In a couple of weeks (March 14-16) I’ll be heading to Chicago for the annual Digital Media and Learning Conference organized by the DML Research Hub. The theme this year is “Democratic Futures: Mobilizing Voices, and Remixing Youth Participation”.
There has been a longstanding narrative of youth political apathy and disengagement from democratic life. As the currents of social, political, financial, and global change intensify, what is the future of participatory democracy, youth activism, and civic and political education? How are the practices and forms of participatory democracy evolving in the age of social, digital, and mobile media?
So many good talks, and I think a few of my favorites overlap unfortunately. Anyhow, here are some I’m especially looking forward to:
ChicagoQuest Curriculum Design Jam
“In this workshop, players will be taught the different phases of our curriculum design process. They will form small teams to compete against other teams in a guided challenge to design at each of the “levels” of the curriculum design process, both experiencing and designing CQ-style game-like learning.”
Seems that I’ve been mentioning the Quest Schools in every post at this point…
Games, Learning and the Future of Assessment
“The development of game-based assessments to support the learning of domain-based knowledge and skills.” Very excited for this one.
Teen Design Days: Promoting Youth Civic Engagement through Design Thinking
“Drawing on design concepts and a distinct information school perspective, we will engage workshop participants in activities associated with the Teen Design Day Methodology.”
Designing with Teachers: Participatory Approaches to Professional Development in Education
“The panelists will address the values identified by this working group as key elements of participatory PD: participation, not indoctrination; exploration, not prescription; contextualization, not abstraction; iteration, not repetition.”
Social Networks as Educational Spaces: Exploring Youth Opportunities for Connected Learning
“In what ways are social networks being used to facilitate and support connected learning? This panel presentation explores this question by highlighting the educational benefits and challenges of four different networked spaces across local and global contexts and formal and informal learning environments.”
DML Cafe – Sessions I & II
“The DML Cafe is an informal place for you to share your ideas.” I think this means there are cool people at tables.