Dive Brief:

• A new partnership will combine Sesame Street programming with IBM's Watson cognitive computing technology to bring personalized learning to preschool students.
• For three years, the new partnership will study how natural language processing, data mining, and pattern recognition offered by Watson can best serve preschoolers.
• The companies will be testing the capabilities of various proposed interactive learning platforms and interfaces before releasing a new product prototype, with the aim of bringing new educational content to preschoolers from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds.

Dive Insight:

Sesame Workshop already offers mobile games, story apps, e-books and digital Family Toolkits, and the new collaboration is meant to deepen the organization's reach on digital devices and platforms. The company is also no stranger to partnerships: In February 2016, Speakaboos added 10 Sesame Street music videos to its platform to support early literacy, and Sesame has also collaborated with Exceptional Minds to create Sesame Street and Autism: See Amazing in All Children.

A 2015 report by economists from the University of Maryland and Wellesley College concluded that early childhood access to Sesame Street meant better educational outcomes for viewers. Those researchers found that the benefits were equal to those obtained in preschool.

The new collaboration between IBM Watson and Sesame Workshop is explicit about preschoolers' privacy, as well. Data gathering efforts and the technologies developed by the partnership will require parents to opt-in before their children can participate or use any of the platforms.

Recommended Reading

EdTech Magazine: IBM and Sesame Workshop Aim to Personalize Learning for Preschoolers