I am in DC for the Webwise Conference sponsored by IMLS, The Wolfsonian, the Florida Center Library Association, and MacArthur. It has really been a fabulous conference, and I’ve seen many of the projects sponsored by IMLS grants connected to digital media learning environments. I want to tell you that futuristic learning looks incredible and is going on right now–not a decade from now.
Many of these grant projects are serving to change learning environments for young adults such as New Media Literacies. Be sure to read Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century. We already know that young people learn differently than those of us born in the 50s and 60s. They have grown up with the Internet and now so many of the social networking tools that are quickly changing business and economics in this country. Schools are technologically behind in understanding how virtual learning communities can promote learning, so it is important for us to keep up with the research and innovation that is occurring all over the world right now. The significance of New Media Literacies is that through their work, they have identified critical literacies associated with digital media. Not only are they creating a learning community, but they are assessing the kinds of learning we all need to survive in this new Age of Information. I will post more later…
You can see the conversation going on today at Today’s Meet. Blog ya’ later, P.
