Spotlight on Digital Media And Learning

9.29.09 | What role should digital media play in educating youth today? On Sept. 21, the Consortium on School Networking (CoSN), Common Sense Media, and the National Writing Project, with support from the MacArthur Foundation, briefed members of Congress and their staff on that very question.

“We are at a transformational moment, potentially, in the context of education in this country,” James Steyer, CEO of Commonsense Media, told the Washington audience, “and specifically in bringing this digital media revolution that our kids are living 24/7 into the classrooms and homes around the country. You cannot talk about a literate workforce for the 21st century if you do not talk about digital literacy.”

“Digital media in the classroom is not about replacing the old with the new, said Julia Stasch, vice president of the MacArthur Foundation, which has funded $85 million in research and innovation in digital media and learning. “This isn’t about no more books and only social networks. This isn’t about no more writing and only texting. This is about the convergence of the old skills and old literacy with new skills for the 21st century.”

Watch the video, produced by Ben Wolff, for more on this briefing, including the need to foster partnerships between school and afterschool, the need for better professional development for teachers, views of teens and parents, and how teachers are using digital media to awaken the desire to learn, and ultimately how to better our education system for the future, and today.