Spotlight on Digital Media And Learning

11.13.07 | When we think about kids in virtual worlds it is important to remember that whatever else they may be, virtual worlds are also learning environments. So we would do well to stop asking if kids are learning in virtual worlds and focus on what they are learning. The two most important things I see happening in these spaces are cause of both hope and concern.

Within virtual worlds, kids are learning what it means to be members of a community, a community they are building and in many ways defining. The values they create and the rules and norms they develop are teaching them lessons in citizenship and community. In many cases that is a good thing, one which helps kids understand what makes for a healthy community and what makes for a dysfunctional one. At the same time, however, we need to be mindful of spaces which conflate citizenship with consumption or community with collection. Perhaps even more important is the skills that kids are developing as they navigate and negotiate the ever changing space of the virtual. One of the most important 21st century skills will be the ability to manage change and understand the new information economy as a series of flows, rather than stocks, of information. Virtual worlds teach the skills to navigate the new information economy by allowing kids to learn how to find information, often times in an environment that changes rapidly. Taken together, virtual worlds can prepare our kids for the next generation of learning. If only our schools could move as quickly.

Editor’s Note: This post is part of a five-part discussion in conjunction with our third Public Forum in Digital Media and Learning.  See Connie Yowell’s index here.