or concerns regarding Trying Together’s privacy policy or data storage, please contact: info@tryingtogether.org
May 9, 2018 Digital Media Literacy & Technology Tools for Early Learning This course will focus on how to communicate with and build relationships with families using technology tools and digital media. Participants will be asked to consider implications and benefits of using digital communication to bring families into the early education environment. Participants will also be encouraged to reflect on current practices and policies regarding technology in the early education classroom. The pre-requisite foundation for this course is: Digital Media Literacy & Technology Tools for Early Learning: What Educators Need to Know. Digital Media Literacy & Technology Tools for Early Learning: Engaging Families in Today’s Media and Technology Landscape Monday, June 11 – Monday, June 25, 2018 Two Hours Online Register by Friday, June 8 at Noon. For more information and to register for credit, visit pakeys.org. Download the complete list of Trying Together professional development course offerings for May and June 2018 here.
