Living and Learning with New Media: Summary of Findings from the Digital Youth Project (The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Reports on Digital Media and Learning)
Living and Learning with New Media: Summary of Findings from the Digital Youth Project (The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Reports on Digital Media and Learning)
This report summarizes the results of an ambitious three-year ethnographic study, funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, into how young people are living and learning with new media in varied settings -- at home, in after school programs, and in online spaces. It offers a condensed version of a longer treatment provided in the book Hanging Out, Messing Around, and Geeking Out (MIT Press, 2009). The authors present empirical data on new media in the lives of American youth i
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One Response to “Living and Learning with New Media: Summary of Findings from the Digital Youth Project (The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Reports on Digital Media and Learning)”
Dr. Bojan Tunguz
18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
An Interesting and Comprehensive Look at Learning with New Media, September 11, 2010
By Dr. Bojan Tunguz (Indiana, USA) –
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This review is from: Living and Learning with New Media: Summary of Findings from the Digital Youth Project (The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Reports on Digital Media and Learning) (Kindle Edition)
Media revolutions in the past have always had a major impact on the society, be they television, radio, printing press, or just the invention of script. They had fundamentally reshaped the way that we learn and interact. The advent of the new digital media is just another stage in that progression, and almost every year these days there is a new gadget or a software product that fundamentally reshapes our modes of living and learning. The segment of society that is usually the first one to adapt to the new culture are the young as they tend to be the most open to the new experiences. However, despite some dire predictions of the negative impact of the new media on the breakdown of society, there has been very little empirical research that attempts to document what actual young people are doing online and how they are interacting with the new media. The aim of this report is to address many of these concerns. The report analyzes many case studies for which the fieldwork had been conducted between 2006 and 2007, spanning many different social and ethnic groups in the United States. This is primarily a qualitative study that provides us with some new insights and points in the direction for possible future work. The research method used can be described as ethnographic, i.e. it tries to figure out how technology and media are meaningful for people in their everyday life. This is a very appropriate way of conducting research in this particular area as the technologies and media are in a constant state of flux and categories that are relevant for this subject are continuously changing.One of the more interesting aspects of this research is that the researchers have avoided categorizing their subjects along the overused categories of class, race and gender, but have instead focused more on “genres” of participation that can be very situation specific. For instance, each research subject can participate in several different genres and change his or her participation pattern depending on the medium that is used.The variety of groups of young people who had been interviewed for this research is truly remarkable. The report gives us a good sense of the kinds of interactions and engagements that young people today are engaged in. The level of participation, however, varies depending on the skill level and the motivation that the participants bring along with them. At the basic level youth is using the new media to just hang out and socialize, and in this respect the online world is a very direct extension of the social interactions that are present in the “real” world. A qualitatively different form o engagement happens when young people start using the new sets of online tools that prompt them to engage in a more creative and original ways. The young people who create new content or even new products and services tend to be highly intelligent and motivated individuals, but other than that they come from all social and ethnic backgrounds.Overall, this is a very interesting and informative report that ought to be read by parents, educators and all those who are interested in helping young people make the most of the new media.
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