Digital Media and Child Development

What are the effects of new media on children and how they learn? The MacArthur Foundation has just launched a $50 million Digital Media and Learning initiative to begin to explore these and other questions including their effects on peer social networks, family life, play and how kids look for information; teaching media literacy in classrooms and after-school programs; and implications for the design of schools and other social institutions.

danah boyd was the on-site blogger for the launch event and notes:

The big take-away is that there are many opportunities and MacArthur is invested in building a field where researchers and practitioners can investigate digital media and learning. There is a profound opportunity for affecting change and we invite all of you to help us in this project!

See Beth's live blogging of the event from Second Life.

Technorati Tags: Child Development, Digital Media, MacArthur Foundation

Comments

[Beth]

Thanks for the link. I'm a parent of young kids who used to limit screen time and police them. Now that I've read and learned from the MacArthur event as well as the Games for Change Conference, I make media and play video games with kids. I think all parents should.