Spotlight on Digital Media And Learning

Jim Bower: Building a Virtual Community of Learners

The creator of Whyville concludes our series on the affordances of virtual worlds with discussion of why he believes users come back to the community and stay.

Yasmin Kafai: The Learning Affordances of Pimples in Virtual Worlds

An associate professor of education from UCLA shares learnings from her study of the annual virtual public health epidemic in Whyville.net, “Whypox.” This continues our series on the affordances of virtual worlds and 21st century learning environments.

Constance Steinkuehler: Digital Montessori for Big Kids

An assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin responds to Connie’s post on the “affordances” of virtual worlds. She describes her work studying adolescent boys in an after school online gaming club.

The Affordances of Virtual Worlds and 21st Century Learning Environments

Connie Yowell asks: What can we learn from young people about why they find virtual worlds so appealing?

Barry Joseph: Comparing Apples and Oranges in Virtual Worlds

Global Kids reflects on lessons learned from a massively multiworld simulcast of Kofi Annan’s receipt of the MacArthur Award for International Justice.

Dilan Mahendran: Expression, Music & Meaning in the Digital Age

In conjunction with our upcoming forum on New Media in the Lives of Everyday Youth at Stanford this evening, a researcher from the University of California Berkeley reflects on kids’ informal learning in after school programs that focus on art, music and technology.

Sam Gilbert: Digital Youth and Online Privacy

How do we help young people think through the promises and perils of disclosure online? A Harvard researcher concludes our series on teaching media ethics and literacy in the digital age.

Andrea Flores: Mad Men, Teaching Authorial Responsibility

A Harvard researcher outlines a curricular activity designed to teach authorial responsibility and copyright. This continues our conversation about teaching media literacy and ethics in the digital age.

Stephen Schultze: The Inspired Highlighter

We continue our conversation about teaching media literacy and ethics. Stephen Schultze describes a specific learning activity designed to help students explore norms of ownership, authorship, and copyright in the digital age.

John Francis: Let’s Collaborate

John Francis describes the development of learning modules that introduce young people to ethical issues, media literacy skills, and ownership/authorship themes. This is the second of a five-part series about the collaboration between Harvard’s GoodPlay project and MIT’s Project New Media Literacies.

Two Projects, One Mission: Harvard and MIT join forces to prepare youth for the digital age

Harvard researcher John Francis describes a unique collaboration between Project New Media Literacies, lead by Henry Jenkins, and the GoodPlay Project led by Howard Gardner. This begins a five-part series of posts about how to teach core media skills alongside the roles and responsibilities of good cyber citizenry.

Padraig Nash: Navigating Digital Society

Reflecting on a recent visit classroom visit in the Bronx, a researcher worries that schools are not preparing students to understand the complicated issues and values that will shape their decision-making in virtual space. This post concludes our series of observations from AERA by the epistemic games group at University of Wisconsin.

Aran Nulty: New Media Technologies and Student Learning

New media technologies need to be a central part of how all students learn. Aran Nulty from the epistemic games research team at the University of Wisconsin shares her observations from two panels she attended on games, student learning and mathematics education at the recent AERA conference.

Elizabeth Bagley: Consequential Digital Identities

How can digital media help provide pro-social roles for young people?  A researcher at the University of Wisconsin reflects on the recent AERA conference and explores how digital media is giving youth the chance to try on different identities through meaningful production and authorship.