Conference Report

The conference provided a great forum to learn about new organizations and initiatives and to re-examine the ways that a range of stakeholders are harnessing everything from locative games to virtual worlds in thought-provoking ways. One example, the Birmingham, AL-based education design firm, g8four, whose Changelab summer program uses challenge-based and project-driven learning environments XO laptops and the Scratch animation platform to help kids work with local leaders to problem solve around issues in their local communities. Another example is STARTL, a start-up incubator and accelerator that connects designers of digital innovative learning tools and products with entrepreneurs, investors and foundations.

Q2L's Executive Director of Research, Robert Torres, presented recent field notes on a specific group of young people who often skipped school in order to frequent make-shift computer cafes in their neighborhood. Identifying these “spots” as a vital learning node for the group, Robert found that the kids were socializing, honing key digital media skills as well as learning from and teaching one another. Also present were the Institute of Play’s Being Me collaborators, Chicago's Digital Youth Network (DYN), who is developing another instance of their customized online social learning platform, iRemix World in collaboration with the Social Science Research Council's Digital Media and Learning Program. This new project, the New Youth City Learning Network, is a consortium of NYC-based institutions working collaboratively to create new youth-focused networks and to design interdisciplinary, interactive and mobile-ready learning activities to be piloted this summer.

An action and idea-packed few days, the conference provided a snapshot of current initiatives and mapped real and theoretical approaches to the unexplored territories where participation, learning and new audiences might meet.