The Connected Learning Lab

We’re excited to announce that our friends at @cooneycenter.bsky.social are opening applications for their Sandbox for Literacy Innovations. Tech and media companies focused on children’s literacy learning are invited to apply by 8/29. Learn more: cooneycenter.org/sandbox-literacy

"Connected learning often happens in informal and peer driven contexts that often provide some of the richest and most inclusive learning opportunities for neurodivergent youth."

Measuring Impact on Teenage Mental Health Entrepreneurship: Insights from the Connected Learning Summit - Connected Learning Alliance This blog is part of the Connected Learning Alliance’s Post-CLS Blog Series, where we are highlighting work presented at CLS2023. Check back here to see more posts in this series.  The Connected Learn...

✨ Registration for the Connected Learning Summit to come soon 👀— in the meantime, we’re reminiscing about the magnificent work highlighted in the most recent CLS.

Check out our CLA Blog to discover Headstream’s core mission and their work as catalysts of change: connectedlearning.news/cla112123

Igniting Student Potential: CLL Symposium Unites Researchers, Industry Leaders, and Educators Over AI’s Capacity for Self-Discovery and Empowered Learning - Connected Learning Alliance “What we don’t know how to do is help build connections more equitably between mentors and kids. [How to] help young people reflect on what’s important to them for themselves, and know how to connect ...

“It’s not about what the AI is saying. It’s about what the teacher does with that information.”

🚨 ICYMI — New CLA Blog on our spring symposium: connectedlearning.news/cla073025

#AIinEducation
#FutureOfEducation
#StudentCareers

Igniting Student Potential: CLL Symposium Unites Researchers, Industry Leaders, and Educators Over AI’s Capacity for Self-Discovery and Empowered Learning - Connected Learning Alliance “What we don’t know how to do is help build connections more equitably between mentors and kids. [How to] help young people reflect on what’s important to them for themselves, and know how to connect ...

🤖 How can generative AI provide support for educational approaches driven by young people’s strengths? 🤝🏼

This May, we shined the spotlight on learner agency in our spring symposium!

Full recap (including a recording) of the event: connectedlearning.news/cla073025

#GenAI
#ConnectedLearning

Yes, Teens Are Glued to Their Screens, But Here’s What We’re Missing | KQED Adults can help teens develop healthier relationships with technology by focusing on values, habits and emotional awareness.

Fantastic article addressing youth agency and how we can empower young people to navigate their digital lives by focusing on kids’ needs rather than just the tech and more. ⤵
connectedlearning.news/screens-miss...

@digitalthriving.bsky.social

👐🏼 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀: @cooneycenter.bsky.social is seeking for companies and organizations working on children’s literacy who are eager to build on research, co-design with kids, and create more effective tools for learning!

Apply by August 29: connectedlearning.news/sandbox-lite...

AI companies have stopped warning you that their chatbots aren’t doctors Once cautious, OpenAI, Grok, and others will now dive into giving unverified medical advice with virtually no disclaimers.

“[F]ewer than 1% of outputs from models in 2025 included a warning when answering a medical question, down from over 26% in 2022.” AI companies have stopped warning you that their chatbots aren’t doctors

connectedlearning.news/companies-st...

@technologyreview.com #EthicalAI #ResponsibleAI

ConnectedLib Toolkit 2.0: Bringing Connected Learning to Small and Rural Libraries - Connected Learning Alliance For the last seven years, I’ve been working with a talented and committed group of researchers and library practitioners on the ConnectedLib Project, a research-practice partnership focused on bringin...

“The Toolkit offers youth-serving library staff a free, customizable, and self-paced program to design and implement CL-inspired teen programs and services.”

Check out the ConnectedLib Toolkit 2.0 by the team at @ischool.uw.edu and @univofmaryland.bsky.social: connectedlearning.news/cla121222

📢📢LAST CALL for the @clalliance.bsky.social's #ConnectedLearning2025 Call For Proposals!

𝗦𝘂𝗯𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗰𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗼𝘄 (𝗝𝘂𝗻𝗲 𝟯𝟬, 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱) for our hybrid edtech/ creative learning conference happening Oct 5-10: clsummit.news/cfp-2025

Local meetups at MIT, NYU, Stanford, and UCI!

#CallForProposals

📢 Call for Proposals Deadline EXTENDED! 📢

We’re doing our FINAL push for our Connected Learning Summit CFP!! 🔥 Submissions are open until the end of June for the Seventh Connected Learning Summit, happening October 5-10: clsummit.news/CFP-2025

#ConnectedLearning2025 #CFP #CallForProposals

Nora Sun, Student Voice of Mental Health Honoree | JED JED's '25 Student Voice of Mental Health college honoree speaks on making peer-to-peer support and mental health education more accessible.

Nora Sun’s work is rooted in one core philosophy: peer-to-peer support and mental health education have the potential to improve — and even save — lives. 🫂

Student Voice of Mental Health Award Winner Nora Sun on the Power of Peer-to-Peer Support: connectedlearning.news/voice-peer-234

#PeerSupport

AI Is Still an Unknown Country — and Teens Are Its Pioneers - EdSurge News Adolescents are early adopters of AI, but they crave guidance on using it ethically, a new study finds.

“[Adolescents] don’t want to be bad, they’re not trying to get away with something, but what is cheating is very unclear and what is the source and what isn’t. I think a lot of the teachers and parents don’t know, either.” - @gillianrh.bsky.social

connectedlearning.news/unknown-pion...

A New Theory of Player Response - Connected Learning Alliance In Tracy Fullerton’s and my new book, The Well-Read Game: On Playing Thoughtfully, part of The MIT Press’ Playful Thinking series, we propose a new framework of interpretive play. This framework is a ...

“Like Rosenblatt’s reader-response theory, readers often respond differently and personally to how they interpret playable narratives.“

🎮 @docfarber.bsky.social and @tracyfullerton.bsky.social proposes a new framework of interprative play in their new book: connectedlearning.news/cla052025

Happy to share our Director, @mimiito.bsky.social, joined the closing panel at Japan’s Global Content Industries conference on May 29th!

”Fandoms, participatory culture, and platform technologies are creating new modes of learning, connection, and commerce.”

connectedlearning.news/global-influ...

The ‘Daniel Tiger’ effect: How quality kids’ TV impacts teen mental health—and why cuts to PBS could be disastrous Public television can be crucial in shaping who children become and how they relate to the world around them.

“If we give young people stories that honor their feelings, and help them navigate an increasingly complex world, the positive impact will last for years to come.”

✨ Fantastic article by Dr. Yalda T. Uhls, founder and CEO of the @scholarsnstory.bsky.social: connectedlearning.news/daniel-tiger...

Solutions for addressing #DigitalWellbeing are not one-size-fits all — young people in different communities have varying needs. 💙💡

See our #ConnectedWellbeing Initiative; 11 teams developed youth-serving innovations that foster youth and community wellbeing: connectedlearning.news/cla052924

New #ConnectedLearning2025 announcement!

✨ Please follow @theclalliance.bsky.social for future Connected Learning Summit news!

Video games, like novels, can give meaning through its playable narratives and provide a mirror to its players, or a sliding “glass door” into other cultures.

⭐CLA Blog - A New Theory of Player Response: connectedlearning.news/cla052025

@docfarber.bsky.social

#LearningThroughPlay

🌟 ICYMI - our new blog with @docfarber.bsky.social on his latest book co-authored with Tracy Fullerton, The Well-Read Game: connectedlearning.news/cla052025

”Imagine how our world might change if our powerful responses to games were shared and celebrated as openly and thoughtfully as with books.”

A New Theory of Player Response in The Well-Read Game - On Playing Thoughtfully; Designing AI for Connection, Not Comparison FOSI European Forum; how learning theories impact pedagogical reforms (event); students offload critical thinking to AI; the future of youth development

Just out — see the latest in #ConnectedLearning with curated articles, events, and opportunities: connectedlearning.news/Vol260

🔎 FOSI European Forum; how learning theories impact pedagogical reforms; students offload critical thinking to AI; the future of youth development and more…

#ConnectedLearning2025 is BACK and we’re accepting Showcases and Research Papers for this year’s hybrid conference! Deadline on June 23: clsummit.news/CFP-2025

In-Person Poster Locations:
📍 MIT’s Media LAB – MA
📍 NYU – NY
📍 Stanford University – CA
📍 UC Irvine – CA

#CallForProposals

A New Theory of Player Response - Connected Learning Alliance In Tracy Fullerton’s and my new book, The Well-Read Game: On Playing Thoughtfully, part of The MIT Press’ Playful Thinking series, we propose a new framework of interpretive play. This framework is a ...

🎮 What happens when we play? 🤔

@tracyfullerton.bsky.social and @docfarber.bsky.social's new book proposes a new framework of interpretive play that explores “the ephemeral and emotional responses that occur when people are in a state of play”.

connectedlearning.news/cla052025

#ConnectedLearning

Parents and Teens Agree Social Media Can Be Harmful — But How Much? - EdSurge News Finally something teens and their parents can agree on: Social media isn’t great for young people’s mental health. But how much should we be worried? ...

“Black teens were more likely — in some cases, much more likely — to say they experienced a lot of support and creative spark from social media.” Parents and Teens Agree Social Media Can Be Harmful — But How Much? connectedlearning.news/parents-teen...

#ScreenTime #SocialMedia

Japan’s Global Content Industries: Manga, Anime, Game, Music, and More

📅 Event: Stanford University is holding a full-day, in-person conference celebrating the global power and creative evolution of Japanese content on May 29!

See our Director, @mimiito.bsky.social, and more at the event — register and see the full details: connectedlearning.news/japan-global...

Children's Perspectives for Restricting Social Media for Under-16s; LGBTQ+ Young People's Experiences in Online Spaces New $1M challenge for youth digital play, AI and education in crisis contexts, findings from the National Power of Us Workforce Survey

The CLA newsletter is out and this time, it’s full of events and opportunities curated just for our community! 🎉

New $1M challenge for youth digital play, AI and education in crisis contexts, findings from the National Power of Us Workforce Survey and more: connectedlearning.news/Vol259

Connected Learning Through Libraries - Connected Learning Alliance Connected Learning Through Libraries

Since 2009, public libraries across the U.S. have adopted #ConnectedLearning approaches and emerging technology, embracing a relationship-centered culture of flexibility, innovation, and experimentation.

Check out our resource site's comprehensive digital hub: connectedlearning.news/ConnectedLea...

“We learned early from listening to our young people and youth design group that we had to go where the young people were.”

Peer Health Exchange’s youth design team utilizes their web platform, selfsea, to connect and deliver health-based digital resources to teens: connectedlearning.news/Study-PHE

OPINION: Book bans draw libraries into damaging culture wars that undermine their purpose For generations, libraries have been hubs of information in their communities. Your public library, the library in your school and at your college, even those in hospitals and law firms, are centers o...

“Ultimately, an attempt to control information is an attempt to control people. It’s an attempt to control access, and for one group of people to pass a value judgment on others for simply living their lives.” @lisarvarga.bsky.social

connectedlearning.news/book-bans-f8b

#Librarians
#Libraries

💬 Workshop - Our lab and ASIS&T are holding a hybrid workshop to raise awareness about the importance of thoughtful engagement in the design of AI applications for culturally and linguistically diverse populations!

⏰ 12:30pm - 4:30pm PST on May 6

Sign-up: connectedlearning.news/diversity-ai...