Spotlight on Digital Media And Learning

1.27.10 | Last week’s news that media usage among young people is up—to seven and a half hours a day—sparked a number of responses from digital media experts.

Anne Collier of Net Family News writes that while the Kaiser Family Foundation’s report is “a tremendous service to parents and educators – but also a subtle disservice. The latter, because it looks at kids’ and teens’ experiences with today’s media through the lens of yesterday’s, the mass-media culture we adults grew up in.” Collier continues:

“The story of media in young people’s lives today is primarily a story of technology facilitating increased consumption,” the authors write, even while a growing body of research shows that the youth-media story is actually more about sharing, playing with, and producing media, individually and collectively, than consuming it. [...]

So are we looking at all this data largely from the context of the media environment we grew up in, where media were consumed, professionally produced (much of it for entertainment), and government-regulated? As we read, are we worried that new media are just a waste of our kids’ time, a distraction, or even a potential health problem (Kaiser’s study appears in its “Media & Health” practice)? The Kaiser report is riddled with the words “consume” and “consumption,” when really what youth do so much more with media now is blog, share, post, text, discuss, remix, and produce, often collaboratively, as mentioned above. As sweeping as this study’s scope was, a study about their consumption is only a small part of today’s youth-media equation.

In his column at CNET, Larry Magid, founder of SafeKids.com and co-founder with Anne Collier of ConnectSafely.org, writes that “not all use of social media can be lumped as entertainment or recreational. It’s also about communicating and—at times—can be a valuable part of young people’s education and development.”

I’m not suggesting that kids (and adults for that matter) can’t waste time on Facebook, but it’s important to remember that this is how kids interact and socialize today. Just as kids used to hang out in parks, bowling alleys, and malls, they are now hanging out online. Instead of talking, they’re often texting or interacting via their social-networking profiles. While these activities can be time-wasting, they can also be productive, helping kids define their identities, reinforce offline social relationships and express themselves in a variety of ways.

You can also listen to Magid’s interview with Victoria Rideout, KFF vice president and director of the study. KFF chose to categorize usage by media content, though that’s admittedly tricky when a TV show may be watched on a laptop.

“Media use itself is neither inherently good nor inherently bad,” said Rideout, and she notes that “the lines between media consumption and communication are getting blurred.”

The study, she adds, presents nonprofit groups with data so they can best tailor their work to expand educational offerings and create public campaigns that engage kids with the media they use.

Over at YPulse, Meredith Sires writes that what’s missing from the media’s discussion about how much time kids spend and their relative happiness are studies such as Mediasnacker’s “The Web Makes Me Feel” (discussed here) and MTV Sticky‘s “Teen Age Clicks: Understanding Global Youth Culture” that look more at the positive aspects, including how music, TV and social networks can alleviate stress.

“Instead of sounding yet another alarm about youth and technology, let’s use studies like this to help young people learn to self regulate,” writes Sires. “And more importantly, let’s not forget all of the positive changes this new media has brought about.”

Plus: This video from Kaiser Foundation Family features interviews with three young people who explain what types of media they use—such as smart phones, computers, TV, video games—how much time they spend with media and the impact it has on their lives.