AFI BLOG: Media and Technology

Spotlight.macfound.org

Harvard researcher John Francis describes a unique collaboration between Project New Media Literacies, lead by Henry Jenkins, and the GoodPlay Project led by Howard Gardner. This begins a five-part series of posts about how to teach core media skills alongside the roles and responsibilities of good cyber citizenry.

Meeting of the H’s
In 2006, Henry Jenkins (Comparative Media Studies, MIT) and Howard Gardner (Harvard Graduate School of Education) met to discuss their mutual interest in ethical issues around digital media and possible opportunities for collaboration-and why not, being situated only two subway stops apart in Cambridge? More important than geography, though, were emergent complementary themes and research questions of Gardner’s and Jenkins’ work, which made a collaborative effort seem promising.

How has this meeting of the H’s faired, and what has come out of the combined effort of Henry and Howard’s teams? This week, we hope to give you an inside look at our collaboration through a series of blog posts highlighting our present accomplishments and future plans. Today, we’ll start with a bit of background about our teams and the goals of our collaboration.

Two Projects, One Mission
As youth grow up in an increasingly connected environment, they are presented with a diversity of challenges. Many of these challenges arise in the context of new technologies of communication and creativity. How does digital copying relate to legacy notions of property? What do I need to know in order to collaborate with my online peers? How do I present myself online? What do I do when I encounter new communities with unfamiliar norms or ideas? In many cases, there are helpful analogies in “age old” practices. Nevertheless, the conventional wisdom of the analog world can seem like an ill fit. A more appropriate approach might frame the core skills and ethical issues within already established structures, but recognize the complications and opportunities of the contemporary media environment.

More