Spotlight on Digital Media And Learning

At Hackasaurus Jam, Mozilla Encourages Young Programmers to Change the Web

A new tool set and curriculum aims to open up the web so that young people can see how it works, change it and make it their own.

Prototyping Our Way to Reforming Education

With ARIS, a new application for creating place-based mobile games, developers experiment with new models to get digital tools into educators hands more quickly - rapid prototyping of an idea and tons of user testing.

Digital Youth Network Program Expands to Underserved Areas in Chicago

The Digital Youth Network, a program that teaches kids to be meaningful producer of digital media is expanding.

The Future of Reading and Writing is Collaborative

A vanguard of educators, technologists, intellectuals and writers are reimagining the very meaning of writing and reading.

Making a (Social) Impact: Gaming Companies Encourage Kids to Design Games With a Purpose

Spotlight talks with game developers about their plans to help kids design video games based on important social issues such as energy, nutrition and eco systems.

Novel Public/Private Partnership Brings “Gamestar Mechanic” Video Game to Classrooms

After five years in the making “Gamestar Mechanic” is now available to educators via E-Line Media. Spotlight tells the story of how unique game-based learning platform came to be.

What Is This Buzz Word “Transliteracy”? A Q&A with Ryan Nadel

If you Google “transliteracy,” the definition is nearly unanimous from Wikipedia on down: the ability to read, write and interact on a range of platforms, tools and media. But, behind the definition, according to Ryan Nadel is a simpler concept that’s as old as the theory of evolution.

Filmmakers Create a “Discovery Channel” for Heiltsuk First Nations Youth

Although they lived surrounded by nature, Heiltsuk youth in northern Canada seemed more interested in their iPods. A novel project brought the bears and wildlife their ancestors revered into their classrooms and empowered them to use technology to connect with their surroundings—all through the simple act of discovery.

Teens Build, Tinker and Demo Digital Games and Inventions at World Maker Faire in New York

At the World Maker Faire held earlier this month at the New York Hall of Science in Queens, N.Y., fish swam on dry land, a squid and a raven competed in a chariot race, and a larger-than-life version of the board game Mouse Trap, complete with a real claw-foot tub, made observers feel like extras in a remake of “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.” (Either that, or the giant mouse problem in New York City has gotten out of control.)

New Youth City Learning Network: Creating a New Vision for Out-of-School Learning

With scientists, designers and educators from some of the city’s cultural institutions serving as mentors, teens in New York City this summer learned to see their neighborhoods in a new light.

YOUmedia Program Builds On Success at Downtown Library, Expands to Underserved Chicago Neighborhoods

YOUmedia is taking its successful model for 21st-century learning to more Chicago students across the city.