The ultimate questions for this Sandbox 2011 panel, posed by moderator Alan Gershenfeld, are “Where is technology not working? When is technology not the answer?” That’s a bold agenda for a panel of children’s media creators and a roomful of other producers in the industry, from Sesame Workshop, WGBH, 360 Kid, and elsewhere. From the panel’s energetic presentations emerges an unapologetic enthusiasm for more technology engagement and richer media experiences for kids – generally in the form of “transmedia,” connecting stories and personalities across platforms. The “less” side of the panel’s title comes back only briefly in a few questions at the end. The mantra at PBS Kids, says Sara DeWitt, is that “every technology is a new opportunity for learning.” Given the popular television characters in the PBS stable, that mantra translates to building online games, mobile games, and apps around well-known figures like Martha (the eponymous Speaking dog) and the Kratt Brothers. The U.S. Department of Education has funded transmedia research at PBS, so studies are underway on the impact of games such as “Prankster Planet,” using assets from "The Electric Company" television series. PBS wants to find out how easily kids move between media platforms, and whether transmedia really contributes to learning. With a breathless sports video, Rachel Schiff introduces Microsoft’s Kinect, which harnesses body motion as the game controller. Why is more of this technology good for kids? Kinect gets couch potatoes up and moving; it can bring people together, since the system recognizes you as soon as you walk in the room; and it can spur children to undertake sports and other activities in the real world – transmedia of a different sort. At the other end of the activity spectrum, Wendy Bronfin shows off digital picture books created for the Barnes & Noble Nook Color. In response to parents’ concerns about “empty calorie screen time,” the Nook invites e-reading, along with using Andro...