Our
Vision
Over the last decade, PLAY
has developed the following principles that undergird everything
we do:
The
transformative power of learning lies in making connections, not
merely accessing information. Although the computer
hardware and software industries lead the masses to believe that
we have reached the Information Age, the reality is that we have
been in the Information Age since the invention of the telegraph.
However, the exponential increase in the amount of information available
in our society does place additional emphasis on the amount of information
students should access and even memorize. In the “classroom of the
future,” the focus of education should be making connections—thinking
through issues and solving real social, political and even theoretical
problems. Video conferencing technologies, for example, support
making global connections and are ideal components of all classrooms
of the future. However, communities of inquiry require more than
learning at a distance; they also involve the empathetic and sympathetic
understanding unique to face-to-face interaction and collaboration
among students. Successful learning requires students, teachers
and administrators to make connections within curricula via hands-on
experiences with multiple forms of media and technology.
Technological
literacy efforts must be anchored by principles of media literacy.
The focus of the latter is the tool, whereas the former focuses
on understanding a system of meaning. To this end, we firmly believe
that the skills that young people need to take advantage of new
media are the abilities to know how to access information, how to
choose which information is important and credible, how to construct
meaning out of a variety of information resources and then present
that information in a way that effectively communicates what they
have learned. Thus, media literacy skills do not belong to one particular
technology. Educational technologies must therefore be embedded
throughout teacher education and professional development programs
and not merely added as a single course requirement. Technology
is a thread that inextricably runs through each content area, standard
and curricular framework. Certainly, the bureaucratic constraints
of schooling require that in some cases technology be assessed as
a separate entity. However, it is essential that as teacher educators
we understand that the (media) form of curriculum cannot be separated
from its content. That is, the instructional medium itself shapes
the curricular message.
Learning
is neither confined by space nor time. Ironically, education
exists beyond the four walls of the classroom and yet we confine
schooling to a square-footage of brick and mortar space. Digital
technologies enable learning to transcend local boundaries and foster
global encounters. At the same time, however, tensions lie in the
necessity of creating classroom compartments that are distinctively
labeled as a classroom, a conference room, or
a computing laboratory when the pedagogical functions should
dictate the nature of the learning space. In many an academic realm
learning materials can be accessed 24/7. Although generally viewed
as a benefit of educational technology, the ability to access information
at a global level at any time from (at least theoretically) any
place also creates silent expectations that may generate challenges
and even problems for education and schooling.
The
power of educational technology lies in its cultural power to transform
teaching and learning at global levels. Despite all
the wiring, equipment and “mediation” of a classroom or building,
innovative teaching cannot happen without a pedagogical paradigm
shift. Currently, schooling is focused on the access and retention
of information. What requires equal, if not more, attention are
ways in which learners can actively analyze, evaluate, produce and
communicate information. Technological developments afford powerful,
mobile devices that are capable of instantaneous communication as
well as storing large amounts of data. But how will these tools
empower learners to do new things? What is the function of the face-to-face
classroom environment? What is the role of the teacher? Our answers
to these questions should shape as well as reflect how schools aredesigned,
configured and equipped. We argue that the central importance of
new(er) digital technologies are their potential to educate about
the art and science of teaching—that is, pedagogy.
Education
requires multi-faceted learning experiences that are grounded in
access, evaluation, production and communication across multiple
media forms using a variety of technologies in meaningful and socially
responsible ways. We believe the ultimate result of
education should be independent thinking, critical mindedness, and
literacy across all forms of media and technology. Learning must
therefore be conceived as more than just accessing information and
more about making connections across ideas and peoples for the larger
purpose of democratizing the classroom. This requires learners to
interact, socialize, and transform curriculum. Sadly, schools remain
highly bureaucratic structures that operate according to top-down
management, robbing education of its authenticity and discursive
potential. If nothing else, new technologies compel educators and
policymakers to rethink the purposes of the traditional face-to-face
classroom setting while contemplating the possibilities and pitfalls
of a Web 2.0 learning environment.
A
top educational priority must be the systemic, careful and compassionate
uses of technology within inner city and urban communities.
We are especially interested in those environments where educational
technology, if leveraged wisely, can empower learners to combat
social injustice. To this end, we are less concerned with technology
as a separate subject area (as many state curriculum standards outline)
and more concerned with uncovering the political, economic and cultural
biases that are circulated throughout the daily lives of at-risk
learners and vulnerable populations of students. To this end, PLAY
investigates the potential and possible outcomes of using technologies
for urban educational renewal—to mentor young people, strengthen
public schooling, nurture families, and upbuild communities.
We invite you to catch our vision. Come PLAY
with us.
--Vanessa
Domine, Ph.D., Executive Director
vanessa.domine@kidsplay.org
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