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Hi all, I just received the following notice about the Digital Youth Project from one of the participants. Good stuff. Nancy -- ------ Forwarded Message Subject: Report by the Digital Youth Project released We are happy to announce the online release of the findings from our three-year Digital Youth project (http://digitalyouth.ischool.berkeley.edu ). All of the researchers who have worked on this project will be writing up individual publications, but this report represents a synthesis of the findings across the 22 different case studies. It has been over three years in the making, and is the result of a truly collaborative effort with 28 researchers and research collaborators. This project is part of the MacArthur Foundation Digital Media and Learning initiative. http://digitallearning.macfound.org. You can find all the details in the documents linked below, and a summary of our report below. Two-page summary of report: http://digitalyouth.ischool.berkeley.edu/files/report/digitalyouth-TwoPageSu mmary.pdf White paper: http://digitalyouth.ischool.berkeley.edu/files/report/digitalyouth-WhitePape r.pdf Full report: http://digitalyouth.ischool.berkeley.edu/report Press release and video: http://digitallearning.macfound.org/ethnography -------- RESEARCH SUMMARY Over three years, Mimi Ito and her 28-person research team interviewed over 800 youth and young adults and conducted over 5000 hours of online observations as part of the most extensive U.S. study of youth media use to date. They found that social network sites, online games, video-sharing sites, and gadgets such as iPods and mobile phones are now fixtures of youth culture. The research finds today's youth may be coming of age and struggling for autonomy and identity amid new worlds for communication, friendship, play, and self-expression. Many adults worry that children are wasting time online, texting, or playing video games. The researchers explain why youth find these activities compelling and important. The digital world is creating new opportunities for youth to grapple with social norms, explore interests, develop technical skills, and experiment with new forms of self-expression. These activities have captured teens' attention because they provide avenues for extending social worlds, self-directed learning, and independence. MAJOR FINDINGS - Youth use online media to extend friendships and interests. - Most youth use online networks to extend the friendships that they navigate in the familiar contexts of school, religious organizations, sports, and other local activities. They can be always "on," in constant contact with their friends through private communications like instant messaging or mobile phones, as well as in public ways through social network sitessuch as MySpace and Facebook. With these "friendship-driven" practices, youth are almost always associating with people they already know in their offline lives. The majority of youth use new media to "hang out" and extend existing friendships in these ways. A smaller number of youth also use the online world to explore interests and find information that goes beyond what they have access to at school or in their local community. Online groups enable youth to connect to peers who share specialized and niche interests of various kinds, whether that is online gaming, creative writing, video editing, or other artistic ------ End of Forwarded Message Nancy Willard, M.S., J.D. Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use http://csriu.org http://cyberbully.org http://cyber-safe-kids.com http://csriu.wordpress.com nwillard@csriu.org Cyberbullying and Cyberthreats: Responding to the Challenge of Online Social Aggression, Threats, and Distress (Research Press) Cyber-Safe Kids, Cyber-Savvy Teens: Helping Young People Learn to Use the Internet Safely and Responsibly (Jossey-Bass) -------------------------------------------------------------------- Please note: All LM_NET postings are protected by copyright law. You can prevent most e-mail filters from deleting LM_NET postings by adding LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU to your e-mail address book. To change your LM_NET status, e-mail to: listserv@listserv.syr.edu In the message write EITHER: 1) SIGNOFF LM_NET 2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL 3) SET LM_NET MAIL 4) SET LM_NET DIGEST * Allow for confirmation. * LM_NET Help & Information: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/ * LM_NET Archive: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/archive/ * EL-Announce with LM_NET Select: http://lm-net.info/ * LM_NET Supporters: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/ven.html * LM_NET Wiki: http://lmnet.wikispaces.com/ --------------------------------------------------------------------