Frances Judd

Biography

Frances Judd is an early childhood teacher, educational consultant, concept designer, and member of Northwestern University's TIDAL Lab. Her work on app development teams explores interactive technology to buttress project-based learning, childhood play, and creativity. As a fellow at Bennett Labs and teacher at Bennett Day School, Frances led the co-design team of children and faculty who created the app Osmo Kaleidoscope, released by Tangible Play. Prior app consultancies included TIDAL Lab’s Strawbies project (since released as Tangible Play’s Osmo Coding Awbie), Osmo Coding Jam, and the KBooM! Games app-line Mrs. Judd’s Games, with approx 20 titles. Current areas of interest include green energy, interactive museum exhibits, project-based learning, creativity with coding, co-design, DEI, robotics, machine learning, and AI in the lives of children. Prior freelance design work and consultancies include Playskool Toy Company, Hasbro Inc., and Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago. Presentations at Chicago NAEYC, Fred Rogers Center’s Fred Forward media conference, and ABC7 TV, focused on app experiences in the early years. Teaching positions include over 25 years at Francis W. Parker School, followed by Chicago’s Bennett Day School since 2015. Undergraduate work in the areas of Special Education, Elementary Education, and Art Education was from University of Texas at Austin, with graduate studies at Chicago’s Erikson Institute in the areas of Early Childhood Education and Early Childhood Development.