People
David Van Osdol Founder and CEO
David’s vision for Kidos came when his oldest son had trouble using his Windows laptop and he couldn’t find quality educational or foreign language content. He has used his passion and business experience to build Kidos into a global platform ready to alter the landscape of children’s media. He was formerly a portfolio manager with Smith Barney.
Dr. Alice Wilder Chief Content Officer
Dr. Alice has always been interested in kids, what they think and how they are educated. In 1995, she started work as the Director of Research and Development and Producer/Writer for the award-winning show “Blue’s Clues” and its spin-off “Blue’s Room”, both for Nick Jr. Currently, Dr. Alice is the co-creator and Head of Research and Education for the breakout hit reading show “Super Why!” on PBS. Her ground-breaking work has been written about in Malcolm Gladwell’s best-selling book, The Tipping Point, and a new book from Vanity Fair author Dade Hayes, Anytime Playdate. Winner of numerous academic awards, she earned her doctorate in Educational Psychology from Columbia University’s Teachers College.
John Shaker Media Advisor
John serves in a Board Advisory role to startups and early stage companies. He is CEO / Founder of Shaker Media & Music, a successful digital media consulting boutique specializing in sales, content licensing, distribution, strategy and business development. Formerly SVP, Licensing at BMI (Broadcast Music, Inc.), New York, NY, John grew U.S. Licensing revenue from 2/3 the size of its chief U.S. competitor to the largest in the world. He signed the first ever commercial internet music agreement between BMI and On Ramp in 1995. An original member of MTV Networks' senior management team, he was tapped to lead the firm’s initial new media enterprises unit and prior to that led MTV Networks’ successful cable sales and distribution division. John is a graduate of the Newhouse School at Syracuse University and lives in Connecticut with his wife and two teenagers.
Advisory Board
Scott Traylor, Founder and CEO, 360KID
Scott defines the vision behind the Boston-based digital consulting firm known as 360KID. This forward thinking company specializes in product ideation, market testing, and product development as a service to companies interested in engaging kids through interactive media. Now in its 19th year of business, 360KID has won and has been nominated for over 38 different education and entertainment awards, including three Emmy nominations for interactive learning games. Its clients include Crayola, Disney, LeapFrog, Hasbro, Girl Scouts, Discovery, Scholastic, Sesame Workshop, and Nickelodeon, to name just a few.
In the early days of the 360KID business, Scott was also a computer science instructor for 12 years at Harvard University's Extension School, teaching graduate students how to best develop interactive products for children. In addition, he is actively involved in researching and writing that explores all aspects of child engagement through new technologies, social media, and various consumer-based delivery systems. Scott believes in empowering children, which is the most important aspect of his work at 360KID.
For more information about Scott Traylor and 360KID, visit http://www.360KID.com, and for an archive of Scott Traylor's articles about kids and technology, go to http://www.360KID.com/blog.
David Kleeman, President, American Center for Children and Media
The AMCC is an executive roundtable that promotes exchanges of ideas, expertise, and information as a means for building quality, and counts senior executives from PBS, Nickelodeon, Discovery, Disney, and Scholastic among the board that David leads. He also chairs the International Advisory Board for the international children's film festival (PRIX JUENESSE). He has written extensively on children's media and has been a speaker on all world continents. A graduate of Harvard College, David lives in Chicago with his wife and two daughters.
Oliver Goldman, Principal Scientist, Adobe Systems
Oliver has worked on Adobe AIR (Adobe Integrated Runtime) since its inception and developed its innovative installation and versioning technology. Prior to AIR, he worked on Adobe LiveCycle and, before Adobe, in areas as varied as financial services, digital signal processing, and video games. He is currently also an occasional contributor to Dr. Dobb's Journal. He holds both BS and MS degrees in Computer Science from Stanford University. Oliver lives in San Jose with his wife and three young children.
Dr. Jan Plass, New York University
Dr. Plass is the founding director of CREATE, the Center for Research and Evaluation of Advanced Technologies in Education, which is engaged in research on the design and evaluation of advanced visual technologies for learning. Jan's research interests include a cognitive approach to the instructional use of multimedia and the web and the moderating effects that individual differences have on learning in these environments, with a focus on second language acquisition. Also an expert in interface design, Dr. Plass received his masters and doctorate degrees from Erfurt University in Germany. He lives in Manhattan with his wife and two sons.