2011 Sandbox Summit Buzzes with Creativity and Ideas

May 3, 2011 | Toy designers and developers, scholars and educators, authors and entrepreneurs, technology gurus and innovators of all kinds came together at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on April 28th and 29th for the 2011 Sandbox Summit … Game Changers: People, Products and Policies That Empower 21st Century Kids.

The conference featured speaker presentations, research findings, panel discussions and hands-on workshops that explored how innovations are inspiring new ways for children to play and how that evolution is challenging, engaging and empowering today’s youth to become leading “players” in the 21st century.   

"Holding the Sandbox Summit at MIT immediately moves the discussions to a different plane,” said Claire Green co-founder, Sandbox Summit. “The speakers and workshop leaders are primed to deliver top-notch presentations. And wow - they certainly did. Watching the audience actively listening, thinking, and participating underscored the interest in, and the appetite for, the conversations the Sandbox Summit brings to life. The buzz in the room was palpable."

Not only was the buzz palpable, the tweets were. Below is a sample of what people were tweeting from Sandbox:

• Scott Traylor of @360KID, a kid-focused content and technology company based in Boston, MA tweeted about the Summit’s keynote address:  “#Sandbox Summit keynote Diana Rhoten from Startl, an organization looking to disrupt the entire #edu system http://bit.ly/kAcKVG #edtech”; Traylor later remarked on a presentation led by Stacey Matthias from Insight Kids, with a link to a video he took: “Fun presentation! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWG7EkxD4hw #edtech #tech”
  
  
• "Great child development resource” tweeted @allisyn about game designer Carla Englebrecht Fisher’s workshop, “Play by Numbers: Ages and Stages of Digital Design.” Based out of Brooklyn, New York, allisyn is a former classroom and technology teacher who now works for the educational website brainpop.
  
  
• James Gardner (@Jamesagardner), a father and marketing professional with an interest in consumer technologies, tweeted: “I learned about #toontastic app @ MIT's #sandbox. Kids learn creative storytelling w/ music & animation. It's a hit :) http://t.co/vIKDELE.” Gardner’s tweet includes a link to a picture of his children enjoying the app.
  
  
• “[Stacey] Matthias @ #sandbox - what truths do we want kids to discover about themselves, and how can we help them discover it?” tweeted David Kleeman (@davidkleeman), president of the American Center for Children and Media. He also tweeted about Diana Rhoten’s keynote speech: “Rhoten @ #sandbox -Most ed tech has focused on improving efficiency of schooling, not on improving the effectiveness of learning.”
  
  
• During a presentation led by IDEO’s Brendan Boyle and Duane Bray, “From ridiculous to brilliant: why we play at work,” Tracey Weil (@Tales2Go), Chief Mom at Tales2Go, which provides teachers and parents with more than 1,400 children’s audio stories for Apple iOS devices, tweeted: “IDEO at #sandbox. Insight: play as part of work (i.e. brainstorming and problem solving) not the opposite of work.”
  
  
• The Toy Industry Association (TIA) (@ToyIndustryAssn) tweeted about “snackable” games, which are “convenient and easy to fit in your life,” as discussed by Drew Davidson, Ph.D., Director, Entertainment Technology Center – Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University during his presentation, “Design for Fun: What Makes a Good Game, and a Game Good?”
  
  
• Finally, social media blogger Cynthia Jabar (@cynthiajabar) tweeted: “Thank you @SandboxSummit for the fabulous 2 days of inspiration. Honored to be with all those great creative minds! Wow. #sandbox."
  
  
  For more information visit the Sandbox Summit website. The Toy Industry Association (TIA) was a proud to co-sponsor the 2011 Sandbox Summit.