Spotlight on Digital Media And Learning

Q&A: Learning by Design, A Conversation with Drew Davidson

Drew Davidson is a professor, producer, and player of interactive media. He is the acting director of the Entertainment Technology Center at Carnegie Mellon University, and the founding editor of ETC Press and its Well Played Series and Journal. Davidson helped lead a team of designers to create the Chicago Public Library’s YOUmedia, a digital space for teens that is now being replicated across the country.

Q&A: danah boyd on What We Know and Don’t Know About Teens and Social Networks

Social media scholar danah boyd has been called the “High Priestess of the Internet” by the Financial Times. One of the first to study how youth are using social media and the tensions between public and private, boyd is now a senior researcher at Microsoft Research New England. This post is part of a series of conversations with thought leaders on digital media and learning, then and now.

Q&A: Jim Gee on The Right Role of Digital Games in the Classroom

Jim Gee is the author of What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy.This post is part of a series of conversations with thought leaders on digital media and learning, then and now.

Q&A: Cathy Davidson on Institution Building to Prepare Students for the Information Age

As co-founder of HASTAC, author and scholar Cathy Davidson, has been at the forefront of thinking about new forms of learning in the digital age. This post is part of a series of conversations with thought leaders on digital media and learning, then and now.

Q&A: Mimi Ito on Connected Learning for All

Mizuko Ito is a cultural anthropologist who studies technology use and young people’s changing relationships to media and communications. This post is part of a series of conversations with thought leaders on digital media and learning, then and now.

What We’ve Learned About Digital Media & Learning

We kick off a series of conversations with thought leaders on how the field of digital media and learning has changed over time, and where it’s headed.

Q&A: Howard Rheingold on Using Technology to Take Learning into Our Own Hands

Critic and educator Howard Rheingold is author of Virtual Reality, The Virtual Community, Smart Mobs, and Net Smart. As he puts it he’s been “on the Web since the beginning, and long before.” This is the first in a series of conversations with thought leaders on digital media and learning, then and now.

Six Years of Coverage on Digital Media and Learning

After six years of publishing, Spotlight on Digital Media and Learning will cease blogging regularly as of today. We take a look back and a look at what’s to come in 2013 and beyond.

GameDesk Opens New PlayMaker School in Los Angeles

Can you imagine being in middle school, waking up each morning knowing that it’s not classic arithmetic and social studies lessons that await, but rather a day of flight simulation and filmmaking?

Why Maybe You Don’t Have to Worry About ‘Information Overload’ After All

Researchers find that the infamous “information overload” may be less of a reality than previously imagined. Plus, why teaching digital literacy skills can help.

Are Class Differences in Parenting Creating a New Digital Divide?

Research shows social class has a big effect on parenting style. Does it influence how kids use digital media too? Heather Chaplin examines what the digital divide means in 2012.

More Districts Go BYOD (Bring Your Own Device)

Innovative teachers and administrators are increasingly encouraging mobile learning in the classroom.

Learning How the Web Works

Wondering how to teach computer literacy? I found some inspiration for the new school year in this video from the New Learning Institute about a week-long summer camp called Design, Art and Code.

For the Oh Family, Back to School Involves Changing Time Zones - and Planets

Getting on a school schedule can be a tough adjustment for any kid. But what if you’ve spent the past month living on Mars time?