Digital Youth Media - Kids informal learning with digital media

This blog is associated with a project funded by the MacArthur Foundation. It features posts by members of the research team and is well worth checking out. The "publications" link provides a bibliography of very good publications related to the research.

http://digitalyouth.ischool.berkeley.edu/

Website: “'Kids' Informal Learning with Digital Media: An Ethnographic Investigation of Innovative Knowledge Cultures' is a three year collaborative project funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.”

UK Children Go Online

http://www.children-go-online.net/

This project was undertaken to investigate what young people in the UK are doing online. The primary researcher was Prof Sonia Livingstone from the London School of Economics. It was supported by several organisations including the UK Office of Communication (Ofcom),

The report outlines a range of findings that aim to provide a snapshot of which young people are participating online and what they are doing there.

This is very useful data, some of which contradicts commonly held assumptions, and hype, about the “digital generation”.

Henry Jenkins’ Blog

Check out Henry Jenkins’ Blog:

Henry Jenkins is one of the most prolific and important theorists focusing on participatory media culture. His book “Textual Poachers” is a classic study of fan culture. Jenkins is Director of the Comparative Media Studies Program at MIT and his blog is essential reading for anyone interested in media culture and media literacy.

http://www.henryjenkins.org/

Also see Henry Jenkins speaking at an NMC event:
http://64.142.96.242/videos/2005/jenkins.wmv

Australia Council New Media Arts Scoping Study

This study has made a number of recommendations about the media as an aspect of the Arts in Australia society. Of particular interest for media educators is one of its key recommendations:

Importance of media literacy as part of the Australia Council’s Arts and Education Strategy:

Media literacy and the Arts & Education Strategy

1.8. That media literacy is promoted as a key element of the Australia Council’s
Arts & Education Strategy, and that the Australia Council initiate partnerships
with other key stakeholder agencies to further research the development of a
proposal for a national review of media literacy education in schools that
establishes the status and quality of teaching in this area. Further research
would build upon the findings of the National Review of Education in Visual
Arts, Crafts, Design and Visual Communication.

It will be very interesting to see if this translates into some sort of recommendation or strategy to support, or at least legitimise, media education especially in schools. Of course there is a long history of recommendations being made in favour of media literacy, only for them to gather dust on book shelves.

It would be nice to see this acknowledgment backed up with some action.

http://www.ozco.gov.au/news_and_hot_topics/news/new_media_scopstudy_report/

James Gee Presentation

James Gee is one of the leading researchers focusing on the relationship between video games and learning. It is interesting to note that Gee does not say video games WILL educate young people. He argues that the approach taken by video games, and why they are so engaging, offers a possible model for education generally. He aims to identify how games require players to be good learners.

The following speech was presented at Education Queensland in Brisbane in 2006.
http://mediasite.eq.edu.au/mediasite/viewer/?peid=564ac4fe-67aa-4278-b583-d794eef31dd1

[Website]: “What Video Games have to teach us about Learning and Literacy. Good computer and video games are learning machines. Despite being long and complex, they get themselves learned and learned well, not just in tutorials, but as part and parcel of playing the game to the end. Thus, designers face and largely solve an intriguing educational dilemma, one also faced by schools and workplaces, as well: how to get people to learn and master something that is long and challenging - and enjoy it.

Schools, workplaces, families, and academic researchers have a lot to learn about learning from good computer and video games. In this talk I will explicate the learning principles that are built into good video games and discuss their implications for learning in and out of schools for a global, high-tech, and risky world.”

Project - New Media Literacies (NML)

Another interesting research project:

http://www.projectnml.org

The New Media Literacies Project is based at MIT’s comparative media studies department. It is funded by the MacArthur Foundation and aims to develop a theoretical framework and curriculum for k-12 students, based around the integration of new media tools into education.

The project is still under way. The website has some examples of project work and some interesting blog entries and articles, particularly by Henry Jenkins - the project’s leader.

The project’s partners include several very interesting media / youth / education projects, based at high profile universities and institutions - the site has links to these projects.

There are also the beginnings of a showcase of student work - although this is still in development.

It will be interesting to see how this project unfolds, to see the extent to which traditional frameworks for media education (eg key concepts) are applied to new media.

Current TV

Current TV is Fascinating case study for teachers of media. It is a satellite / cable television station based in the U.S. that invites direct participation from audience members through the production of content. There is a specific attempt to democratise television production, giving anyone with the ability to make a video the opportunity to broadcast. Short video clips made by viewers are called “pods”.

The station has a liberal / progressive political slant, and was partly the vision of former U.S. Vice President, Al Gore. Much of the programming is about current political issues.

Current TV also has a strong Web presence, including some high standard advice and instruction about amateur video production that would be quite useful for media teachers and students.

http://www.current.tv/

Digital Creatives at “South By South West”

The huge “South by South West” conference happened last week in Austin, Texas. The yearly festival has music, film and “interactive” sections. The “Interactive” component is a large conference in its own right bringing together “Digital Creatives” and those interested in online media, games and mobile media.

I like the term “Digital Creative”. It describes a well established segment of media culture that media educators have not yet really acknowledged. Web design, games production and the like are still considered to be part of the Technology Education part of the curriculum in many schools. But increasingly, media students are wanting to work in areas beyond digital video production - bread and butter for media teachers.

Media educators are slowly embracing blogging, podcasting, web design and production, video games and mobile media, but there’s a whole lot more we could be doing to apply a media education framework to the study of these media through reflective participation.

Events like SXSW demonstrate the momentum that this aspect of media culture has gained in recent years. Check it out at: http://2007.sxsw.com/interactive/

Many of the panel presentations will be podcast, so it is possible to get a little taste of SXSW, even if we couldn't be there in person.

Also check out the archived podcasts from 2006:
http://2006.sxsw.com/coverage/podcasts/

Youth Media Distribution

YMDi provides an avenue for young media producers to distribute their productions, discuss production processes and learn about the media world.

From a media ed perspective, it’s a great example of how the web has provided young people with the opportunity to make media for real audiences and also to work within particular institutional processes.

http://www.ymdi.org

[website] “YMDi's mission is: to improve the distribution of independent youth created film, video, radio and new media. YMDi.org provides information and tools that are essential to increasing the visibility of youth made media. The short of it is YMDi will help you find your audience”.

Spotlight - MacArthur Foundation project

“Spotlight - Blogging the field of Digital Media and Learning” is another essential resource relating to the field of media education and digital media. On a regular basis the blog has a “spotlight” issue and experts in the field introduce research they are conducting in the area. Readers are invited to join the discussion by providing thoughts and opinions about the project outlines.

http://spotlight.macfound.org/

Also of interest is the MacArthur Foundation’s major project: “Building the Field of Digital Media and Learning”.

http://www.digitallearning.macfound.org/

Read an outline of this major project, including research reports and join the conversation about digital learning.

DIY Media Weblog hosted by the USE Annenberg Centre for Communication

The Annenberg Center at the University of Southern California is an important research institution focusing on numerous aspects of the role of media and communications in society. This blog focuses on DIY media culture.

http://weblogs.annenberg.edu/diy/

Entries are written by leading researchers and students in the center and often include excellent reflections on DIY media and related research.

From the website: “The Annenberg Center for Communication of the University of Southern California (USC) supports leading-edge interdisciplinary research on the meaning of the new networked information age. Projects focus on drivers that will shape the future and on the impact of new communication and information technologies on politics, society, and innovation”.

New Media Consortium

Anyone with an interest in the role of new media in education should check out the the new media consortium NMC:

http://www.nmc.org/

In particular, the information on new media literacy and the “21st Century Literacy Summit” held in April 2005 warrants further investigation.

http://www.nmc.org/projects/literacy/index.shtml

Download the report - and see the people who were in attendance for further resources. Henry Jenkins presented a keynote: “Media Literacy - who needs it?” which is available as a video download:
http://64.142.96.242/videos/2005/jenkins.wmv

Of great interest is the New Media Consortium “campus” established in Second Life (see pic above) which hosts online discussions, professional development sessions etc in the virtual space of Second Life.

http://www.nmc.org/sl

From the website: “The New Media Consortium (NMC) is an international 501(c)3 not-for-profit consortium of nearly 200 leading colleges, universities, museums, corporations, and other learning-focused organizations dedicated to the exploration and use of new media and new technologies”.