Spotlight on Digital Media And Learning

PLAYBACK: The Past, Present and Future of Badges for Learning

Badges and badge systems designed to show mastery of knowledge and skills have received a good deal of attention these past few months. In this week’s PLAYBACK, we look at the news coverage and the questions raised about the practicality of badges for learning.

PLAYBACK: News on Teens and Blogs, Facebook, Twitter and Google+, And Schools That Don’t Allow Them

In this week’s PLAYBACK, blogging is better than diary writing in relieving stress, a new Parent’s Guide to Facebook, S. Craig Watkins on what kids miss out on when schools block social media, and more.

Programs of Their Own: MIT and LEGO Bring Robotics and Coding to Grade School

At The Chestnut Hill School outside of Boston, educators are using MIT Media Labs’ Scratch programming language and innovative robotics tools developed in partnership with Lego to teach STEM subjects to kids as early as first grade.

The Argument Over Arguments: Trying to See (And Teach) the Future of Writing

A recent New York Times article on blogs and the perceived decline in the quality of student writing draws responses from defenders of digital literacies and those who still believe blogs do not encourage critical thinking.

PLAYBACK: Teachable Moments from the SOPA Standoff and Apple’s Education Makeover

In this week’s PLAYBACK, we look at the ramifications of Apple’s iTunes U and and iBooks Author for students and educators, and take a closer look at the protests against the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the House and the Protect IP Act (PIPA) in the Senate. Plus: A world without Wikipedia? Students come to grips, thanks, of course, to librarians.

PLAYBACK: The Year to Come in Digital Media and Learning

In this week’s PLAYBACK, we’ve assembled what to look for in 2012, including more opportunities for online classes, more control over YouTube in the classroom, and more encouragement for students to write and edit for Wikipedia.