Spotlight on Digital Media And Learning

4.6.10 | Federal Court Rules Against Net Neutrality: “A federal appeals court on Tuesday dealt a sharp blow to the efforts of the Federal Communications Commission to set the rules of the road for the Internet, ruling that the agency lacks the authority to require broadband providers to give equal treatment to all Internet traffic flowing over their networks,” reports The New York Times.

The ruling, writes Edward Wyatt, “would allow Comcast and other Internet service providers to restrict consumers’ ability to access certain kinds of Internet content, such as video sites like Hulu.com or Google’s YouTube service, or charge certain heavy users of their networks more money for access.”

Net neutrality is important to the digital education community because classrooms depend on access to videos, speeches, images and other content that require large amounts of bandwidth. Groups such as Free Press have been advocating for Congress to pass a bill—The Internet Freedom Preservation Act of 2009—mandating net neutrality. Here are more background articles on the subject from the Times.

One Book, One Twitter: Wired magazine contributing editor Jeff Howe is overseeing a global book club of sorts that encourages users to tweet their reactions to what they’re reading, reports School Library Journal.

The book selection list has been narrowed down to six titles, many of which are popular in high school curriculum: “American Gods”; “Fahrenheit 451”; “1984”; “Brave New World”; “Slaughterhouse Five”; and “Catch-22.” Four “judges choice” books will be announced later this week.

“It’s great because it’s going to reach people we don’t normally reach,” Maija McLaughlin, director of Digital Initiatives at the Fayetteville Free Library in Fayetteville, N.Y., told SLJ. “People who don’t come into libraries may get interested and come to get the book.”

Read more on the history of One Book, One Twitter.

PA Classrooms Embrace Digital Learning: Digital media created by PBS and its member stations will soon have an official spot in Pennsylvania’s educational curriculum. Classroom-based content for pre-K through 12th grade that is created and shared through PBS’s Digital Learning Library will be incorporated into the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s Standards Aligned System statewide by the beginning of the 2010-11 school year.

“Digital media has a special capacity to engage today’s students, helping good teachers be great teachers and working toward the goal that all students reach their fullest potential in the 21st century,” said PBS President and CEO Paula A. Kerger, in a release announcing the agreement among WPSU/Penn State Public Broadcasting, PBS and the Pennsylvania Department of Education.

“The joint partnership allows Pennsylvania teachers to directly benefit from customized digital learning objects designed to meet their classroom needs and tied to state academic standards, while districts save money by not having to produce or purchase high-quality content,” said Ted Krichels, associate vice president for public engagement and general manager of Penn State Public Broadcasting.

“WPSU has access to some of the world’s leading faculty and the latest discoveries in a variety of fields,” he added. “We translate their work into relevant, applicable materials for the K-12 classroom that captures students’ attention and inspires learning by partnering with practicing classroom teachers who understand kids, the curriculum, and the academic standards.”

Talking Transmedia: The L.A. Times recently interviewed media scholar Henry Jenkins, a communications professor at University of Southern California, about culture and narrative and his thoughts on where “Lost” is headed and the ending of “The Sopranos.”

On the question of whether he watches TV as a scholar or as fan, Jenkins replied:

Always as a fan first. If I watch a TV show, I watch every episode. I mean, I’ll try some new shows at the beginning of every season; but I’m not someone who dips in randomly and watches TV, I’m not a channel surfer. When I watch a TV show, I watch it as a large-form narrative experience. and my tastes go from reality TV—I’ve never missed an episode of “Survivor”—to the large-scale serials: “Lost,” “Heroes,” “The Shield,” “The Wire,” niche-science fiction—“Caprica,” “Torchwood,” “Survivors,” “Demons,” “Doctor Who.”

I’m watching more sitcoms now than I’ve watched in a long time because I’ve picked up “Big Bang Theory” and “Modern Family” and “30 Rock.” But whatever it is, I watch from beginning to end. I love buying box sets of DVDs and just marathoning for that exhaustive experience. And that comes out of being a fan, even if I’m applying it to works that are not traditionally fannish—that sense of wanting to hold the whole in my mind.

Fears of Appearing Unvarnished: The Chicago Tribune reports on a new social media platform that is drawing criticism for its negativity. Unvarnished, writes Jessica Guynn, “is like Yelp for people’s workplace reputations, where anyone can post anonymous reviews about anyone else”—and there’s no way to delete very damaging reviews.

“I’m going to mark it as the day the ‘social web’ became antisocial,” Harvard econonmist Umair Haque wrote on his blog, BubbleGeneration.com. He’s not the only critic. A TechCrunch headline calls it “A clean, well-lighted place for defamation.” Gawker referred to it as “the completely evil social network” and a “digital extortion racket.”