October 31, 2006
Nichole Pinkard: Developing Opportunities for Urban Youth to become Digital: The University of Chicago is developing an Afterschool Digital Media Program to provide opportunities for urban youth to develop digital media fluency.
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October 31, 2006
Eric Zimmerman: Let them make games! - the Game Designer project: Game Designer, a MacArthur-funded collaboration between Gamelab and the GAPPS lab at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, teaches literacy through game design and creation.
Category: Ecology-of-GamesTom Hoffman, E. Zimmerman, Tom Hoffman,

October 31, 2006
Henry Jenkins: Transmedia Improv encourages learning by remixing media: Artists have long built upon each others’ work. Shouldn’t schools be helping to think about the ethics and poetics of remixing?
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October 29, 2006
Cathy Davidson: Relearning How to Learn: I hope MacArthur supports some risky projects where the learning potential is enormous even if the possibility of failure is high, and puts its clout and impeccable reputation behind the visionary.
Category: Comments: kevin mccluskey,

October 26, 2006
Mimi Ito: Kids and Commercial Culture: What does “consumerism” mean in an era of Tivo, Internet distribution, niche media markets, and DIY media culture?
Category: Comments: Anastasia Goodstein,

October 25, 2006
(Part II)—James Paul Gee: Good Games are Good for Good Learning, **But**…: Video games hold out great promise as a way to enhance learning, but we need to go beyond the game as a piece of software to really speak to the conditions necessary for deep learning…
Category: Ecology-of-Games

October 25, 2006
Barry Joseph: How do you bring a youth development model on global issues into a virtual world?: Global Kids shares best practices from their global education programs run for teens in Second Life. 
Category: Comments: James L. Smith,

October 24, 2006
James Paul Gee: Good Games are Good for Good Learning (part I): Good video games are good for learning.  When we compare how they recruit learning, I believe we see ways in which learning can be enhanced in and out of school, with or without using games.…
Category: Ecology-of-GamesMatt,

October 24, 2006
Youth Voice: Can Teens In A Virtual Summer Camp Take Action On A Real World Issue?: Lucky Figtree is the screen name of a teen involved with the global education programs in the virtual world Second Life. 
Category: Comments: Barry Joseph, Taran Rampersad, Rafi Santo, Taran, R. Panganiban, Taran, Lucky Figtree, Blue Linden, Lucky Figtree,

October 23, 2006
Mimi Ito: Do young people really take “naturally” to digital media?: Although kids’ use of the Internet and video games may seem effortless, it actually takes a lot of effort, ongoing learning, and a supportive social environment.
Category: UnexpectedJill,

October 22, 2006
Cathy Davidson: The Future of Institutions: Skunkworks!: At the MacArthur launch, someone mentioned the “skunkworks model”—my favorite tactic for institional innovation.  The name comes from a moonshine factory in the Lil Abner cartoons.  Shine on!
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October 20, 2006
danah boyd: coverage from MacArthur’s launch of the Digital Media and Learning Initiative: Yesterday i had the fortune to participate in the launch so that i could bringing you, our dear new readers, some sense of what took place.  First an overview, and then i want to dive…
Category: Civic-Engagement, Credibility, Ecology-of-Games, Identity, Race-Ethnicity, UnexpectedAlan Levine, tim, Beth, Rik Panganiban, Alan Levine, Beth, Stephen Haliczer Ph.D.,

October 20, 2006
Cathy Davidson: Reflections on the Launch: Disciplines and the Futures of Thinking: Our challenge as educators, parents, and co-learners is to figure out together how we can make the most of this digital moment for creative, inspiring, and engaged learning.  Our institutional challenge is to figure out…
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October 20, 2006
Mimi Ito: Reflections on the MacArthur launch: My own sense, particularly because I do transnational research between Japan and the US, is that this international dimension is absolutely critical understanding how digital technologies are transforming young people’s cultural worlds.
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October 19, 2006
Welcome from the MacArthur Foundation: Welcome to Spotlight, the MacArthur Foundation’s first foray into blogging.  Today we announced plans to help build the emerging field of digital media and learning, committing $50 million over five years to the effort. 
Category: Comments: Joe Tojek, Beth, Rik Panganiban, Dave Blackburn, Andrea Magnuson, Beth, Barry Joseph, Marc Sirkin, Idit Harel Caperton, Rachel Lindstrom, John Thompson, Beth, Mark K.,

October 18, 2006
Henry Jenkins: Ensuring Technological Access Will Solve the Digital Divide (A Misconception): The Digital Divide (which has historically been understood primarily in terms of technical access) masks a deeper cultural challenge which we are calling the Participation Gap as many young people lack access to core social…
Category: Comments: Andy Carvin,

October 18, 2006
James Paul Gee: A New Kind of Child: Many children are turning to a productive attitude to literacy and knowledge, not a consumption attitude alone.  What are the implications for schooling, learning, and equity?
Category: Comments: Joe Tojek, Mel Chua, Larry Gourley, Clarence Fisher, Lucy Hausner, a.c. burgess,

October 18, 2006
Mimi Ito: Learning with digital media involves more than “educational technology.”: Learning happens with digital media even if it is not explicitly educational or academic.
Category: UnexpectedGeoff McGovern, Jean Locicero Shankle, Geoff McGovern,

October 18, 2006
danah boyd: Culture Matters (and is overlooked): In a culture that is obsessed with formal education and college admissions, it’s hard to remember that there are other things that teens must learn during their formative years.
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October 17, 2006
Henry Jenkins: Youth Are So Media Savvy They Don’t Need Any Media Education (A Misconception): Many adults believe youth know more about new media culture than they do. So what’s the need for media education?
Category: Comments: Mel Chua,