Spotlight MacArthur Foundation

StudentSpeak

Beat Makers, Rappers: “Your Audience is Wider than Just Chicago or Your Own Neighborhood.”

Produced by Ben Wolff

StudentSpeak Webisode 4/ View more Spotlight videos

In this edition of StudentSpeak, George takes us into the music studio to meet his friend and musical partner, James. They talk about how learning to make digital music has helped them express themselves and reach wider audiences.

“We connected with people during the summer who were from New York, Atlanta, Los Angeles, who liked our music,” George says. “And I’m still keeping in contact with them, giving them new music, even from the UK.”

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Blog

Got Game? Digital Media and Learning Competition Offers $50,000 for Gaming Ideas

Filed by Connie Yowell • February 9, 2010

If you can bridge learning and gaming, apply by Feb. 15 for the chance to win cash awards and recognition from leading game makers. The public is also invited to offer feedback on entries.

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Measuring Classroom Progress: 21st Century Assessment Project Wants Your Input

Filed by Daniel Hickey and Brian Nelson • February 8, 2010

Guest authors Daniel Hickey and Brian Nelson argue that the opportunity to institute true reform in assessment practices is now, and the Race to the Top Assessment Initiative should think more broadly about how we measure progress in the classroom. They welcome comments on findings from the MacArthur 21st Century Assessment Project.

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Apply Now: Professional Development Trainings in Virtual Worlds

Filed by Christine C. • February 5, 2010

We just learned about this great opportunity with Global Kids. The application deadline is right around the corner—Thursday, Feb. 11—but all you have to do is answer a very short survey. And did we mention how terrific this opportunity is?

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Digital Media and Learning Competition is Accepting New Applications

Filed by Christine C. • February 5, 2010

If you missed the deadline for the Digital Media and Learning Competition, which provides $2 million in awards to innovators in the field of digital media and learning, you’re in luck—the competition website has re-opened and is accepting new applications through Feb. 15.

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New Media Literacies Announces a Monthly Webinar Series for Educators

Filed by Sarah J. • February 4, 2010

Looking for a way to jumpstart your curriculum? Have ideas about how to bring your classrooms into the 21st century? MIT’s Project New Media Literacies (NML) needs you.

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START Program Integrates Service Learning and Technology in the Classroom

Filed by Christine C. • February 3, 2010

When it comes to learning about technology, the best teachers are sometimes already in the classroom, facing the front of the class.

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PBS’s Frontline Airs Digital Nation Tonight

Filed by Sarah J. • February 2, 2010

Frontline explores “what it means to be human in a world immersed in technology” with its documentary “Digital Nation: Life on the Virtual Frontier.”

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How School Content Filters Block Content and Learning

Filed by Christine C. • February 1, 2010

Student journalists are often prevented from using social networks that may be the future of news. Plus, a high school librarian shares strategies for fighting information censorship.

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Behind The Research

Behind the Research: Does Digital Media Make Us Bad Writers?

Does Digital Media Make Us Bad Writers?

Filed by Josh Karp

An English professor and a linguist examine how digital media are transforming students’ writing and how writing itself is changing.

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Behind the Research: Writing Is More Than Ink on a Page Today

Writing Is More Than Ink on a Page Today

Filed by Josh Karp • January 26, 2010

Literacy today means not only the ability to read and write, but to create and comprehend an integrated mix of words, sounds, videos and images. Meet teachers and students who are leading the way.

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21st Century Learning in Action: Literacy, English Language Learners and Digital Storytelling

Filed by Sarah Jackson • February 3, 2010



In Fall 2007 Instructors at the Life Academy in Oakland, CA and Bay Area Writing Project Teachers led students in a digital storytelling project. The semester-long integrated unit was grounded in the development of literacy, writing and 21st century skills. The students’ digital storytelling let them see writing in a new light.

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Digital Storytelling with 4-Year-Olds

Filed by Sarah Jackson • January 26, 2010

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What happens when 4 and 5-year-olds have access to media tools?

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About Spotlight

Spotlight magazine showcases the projects and people funded by the MacArthur Foundation’s Digital Media and Learning Initiative and covers the intersections of technology and learning.  We go beyond the research to show how digital media is being used in classrooms and programs around the world.

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