[2] The Joan Ganz Cooney Center was founded in 2007[3] to study the role of digital technologies in promoting childhood literacy, particularly among elementary school age children.

Its activities comprise three primary themes: The Cooney Center also hosts periodic events aimed at catalyzing policy and industry change.

The 2009 Leadership Forum: Breakthrough Learning in a Digital Age,[15] hosted at the Googleplex, attracted more than 200 thought leaders from the research, policy, education, and industries.

In 2011, the Cooney Center hosted its annual leadership forum focusing on scaling up effective models that support children's learning with an emphasis on harnessing the largely untapped potential of digital media, especially for struggling learners.

Recent research publications on the potential of video games and mobile platforms for children's learning have received wide attention in the media and among national and state policymakers.