We’ve got a treat in store for you this week, How Do You Like it So Far? fans! We begin a two-part series from the 2019 Connected Learning Summit which took place at the University of California, Irvine from October 3-5. This first installment is a panel with Henry, S. Craig Watkins, a Professor at the University of Texas, Austin, Mizuko Ito, the Director of the Connected Learning Lab, and Katie Salen, a Professor at the University of California, Irvine, for a discussion about digital youth in the talk, “Digital Diversity: How Social, Cultural and Real Life Circumstances Shape Youth Digital Media Practices.” They discuss the complex work of connected learning and how partnerships are crucial for its success and implementation. Ito discussed digital and connected learning as a movement where a strong public agenda for young people needs to be realized. According to Ito, kids need to be full participants in online developmental spaces since they will find other places for engagement. Watkins brings light to the fact that children’s digital engagement is starting much earlier than could have been imagined. He noted that kids are exposed to digital devices as early as 1-3 years old and although that thought may be unsettling, it may become the new normal. Salen notes that young people take part when they have choices and when particular those choices they are making connect to the real world. Listen in as Watkins, Ito and Salen discuss topics concerning digital youth and how the digital learning space has evolved for the new generation.
Here are some of the references from this episode, for those who want to dig a little deeper:
Panelists Books:
Affinity Online: How Connection and Shared Interest Fuel Learning – by Mimi Ito and Katie Salens
The Digital Edge: How Black and Latino Youth Navigate Digital Inequality – by S. Craig Watkins
Games and their Companies:
StarCraft – Blizzard
Valve – Portal
Little Big Planet – Media Molecules
Minecraft
Sonia Livingstone and Alicia Blum-Ross on Screen Time Rules
Share your thoughts via Twitter with Henry and Colin and also through email at annlab@usc.edu!
