Spotlight on Digital Media And Learning

12.23.08 | Over the past year on Spotlight we’ve heard from a great variety of academics, educational leaders and practitioners in the field of digital media and learning. It’s been a remarkable year and their groundbreaking work has inspired us and challenged our perceptions around how to think about learning in the 21st century.

We wanted to take some time over this holiday season to spotlight voices of those rarely heard from on this blog – but who also inspire and challenge us to think in new directions.  Over the next several weeks we’ll hear directly from youth who are engaged in their own creative media production – they are remixing, building, designing, and creating their own original videos, podcasts, machinima, games, and networking sites. Their work challenges us to use media in new and creative ways and provides models of innovation and vision for the future.

These youth come to us through two incredible programs - The Digital Youth Network in Chicago and Global Kids’ Online Leadership Program in New York City - both of which foster media literacy and civic participation through creative production. Please take a moment to explore their websites and learn more about their work. Thank you to these youth for sharing their projects with us and to the remarkable set of facilitators and mentors who have built and run these programs over the years.

Best wishes for a happy and healthy new year.

Editor’s Note: See below for series index. Check back here for links to the completed series.

• Mariel García: My Digital Life
• Nafiza Akter: Virtual Video Projects
• Terrence Thompson: Student Produced Film, “Division 201”
• Shani Edmond: A Future in Film
• Mosea Harris: Realm of New Thought
• Jalen Jackson: Kings of the Digital Youth Network