Spotlight on Digital Media And Learning

1.28.11 | Interest-driven learning; predictions for even more contributions from student programmers; the Games, Learning and Society Conference 2011 calls for papers; Latin American teens write novels online; a bittersweet parting at Global Kids and more.

The iTot Challenge: Michael Levine, executive director of the Joan Ganz Cooney Center, makes the case for investing in research on how digital media is changing learning for preschool and school-age kids. 

Writing at the Huffington Post, Levine says parents of kids under age 6 are engaged in what experts call the “‘pass-back’ effect—those precious moments of relief when a parent hands their digital device to a child on a car ride, standing in the check-out line, or at the doctor’s office.”

As Levine notes, there is much we don’t know about young children’s interactions with these devices, both in terms of the opportunities they provide for learning and their effects on development.

He points to several Cooney Center reports relevant to these issues, including “Learning: Is there an app for that?” and a new report that includes findings about how the participation gap between low- and middle-income children is growing. Spotlight has written about the participation previously gap here.

Among other things, Levine calls for a digital teacher corps to help train practitioners in new media, and he asks what early childhood classrooms might look like if practitioners had training in using technology—not just as “pass backs,” but as creative tools to expand student-driven learning.

Plus, 5-Year-Old Digital Designers: Sheryl Grant echoes Levine’s questions in a post at HASTAC. She points to a recent video of the National Technology Leadership Summit where Karen Cator, director of the U.S. Office of Educational Technology, shows a 5-year-old engaged in “product design,” using digital fabrication to create his own 3-D object.

It got me thinking, what would a kindergarten class look like if the teacher was fluent not only in building blocks and sand boxes, but touch screens and keyboards? This video of a 5-year-old using digital fabrication to engineer his own 3D house should be required viewing for parents who treat digital media’s learning potential with skepticism.

Check it out:

Interest-Driven Learning in Classrooms of the Future: Karen Cator’s colleague, Deputy Director Steve Midgley, gave a compelling interview to KQED’s MindShift this week. He makes some interesting predictions about how educational approach, not necessarily technology, will direct the most change in the classrooms of the future.

Midgley says that students’ own interests will drive the school day, and he expects to see educators focusing more on projects students are passionate about and allowing more student-led learning. We may see more real science in elementary school, for example; a growth in student journalism, where kids report on real world events; and student programmers making more and greater contributions to the technology sector. (See our post from last week on the success of a 14-year-old app developer.)

In my experience when you provide flexible opportunities for students to learn, every single one takes the opportunity, and sometimes in ways that you don’t expect.

The interview is part of MindShift’s School Day of the Future series examining how an average school day in 2020 (or even beyond) for a K-12 student will be structured. You can weigh in here.

Latin American Teens Write and Connect Online: Writing at DMLCentral, Raquel Recuero, associate professor in applied linguistics and social communication at Universidade Católica de Pelotas in Brazil, reports on the allure of the digital realm for young writers in Latin America, where youth are online in ever-increasing numbers (96 percent of all students in Chile have access!).

Recuero shares research on how social networking is making teens write more and in different ways. Teens write to be connected to other teens, she says, and to share thoughts, experiences and feelings. Recuero examines teen writing in webnovels and fan fiction on sites like Orkut. She says teen authors are often motivated by comments left by their peers.

One fascinating piece is that many teens write under pseudonyms and consider this writing to be completely separate from any writing they do at school.

“My mother would kill me if she found out about the novels I write,” said Maria, a 16-year-old student whose romance novels occasionally include sexual content. “Thus, I have another name in the Internet. Nobody knows I’m famous on the Internet.”

Plus, watch U.S. teens talk about sharing their writing on Figment.com. The teens made a recent appearance on The Brian Lehrer Show with Figment co-founder Jacob Lewis. Spotlight covered Figment here.

Games Conference 7.0: The annual Games, Learning and Society Conference will be held in Madison June 15-17. The annual gathering has become a destination for those wanting to engage in serious dialogue about games for the public interest.

This year is no different, and organizers promise in-depth discussions across disciplines about how to reinvent learning through the promise of games. It’s also a lot of fun. Besides the panels and keynotes from Michael Levine, Katie Salen, Eric Zimmerman, and James Paul Gee, there will also be lots of eating, game play and we hear even an occasional talent show. Turns out game designers can sing, too, or at least play “Guitar Hero.”

Registration has expanded this year to accommodate more attendees. Proposals are due March 7.

A Fond Farewell: And finally, the New York City non-profit Global Kids bids goodbye this month to Rik Panganiban, who has spent three years connecting teen programmers and designers to new media learning opportunities. His work has included facilitating community change through virtual world activism in Teen Second Life and leading virtual fossil digs in the iDig Science program. But as Panganiban writes in his farewell blog post, he initially took the position with the understanding that he would never have to work directly with teenagers. Read what made him change his mind—and what he learned from the experience.

Spotlight has worked with Panganiban as we’ve covered Global Kids adventures without leaving our computer screens. Good luck, Rik!