CMC 2015 - Brands and Learning

In 2014, Nickelodeon and Rovio made significant moves into the educational app market, while for many years brands such as BP, Barclays and M&S have engaged in corporate social responsibility activity in schools. Brands can use their familiarity and their assets to support learning about subjects where they have specialist knowledge, or use character and stories familiar to children and young people as the core of educational resources.

If the brand name helps engage children and young people in home and school learning, is that simply a good thing? Do brands risk dumbing down education or creating a commercial playground that’s incompatible with education? Are there risks for schools and parents to balance with the reward? And what responsibilities does this demand of the brands, the schools and parents to ensure children get the best deal?