Yesterday I went to the MacArthur Foundation’s first regional symposium on their Digital Learning initiative. It was the place to be and be seen…most of the “big” names in games and learning were there and there was one local media outlet. The opening montage was great (you should be able to see it on the webcast.)
The head of the foundation, Jonathan Fanton, gave an overview of the digital learning initiative which encompasses three goals. Here is how I interpret those goals:
- ethnographic (exploring what kids are doing)
- Educational (how can kids get better at using digital media
- implications for institutions (what do schools need to do)
MacArthur is interested in gathering “Solid Research” in the
United States
and will eventually move international. Credibility of information also seemed to be a common thread.
Then Connie Yowell, presented the panelists- Sasha Barab, Nichole
Pinkard and David Williamson Shaffer .
One thing that frustrated me was the panelists continually saying that “computers are important” and still “revolutionary.” These clichés seem so overused and I wonder when we will move beyond that and get to the “meat” of the research.
I really enjoyed Nichole Pinkard and will have to dig further into her work. (this is a good place to start – http:\\iremix.org) Her stance and the stance of her school is that students need to create media.
I have to mention that there were difficulties getting a video to run…why does this ALWAYS happen??
There was an open discussion forum…and then a swanky reception.
All in all, I think this initiative is extremely exciting, their focus is not solely on video games…it overlaps in a lot of areas (web 2.0, digital literacy, collaboration) that I am interested in, so hopefully they will open up grant opportunities not only to large institutions, but to individuals as well!
Further info
update 2/12: webcast available here
you know what this requires? a summative presentation of what you learned to your friends and colleagues!
or just me
Posted by: matthew | 11 February 2007 at 06:46 PM