This fall, an already robust partnership between SMALLab, the Entertainment Technology Center at Carnegie Mellon University, and Pittsburgh area schools is expanding.

As director and teaching professor at Carnegie Mellon’s Entertainment Technology Center, Drew Davidson has his finger on the pulse of the latest and greatest in games and learning. And he’s always pushing the envelope. Davidson also runs ETC Press, an open-source publishing imprint. He is also the editor of its Well Played Journal, which focuses on video games, value, and meaning. He led a team of designers to create the Chicago Public Library’s YOUmedia, a digital space for teens now replicated throughout the country. In addition, he’s been a leading voice in national conversations on game play, storytelling, interactive media, and more.

With help from Google, computer scientists at Carnegie Mellon have launched a new initiative to make massive open online courses (MOOCs) more effective. They're starting by paying attention to learning styles.

Museum professionals from around the country gather in Pittsburgh this week to explore the future of children’s museums in the 21st century. The Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh's MAKESHOP, where kids and adults can experiment with the latest physical and digital tools, is one exciting model. Lisa Brahms, the museum’s director of learning and research, explains.

The transformation marking Elizabeth-Forward High School’s recent renovation warrants more than literary description and admiration, it might justify a school name change to “FORWARD Elizabeth!”