Presentation from 2.24.12.

1. Youth Access:
Teaching & Learning in the 21st Century
A New Approach to 21st Century Skills
Nettrice R. Gaskins, Digital Media Ph.D. Candidate, Georgia Tech

2. What is 21st century learning?
These five competencies work
together in a spiral of
empowerment, supporting
people’s active participation
in lifelong learning through
the processes of both
consuming and creating
messages. This approach is
consistent with constructivist
education – i.e. learning
through play (Jean Piaget).

3. Essential Competencies of Digital and Media Literacy
1. ACCESS Finding and using media and technology tools skillfully and
sharing appropriate and relevant information with others
2. ANALYZE & EVALUATE Comprehending messages and using critical
thinking to analyze message quality, veracity, credibility, and point of
view, while considering potential effects or consequences of messages
3. CREATE Composing or generating content using creativity and
con-fidence in self-expression, with awareness of purpose, audience, and
composition techniques
4. REFLECT Applying social responsibility and ethical principles to one’s
own identity and lived experience, communication behavior and
conduct
5. ACT Working individually and collaboratively to share knowledge and
solve problems in the family, the workplace and the community, and
participating as a member of a community at local, regional,
national and international levels

4. Educators need new skills sets and master
new types of technology.
Facilitation
Flexibility
Comfort with Change
Commitment to Lifelong
Learning
Creating a Culture of
Inquiry
Resourcefulness

5. A new world (system) of artifacts.

6. Constructionism has 4 basic learning concepts
A. Learning by designing within a community: when projects are
meaningful or useful to young people and their communities)
B. Technological tools for learning: when technology is integrated
into sociocultural and technological manipulatives (artifacts)
C. Powerful ideas and wonderful ideas: when projects afford new
ways of thinking and making personal and epistemological
connections with other domains of knowledge (experimentation)
technology can become incubators of powerful ideas
D. Learning about learning with technology: documenting and
sharing successes and achievement
Teachers will need to learn how to manage and facilitate projects
that mediate directly between learners and both physical and
virtual objects. This fits a constructionist model where technology is
integrated with traditional learning activities and children create
for themselves new experiences and ways of thinking

7. The 21st century learning space
Participatory
Research Driven
Promotes Active Learning
Locally and Globally
Networked
Youth-Centered
Integrated and
Interdisciplinary

9. Youth voice and engagement
Hanging Out, Messing
Around & Geeking Out
Setting realistic goals
Having access to media of
all types
Exploring their issues
Considering audience
Avoiding imitation &
duplication

10. Youth Access Toolkit
A collection of resources
that are based on radical
constructionist concepts
Learning by designing within
a community
Technological tools for
learning
Powerful ideas and
wonderful ideas
Learning about learning
with technology

11. References
Ito, Mizuko. (2010). Hanging out, messing around, and geeking out :
kids living and learning with new media. The John D. and Catherine T.
MacArthur Foundation Series in Digital Media and Learning.
http://mitpress.mit.edu/books/full_pdfs/hanging_out.pdf
The Knight Commission. The Heritage of Digital and Media Literacy.
http://www.knightcomm.org/digital-and-media-literacy/the-heritage-
of-digital-and-media-literacy
Tatham-Maye, K. (2009). Constructionism wiki.
http://sites.wiki.ubc.ca/etec510/Constructionism
Presenter info:
Nettrice R. Gaskins
nettrice@gmail.com