Children's Learning in a Digital World

Children's Learning in a Digital World presents exciting and challenging new ideas from international scholars on the impact of computers, the Internet, and video games on children's learning.

• Features exciting new research which reassesses the threats posed by technology to the social, emotional, and physical development of children
• Examines the impact of technology in both formal and informal learning contexts, covering a range of technologies relevant to students and researchers, as well as professional educators
• Presents key information on the social and cultural issues that affect technology use, in addition to the impact on children’s learning
• Includes research from an international range of contributors

Foreword: Seven Criteria for Investigating Children’s Learning in a Digital World: Richard E. Mayer (University of California).

Part I: Informal Learning with Technologies: Opportunities and Challenges:.

Introduction to informal learning with technologies: Opportunities and challenges: Teena Willoughby (Brock University) and Eileen Wood (Wilfred Laurier University).

1. Media literacy: Who needs it?: Henry Jenkins (MIT).

2. Good video games, the human mind, and good learning: James Paul Gee (University of Wisconsin-Madison).

3. How and what do video games teach?: Edward L. Swing (Iowa State University) and Craig A. Anderson (Iowa State University).

4. Videogame addiction: Fact or fiction: Mark Griffiths (Nottingham Trent University).

5. Meeting the needs of the vulnerable learner: The role of the teacher in bridging the gap between informal and formal learning using digital technologies: Laurence Peters (Temple University).

Part II: Formal Learning with Technologies: Opportunities and Challenges:.

Introduction to formal learning with technologies: Exploring the role of digital technologies: Teena Willoughby (Brock University), Bowen Hui (University of Toronto) and Eileen Wood (Wilfred Laurier University).

6. Using technology to assist children learning to read and write: Philip Abrami (Corncordia University), Robert Savage (McGill University), Anne Wade (Concordia University), Geoffrey Hipps (Concordia University) & Monica Lopez (Concordia University).

7. Tools for learning in an information society: John Nesbit (Simon Fraser University) & Philip Winne (Simon Fraser University).

8. Virtual playgrounds: Children’s multi-user virtual environments for playing and learning with science: Yasmin Kafai (UCLA) & Michael Giang (UCLA).

9. Can students re-invent fundamental scientific principles: Evaluating the promise of new-media literacies: Andy diSessa (University of California, Berkeley).

10. Domain knowledge and learning from the Internet: Malinda Desjarlais (Brock University), Teena Willoughby (Brock University), and Eileen Wood (Wilfred Laurier University).

11. The integration of computer technology in the classroom: Julie Mueller (Wilfred Laurier University), Eileen Wood (Wilfred Laurier University) and Teena Willoughby (Brock University).

Children’s learning in a digital world: A summary and looking ahead: Eileen Wood (Wilfred Laurier University) and Teena Willoughby (Brock University).

Index

“I found this volume to be easily accessible, and broad in scope.” (Metapsychology, November 2008)

Teena Willoughby is Professor of Child and Youth Studies at Brock University, and Director of their Research Institute for Youth Studies. She is the winner of Brock's Research Award for 2003-5, and of the Book of the Year Award for Shaffer, Wood, & Willoughby; Developmental Psychology: Childhood and Adolescence, First Canadian Edition (2002).

Eileen Wood is Professor in the Department of Psychology, Wilfrid Laurier University. She is winner of the Book of the Year Award for Shaffer, Wood, & Willoughby; Developmental psychology: Childhood and Adolescence, First Canadian Edition (2002) and for The World Of Psychology (Third Canadian Edition).

"Playing computer video games can be just what you need to get a job." Could such a statement ever be true? Computer games, software, and networking technologies are often viewed as threats to the social, emotional, and physical well being and development of children. However, such beliefs are often unfounded.

This new collection of research presents a range of research on topics from the impact of ultra-violent video games on children and youth who participate in entertainment violence, to the benefits these technologies have to offer. Video games, computers, and the Internet can provide opportunities for problem solving, creativity, and autonomy, and in particular, carefully constructed software can offer an alternative to traditional classroom learning.

Children's Learning in a Digital World is one of the first books to examine the impact of computers in both formal or school learning environments and informal learning contexts. It presents exciting and challenging new ideas from international scholars on the impact of computers, the Internet, and video games on children's learning, as well as the social and cultural issues that affect technology use.

"This well-written book provides valuable resources for those who require a deeper understanding of the impact of computer-based software on children’s learning. The authors present current strategies and research that will be useful to both practitioners and to those who are interested in a more theoretical foundation."
–Jim Kerr, Brock University