Serendipitous Urban Encounters and Strategic Risk Taking in Informal Learning with

Digital Media Literacy

 

Renee HobbsHarrington School of Communication and Media

University of Rhode Island

International Communication Association, May 28, 2011

A university-school partnership program designed to strengthen children’s ability to think for themselves, communicate effectively, and use their powerful voices to contribute to the quality of life in their families, their schools, their communities, and the world.

By taking photographs, maps, making drawings and audio-recordings, children learn how to create media messages that express their views and experiences, examining cultural life by studying the complex and multivalenced relationships that are part of urban life.

Requires a well-structured activity with a clear audience and purpose

Requires some creative & independent thinking from learnersRequires careful monitoring of small groupsRequires the use of media & technology

Both teachers and school leaders have concerns about mayhem and loss of control that may interfere with digital media projects (Hofer & Swan, 2006). 

“unpredictable” and “exhausting”

Not clearly linked to standardsNot easy to assess student learning outcomesNot text-basedChildren are not sitting down at desks

Why? 

Why? A pedagogy of listening activates the search for meaning and understanding in the various social and physical environments of everyday life.

Listening to children’s theories enables educators to discover how children think, how they develop a relationship with reality, and how they begin to question it. 

--Carla Rinaldi, Reggio Emilia early childhood education expert

Research Composition

Feedback & Revision Distribution

Children did not use the Internet to gather information independently. Instead, the instructor selected child-appropriate content about homelessness for children to read, view and discuss. 

Empowerment and Protection are Embedded in Strategic Risk-Taking

Children learned that homelessness occurs when people lack jobs, housing, and health care, when they are victims of domestic violence, or have problems with alcoholism, substance abuse, or mental illness. 

Implications for Teaching and Learning Digital Media Literacy

Create an experiential learning environment Provide an appropriate balance of structure and freedom in learning activities

Be alert to unexpected and ambiguous moments Promote an atmosphere of trust and respect where learners feel comfortable asking all kinds of questions

Structure an inquiry on a topic unfamiliar to the instructor and model research practices with learners

Balance empowerment and protection with sensitivity to the developmental needs of learners

Engagement Promotes Civic Action

The pedagogy of listening enables children to discover the rush of delight that occurs when they experience the world, using the city and community as inspiration for authentic learning, civic engagement and communicative action.

Serendipitous Urban Encounters and Strategic Risk Taking in Informal Learning with

Digital Media Literacy

 

Renee HobbsHarrington School of Communication and Media

University of Rhode Island

Email: hobbs@uri.eduTwitter: reneehobbs