Spotlight on Digital Media And Learning

6.3.09 | Although some young people today are seemingly “naturals” in navigating the digital world, deeper knowledge and understanding does not just happen for them. It must be cultivated as they blog, post, comment, share, collaborate, and create in digital spaces.

This cultivation is also not confined to a classroom, and museums and other informal learning hubs are realizing the potential of digital media to spark imagination and extend ideas learned in the classroom or online. 

In an ongoing series of blog posts, Balsamo and colleagues will summarize the field’s key reports, resources, and discussions on how museums are using digital media to broaden youths’ participation in digital culture and expand informal education. The posts will also investigate the role of tinkering in fostering lifelong informal learning habits.

Balsamo and colleagues are also interested in how museums can cultivate “technological imagination,” which according to Balsamo in her forthcoming book, is “the quality of mind that enables people to think with technology, to transform what is known into a set of possibilities, and to evaluate the consequences of possibilities from multiple perspectives.”

The following is a schedule of posts.

Schedule of Posts

“Libraries: Setting the Context.  From National Efforts to Create Digital Archives to Local Efforts at Access Equality.”
Maura Klosterman, May 21, 2009

“Digital Media in Communities Libraries, Part 1:  From Information Access to Creative Participation.”
Cara Wallis and Anne Balsamo, May 25, 2009

“Digital Media in Community Libraries, Part 2:  New Practices of Participation.”
Susana Bautista and Anne Balsamo, May 28, 2009

“The Case of Virtual Libraries.”
Anne Balsamo and Stacy Ingber, June 4, 2009

“Museums: Setting the Context.  From Hands-on Explorations to Interactive Experiences.”
Susana Bautista, Cara Wallis, Anne Balsamo.  June 6, 2009

“Museums:  From Digital Collections to Creating a Web Presence.”
Susana Bautista, June 8, 2009

“Museums:  Online Museum Experiences.”
Susana Bautista, June 11, 2009

“Museums: The Case of Virtual Museums.”
Anne Balsamo, June 15, 2009

“Museums: From Games to Play (as open-ended exploration).”
Anne Balsamo, June 18, 2009.

“Learning from the Edge, Part 1:  Toy Lending Libraries, Online Making Environments, and Computer-based Digital Media Making.”
Cara Wallis and Maura Klosterman, June 22, 2009

“Learning from the Edge, Part 2: Tinkering in a Digital Age.”
Anne Balsamo, June 25, 2009

“Libraries and Museums in a Digital Age: Places of Conversation and Resources.”
Maura Klosterman and Susana Bautista, June 29, 2009

The literature review was conducted as part of the MacArthur-funded project: “Inspiring the Technological Imagination: the Future of Museums and Libraries in a Digital Age.” For more on this project click here.