Digital Media & Learning
In 2006, The MacArthur Foundation launched a five-year, $50 million digital media and learning initiative to help determine how digital technologies are changing the way young people learn, play, socialize, and participate in civic life.
Over three years, [the research team] interviewed over 800 young people and their parents, both one-on-one and in focus groups; spent over 5000 hours observing teens on sites such as MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, and other networked communities; and conducted diary studies to document how, and to what end, young people engage with digital media.
Their website is filled with a metric ton of research on gaming, identity, civic engagement, race & ethinicity and more. The most recent study explores how time spent online is crucial in a teen’s development. From 901AM’s excellent run down:
The researchers identified two distinctive categories of teen engagement with digital media: friendship-driven and interest-driven. While friendship-driven participation centered on “hanging out” with existing friends, interest-driven participation involved accessing online information and communities that may not be present in the local peer group.
Some other findings:
- There is a generation gap in how youth and adults view the value of online activity.
- Youth are navigating complex social and technical worlds by participating online.
- The social worlds that youth are negotiating have new kinds of dynamics, as online socializing is permanent, public, involves managing elaborate networks of friends and acquaintances, and is always on.
- “Geeked-out” learning opportunities are abundant – subjects like astronomy, creative writing, and foreign languages.
(via 901AM)