ABSTRACT
In theUnited States in particular, newmedia have been posited as an important resource in addressing concerns about children’s academic achievement and preparation for future work and civic participation (U.S. Department of Education, 2010). Many efforts to use new media for learning have emerged as responses to a perceived“participation gap,” a problematic difference in social, cultural, and civic participation between youth with access to new media and those without (Jenkins et al., 2006). Much of the research, innovation, and intervention in the field of new media and learning
has been supported by foundation funding. Particularly influential in this space has been the MacArthur Foundation, which since 2006 has funded approximately $85 million in initiatives related to developing a field of digital media and learning, including funding research (including the projects described later in this chapter), supporting the formation of the Digital Media and Learning (DML) Hub at the University of California, Irvine to coordinate efforts among researchers and other organizations working in the DML space, and supporting professional gatherings such as an annual conference (MacArthur Foundation, 2011). The next section of this chapter looks at two frameworks for understanding learning with
new media: the new media literacies, as described by Project New Media Literacies (NML), and genres of participation, as described by researchers on the Digital Youth Project. Both frameworks combine the language of skills and literacies to identify technical proficiencies and social practices conducive to successful learning with and through new media. Further, both frameworks value situated learning, a theory of learning that emphasizes the value of activities that are meaningful and engaging within the learner’s specific context and experience, as well as activities that encourage learners to develop expert identities through practice.
