Discussion of the significance of digital communication on culture and the economy
Friedman, T.L. (2005/2007) The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century. New York:Picador.
Jenkins, H. (2006). Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. New York: New York University Press.
Websites:
Britannica Forum on Teaching with Web 2.0. Essays and responses from leaders in K-16 education, including proponents and skeptics of using technology in teaching.Blogs by Leading Thinkers in Education and Technology
The Pew Project on Internet and American Life includes excellent technical reports on project investing how young people use digital media and social networking, for learning and for connecting with others.
Educause: Transforming Education Through Educational Technology is updated regularly with technical and research reports, many from conferences across the country. The emphasis is mainly on higher ed, but the resources are very applicable to K-12.
Classroom 2.0 is a comprehensive social network (on Ning) of K-16 educators exploring uses of web 2.0 tools in teaching. There are multiple discussion forums, groups, media, and regular webinars on topics of interest to educators. The "Big Names" in K-12 ed tech are all here.
Larry Lessing is doing the leading work on the need for for rethinking copyright to ensure that the creative potential of new digital media is preserved and nurtured. He's working across the academic and policy levels. I've heard good things about but haven't read his books.
edublogs.com written by Ewan McIntosh, a Scottish educator who consults globally on "participative media, education and the future". He knows about new tools before anyone else and in writing about schools in other places, demonstrates how far behind many U.S. schools are.
The Thinking Stick by Jeff Utecht, and international educator who recently was appointed as educational consultant for Wetpaint.
Digital Natives is a project coordinated out of the Harvard Law School to investigate how kids "born digital" navigate information and education. You can also link here to an excellent wiki.
Apophenia, the blog of danah boyd, is cited often in the press as The source for analysis of how young people use social networks and other digital tools in identity construction, friendship, and information analysis.
Webblog.ed by Will Richardson is one of the best places to find essays and discussion about how web 2.0 tools can potentially fundamentally change the nature of teaching and learning. Will is an international consultant to schools and a great writer.
Engaged Youth: Civic Learning On-Line, a project of the Center for Communication and Civic Engagement on the Seattle campus investigates how digital tools can be utilized to support citizenship and democratic engagement among youth.
Michael Wesch's blog Digital Ethnography expands on ideas that he presented in the "Portal to Digital Media" video that we viewed the first week.
