Mind in the Making

There's a new book out on child development that looks poised to change, or at least dramatically shift, the entire field. It's Mind in the Making by Ellen Galinsky; professional researchers may already be aware of it, but it also looks fantastic for educators, parents, and content developers of media like television shows.

The American Center for Children and Media sponsored a conference with Galinksy at Columbia University Thursday morning. It was a great hour and a half--incredibly informative--and I used it to launch my tweeting career at @randyastle.

One of the highlights for me as a "film guy" was the extent to which Galinsky taped her research. The purpose was to create a "vook," which I didn't even know about before but which obviously means a "video book" for platforms like the iPad. I love documentaries, and the concept of a video book is, to say the least, intriguing to me. We watched several video clips, very well produced, and I believe you can see some also at the book's website. (which also has a great news feed/blog) **Well, I just went there and couldn't easily find the videos embedded within the site itself (maybe you need to buy the vook after all), but below I'll put the YouTube video that's linked to the site. The book in print will most likely hold a lot more information than the videos, but watching the children go through the experiments is priceless in its own way (including what was promoted as the best marshmallow test ever filmed). Check it out!