Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
despite all of the predictions—positive and negative—about radio, television, slide
projector, and so on, the most likely generalization is that not much has happened in
education as a direct result of the introduction of earlier instantiations of new media.
One reason for the enormous range of opinion about the NDM is that
it is extremely difficult to secure significant data on these issues. The ideal
experiments—in which one would divide a polity in half, at random, expose one
half to the full range of the NDM, and make it impossible for the other half to
have any exposure whatsoever—cannot be conducted. The best hope is to triangu-
late from a number of sources and see what picture(s) gradually emerge. Studies
addressing youth engagements online have leaned toward the social at the expense
of considering cognitive or developmental implications (i.e., Blais, Craig, Pepler,
& Connolly, 2008; Gee, 2004; Jenkins, Purushotma, Clinton, Weigel, & Robison,
2006; Ito et al., 2008). Those who do address developmental issues (Greenfield,
2004; Schouten, Valkenburg, & Peter, 2007; Subrahmanyama, Greenfield, Kraut, &
Gross, 2001; Valkenburg & Peter, 2007) are largely descriptive and do not consider
ethical issues.
In our own research for The Developing Minds and Digital Media (DM2)
project
1
(a component of the GoodWork Project
2
at Harvard Project Zero), we
wanted to secure a more holistic record of change related to NDM. Our research
was driven by the basic question of whether NDM may, or may not, be impacting
the way youth think and behave. We focus in particular on changes to students'
“habits of mind,” the mental models which underlie and direct how they engage
with the world.
3
Methods
A fundamental challenge for this effort was how to determine what actually con-
stitutes a change. In order to assess gradations of difference over time, it was
necessary to capture data on two fronts: youth's habits in the past and youth's habits
1
The first phase of the Developing Minds and Digital Media (DM2) study was funded by a gener-
ous grant from Judy Dimon. The study investigated possible links between cognitive changes over
time and new digital media as manifested in a high school aged population. Literature reviews,
qualitative research, and data analyses were completed between June 1, 2007, and May 31, 2009.
We thank our colleagues at the GoodWork project, in particular Katie Davis, Wendy Fischman,
Andrea Flores, John Francis, Sam Gilbert, Jen Ryan and Margaret Rundle, with special thanks to
GoodWork Research Director Carrie James.
2
The GoodWork Project is a long-term, multi-site investigation examining the intersection of
excellence, engagement, and ethics at work.
3
Portions of this chapter are based on GoodWork unpublished works (Weigel, Davis, James, &
Gardner, 2009a; 2009b).
