Staging environment

The Ups and Downs of Building a Literacy App with AI

Hosted by Carla Engelbrecht

In this video

What you'll learn

How to stand up a real literacy prototype with AI

Choosing a model, managing code when you're not a coder, synthesized voiceover, and curriculum planning

How to direct AI like a product team

Ideas for writing specs, curriculum docs, review stages, and prompt adherence

How to catch what AI gets wrong before a child does

Working with the limitations of generative AI models, understanding what's critical when it comes to children's learning

Why this topic matters

In 2007, a Sesame team of about 15 people spent two and a half years shipping an adaptive literacy intervention on the iPod Touch. This weekend I stood up a similar working watch-and-play prototype in the browser in three days. The economics of creating apps for kids is changing, for better and worse. I'll share lessons learned, what's possible, where it gets weird, and how to aim the speed of AI at something good.

You'll learn from

Carla Engelbrecht

Emmy-award winning creator of 200+ interactives for Netflix, Sesame Street

Twenty-five years making children's media at Sesame Street, Netflix, and PBS Kids. Doctorate in educational technology from Columbia. Mom to teenager daughter and rescued Olde English Bulldogge.

Now I explore the messy, funny, innovative future of AI and childhood through creating content for kids and families as well as teaching parents, educators, and creators ai literacy, content creation, and coding.

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Go deeper with a course

Make AI Videos for Kids That Aren't Slop
Carla Engelbrecht. Ed. D.
View syllabus