Talkin’ ‘Bout My (Digital) Generation
By: Kate Golden, 10/25/06

Last week, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation announced a $50 million, five-year initiative to explore the ways in which digital technologies are changing how young people learn, play, socialize, and participate in civic life.  Standing in front of a room of educators, policy makers, grantees, and members of the press, Jonathan Fanton, MacArthur’s President, explained that “this is the first generation to grow up digital.”  Seeking to better understand this digital generation, MacArthur plans on funding research and innovative projects to achieve this goal.  Recent MacArthur grants in the field include support for the design and development of innovative game modules, curricula, and tools for media literacy, a study about the effect of digital media on young people’s civic engagement, and research on ethical decision-making in the digital age.  As Fanton said, the Foundation is “eager to know what solid research will tell.”  MacArthur hopes that this initiative will enable educational and other social institutions to adapt to the new needs of today’s - and tomorrow’s youth by providing a clearer picture of what those needs are.  Using some of the tools that future grant recipients will most likely study, the Foundation’s press briefing and panel discussion was also available via Webcast; Danah Boyd covered it for Spotlight, MacArthur’s new blog. 

Highlighting the need to assess how digital media is transforming youth in both formal and informal learning environments, MacArthur presented some staggering statistics:  young people today spend an average of almost 6.5 hours a day with media; 87% of U.S. teens aged 12-17 use the Internet; nearly 75% of young people aged 8-18 use instant messaging. 

To begin the conversation that MacArthur will explore in great detail, three leading thinkers in the field offered observations, in a panel moderated by Connie Yowell, Director for Education at the Foundation.  Henry Jenkins, Director of the MIT Comparative Media Studies Program and the Peter de Florez Professor of Humanities, is developing a new framework and models for media literacy.  Mizuko Ito is a Research Scientist at the Annenberg Center for Communication at the University of Southern California, and is a Visiting Associate Professor at Keio University.  She is part of a three-year research project, studying how and to what effect youth use digital media.  Nichole Pinkard, Chief Technology Officer at the University of Chicago’s Center for Urban School Improvement, is the Lead Designer of the Center’s Information Infrastructure System project.  The three panelists began by offering what they view as common misconceptions regarding technology and its uses.  Jenkins noted that technology is no longer locked solely in a computer, and that we must understand the culture that surrounds this technology if we are to understand digital media.  Pinkard explained that while many fear new media is devaluing traditional literacy, there are ways in which it is encouraging literacy through writing song lyrics or storyboards, for example.  They also touched on their fears and hopes for the field, before opening up the conversation to include questions from the audience.  These questions ranged from the specifics of MacArthur’s funding guidelines to broader themes, such as the future role of television and ways in which museums and libraries can participate in engaging youth with new media. 

Jonathan Fanton concluded the day by exclaiming that the “event exceeded expectations.”  He noted that there is a profound opportunity for good with technology that enables cross-cultural communication.  To keep apprised of MacArthur’s and its grantees’ progress in understanding the digital generation, visit their Digital Media and Learning website at (http://www.digitallearning.macfound.org/site/c.enJLKQNlFiG/b.2029199/k.BFC9/Home.htm).  

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About the Author

Kate Golden is Executive Director of Editorial Services at Changing Our World, Inc. She can be reached at kgolden@changingourworld.com