Mimi Ito, a professor in residence with the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences’ Informatics Department, was recently appointed to a seat on a STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) advisory team by Cartoon Network USA.

The team is comprised of fellow academic and creative experts: Zach Klein, CEO of DIY Co.; Karen Peterson, CEO of National Girls Collaborative; Mitchel Resnick, LEGO Papert Professor of Learning Research and Head of the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at the MIT Media Lab; and Diana Skaar, Head of Business Innovation for Robotics at X, formerly Google[x].

“Now, with the leadership of this incredible group of dedicated visionaries, we will accelerate and expand our reach, fulfilling our goal of giving Plurals creative confidence to become the next generation of creators, animators and makers,” said Christina Miller, president of Cartoon Network.

Ito is a cultural anthropologist of technology focusing on children and youth’s changing relationships to media and communications. She is currently at UC Irvine as research director of the Digital Media and Learning Research Hub and chair of the Connected Learning Research Network. Ito is also co-founder of Connected Camps, a benefit corporation that provides online creative learning opportunities for children.

The new advisory board was announced earlier this month during Computer Science Education Week (December 5-11, 2016) and “will advise, shape and inform the network’s STEAM efforts,” according to the press release. Past efforts include donating $30 million toward President Obama’s Computer Science for All Initiative, teaming up with MIT Media Lab’s Scratch Foundation and co-operating with DIY Co. as well as Google’s Made with Code, which is an initiative to encourage more woman to get involved in computer programming.

“Happy to be part of this ‪#connectedlearning ‪#CSforAll effort with ‪@mres ‪@zachklein ‪@ngcproject ‪@DianaSkaar,” said Ito via Twitter. You can follow Mimi Ito on Twitter at: @mizuko. Or visit her website at: http://www.itofisher.com/mito/

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Read the original Cartoon Network press release.

Check out other Related stories in the news:

• Cartoon Network Launches STEAM Advisory Board (from T.H.E. Journal)
• Cartoon Network Names STEAM advisory board (from Kidscreen)
• Cartoon Network: Fostering the next generation of creators and coders (from TechRepublic)
• Cartoon Network Celebrates Computer Science Education Week With STEAM Initiatives (Fast Co.)