October 2010 Archives

Can "Digital Hollywood" support education & innovation? Opportunities, obstacles, and missing conversations

I recently attended Digital Hollywood, a digital media trade conference in Los Angeles for executives in the film, television, computer, music, and telecommunications fields. As a Ph.D. student in Communication at USC Annenberg, I attended four panels relevant to my research interests in children and media. These panels were organized around the following themes: immersive touchscreen media, mobile apps, crossmedia content reinvention, and one specifically on children in the digital space (of which Joan Ganz Cooney Center's Ann My Thai and PBS Kids' Sara DeWitt were panelists).

There was a wide range of conversation topics between the different panels, far too many for a single blog post. However, my main purpose in attending was to hone in on this question: In what ways can we meaningfully leverage the technological innovation driven by profit in Hollywood into creating deep-learning digital experiences in informal and formal education for children?

My single day at the conference (Me: "Sorry, I'd attend your panel on Tuesday morning but I have stats class at 9AM.") brought up some evocative questions, as well as some perennial frustrations. I would divide my takeaways into three categories: opportunities, obstacles, and those issues for which an in-depth discussion was unfortunately missing.

Launch of PBS Kids Go! Webonauts Internet Academy

This past year, I had the privilege of working with PBS Kids Go! as educational advisor to their new media literacy game. Webonauts Internet Academy encourages young children to reflect on privacy, credibility and what it means to be an ethical participant in a community. I had a chance to share some questions with Abby Jenkins, PBS Online Community Manager, to reflect on the development of the game and how this fits into the PBS Kids Go! experience.

Knowing that PBS KIDS had an original game on media literacy, what sparked you to want to develop a new one? And how is this new game, Webonauts Internet Academy, different than the other?

Today's media landscape is much different than it was ten years ago, when PBS KIDS first launched a game on web safety. Since that time, the media kids are exposed to have become increasingly social. For that reason, a focus on digital citizenship was important because kids' social interactions and presentation of self are increasingly blurred by "online" and "offline" interactions. The Webonauts Internet Academy game is part of the new PBS KIDS GO! Digital Citizenship Initiative to help kids and parents navigate today's digital landscape. With this new initiative, PBS also supports parents and educators by offering discussion guides and other resources to help foster discussions about online safety and good digital citizenship with children.

Creatively, the Webonauts Internet Academy is new world we created, where kids take on the role of the Webnonaut and complete a series of missions. There's a cast of characters that includes the Bamdudes, who are the best cookie makers in the galaxy, and a mysterious enemy called the Great Static who is set on stealing the Bamdude's secret recipe. While entertaining kids, it is designed to teach kids about online privacy, how to deal with bullying and how to distinguish credible sources online.

The Gendered Participation Gap: Training Women in Developing Countries to Teach New Media Literacies

"As a woman, what is your role in society?", I asked my 8th grade Indian students at the Railway Girls High School in Hyderabad, India. As the coordinator of The Modern Story program, I was implementing a digital storytelling curriculum at their school and this was to be their homework assignment for next class.

When next class came around and it was time to read their homework, nobody raised their hands.

Then Hajra, an otherwise timid 8^th grade math whiz, got up from her desk and proclaimed: "As a woman, the first thing you have to do is to stand up."

"As a woman, I have more responsibilities to do in society," said little Sarala, continuing the conversation. "I will help girls get education and explain to them the importance of education for their future." She does not look older than 10, but her smile carries a certain trace of wisdom and experience.

Learning with BT at Atlantis - Science and Arts, Music and Education

We seem to be living in a world of conflicting forces: education and entertainment, textual literacy and media literacy, religion and science, academic research and practical application, digital life and real life. Why must there be an antagonism between these things? In the famous words of Rodney King, "Can't we all just get along?"

There are those out there who propose we cannot. They say that religion happens in a temple and that science happens in a laboratory; that education makes learners sweat in a classroom while entertainment is something that makes us move and scream in stadiums; that the Roman alphabet cannot be combined with moving images to inspire and teach; and that academia is an ivory tower that has no relation whatsoever with the real world of people starved for learning on the outside.

But there is one man who dares to defy conventional conflict and bring peace between these worlds. His name is BT. 

I recently attended a rave called "Atlantis" held at the Shrine auditorium. The last time I had been to a rave was nearly ten years ago during my days of adolescent rebellion and escapism from my public high school that demanded my learning be measured by the bubbles filled in on my scantron. Based on the recent pressure of schools to focus on standardized test scores, I was not surprised to see the majority of attendees at this event, probably 2,000 or so, to be under the age of eighteen. The one reason I went to this party was a man by the name of Brian Transeau - producer, singer, scientist, and engineer. Brian Transeau is BT. I have been following him for many years after I heard his album "Movement in Still Life" in my friend's living room while staring intently at a ceiling fan with glow sticks taped to it. It was love at first listen.

I soon dove into the world of his work which includes "Dreaming" with Tori Amos, "I Love You" with Sarah McLachlan, "Tao of the Machine" with the Roots, and "Dirty Pop" with N' Sync. I was amazed at the diversity of sounds, the willingness to experiment with sound editing through granular synthesis, and his leap into scoring for films like "The Fast and the Furious" and "Monster" after years of working in electronic music with Dj Tiesto.

Somehow this man has been able to bring it all together: He djs and he sings. He does pop music and orchestral compositions. He let's novice journalists interview him in his home and at his shows to teach the next generation about programs, equipment, and technique, yet he still considers himself a student. He produces live in front of thousands, but he still wants to write academic papers about what was happening with music engineering programs and sampling in the 1990's. He received classical training from the Berklee School of Music in Boston and he scours www.khanacademy.com to learn more about math and science.

And religion and science? Well he brought it together for me as I listened to him spin for an hour and a half and - without the mention of a word from a holy text, or the passing of a purse for alms - I had a religious experience.

To respect and support an artist and engineer who defies the boundaries the world places on how we learn, I've made this blog post both text and media to attempt to share with you the amazing non-classroom learning experience I had that fateful night at a rave called Atlantis in Los Angeles.