Skip to main content

Learning by Doing in the Digital Media Age

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
New Media and Learning in the 21st Century

Part of the book series: Education Innovation Series ((EDIN))

Abstract

There is a general agreement that adolescents are not only using a wide range of digital media but also developing a new culture of learning as they use it. Drawing on two separate studies on adolescent digital literacy practices, this chapter expounds on the commonly cited term, learning by doing. We argue that learning by doing is integral to the adolescents’ school and everyday lives. The arguments put forward in this chapter are drawn from a social view of literacy to understand adolescents’ use of digital media in and out of school. Using an ethnographic perspective to researching adolescents’ literacy practices, this chapter provides illustrative ethnographic accounts of how learning by doing is enacted in adolescents’ school and out-of-school literacy practices. We hope that the ethnographic accounts are able to inform educators on the emerging culture of learning in adolescents’ digital literacy practices and open up new vistas for redesigning learning environments that are more relevant to adolescents’ lifeworlds in the digital media age.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Barton, D., & Hamilton, M. (1998). Local literacies: Reading and writing in one community. London: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Barton, D., & Hamilton, M. (2000). Literacy practices. In D. Barton, M. Hamilton, & R. Ivanič (Eds.), Situated literacies: Reading and writing in context (pp. 7–15). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barton, D., Ivanič, R., Appleby, Y., Hodge, R., & Tusting, K. (2007). Literacy, lives and learning. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bowker, G. C., & Star, S. L. (1999). Sorting things out: Classification and its consequences. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, J. S. (2005). New learning environments for the 21st century. Retrieved from www.johnseelybrown.com/newlearning.pdf

  • Brown, J. S., & Adler, R. P. (2008). Minds on fire: Open education, the long tail, and learning 2.0. Retrieved from http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/minds-fire-open-education-long-tail-and-learning-20

  • Buckingham, D. (2008). Defining digital literacy: What do young people need to know about digital media? In C. Lankshear & M. Knobel (Eds.), Digital literacies: Concepts, policies and practices (pp. 73–89). New York: Peter Lang.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bulfin, S., & North, S. (2007). Negotiating digital literacy practices across school and home: Case studies of young people in Australia. Language and Education, 21(3), 247–263.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burn, A. (2009). Making new media: Creative production and digital literacies. New York: Peter Lang.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cope, B., & Kalantzis, M. (2000). Multiliteracies: Literacy learning and the design of social futures. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dowdall, C. (2009). Masters and critics: Children as producers of online digital texts. In V. Carrington & M. Robinson (Eds.), Digital literacies: Social learning and classroom practices (pp. 43–61). London: Sage.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Emerson, R. M. (2007). Working with ‘key incidents’. In R. Goldman, R. Pea, B. Barron, & S. J. Denny (Eds.), Video research in the learning sciences (pp. 457–472). Mahwah: Lawrence.

    Google Scholar 

  • Everett, A. (2003). Digitextuality and click theory: Theses on convergence media in the digital age. In A. Everett & J. T. Caldwell (Eds.), New media: Theories and practices of digitextuality (pp. 3–31). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gee, J. P. (2003). What video games have to teach us about learning and literacy. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gee, J. P. (2004). Situated language and learning: A critique of traditional schooling. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gee, J. P. (2008). Social linguistics and literacies: Ideology in discourses (3rd ed.). Oxon: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Green, J., & Dixon, C. (2008). Classroom interaction, situated learning. In M. Martin-Jones, A.-M. de Mejia, & N. H. Hornberger (Eds.), Encyclopaedia of language and education (Discourse and education 2nd ed., Vol. 3, pp. 3–14). New York: Springer Science+Business Media LLC.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenhow, C., & Robelia, B. (2009). Old communication, new literacies: Social network sites as social learning resources. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 14, 1130–1161.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heath, S. B., Street, B. V., & Mills, M. (2008). Ethnography: Approaches to language and literacy research. New York: Teachers College Press/The National Conference on Research in Language and Literacy.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ito, M., Horst, H., Bittanti, M., Boyd, D., Herr-Stephenson, B., Lange, P. G., Pascoe, C. J., Robinson, L., Baumer, S., Cody, R., Mahendran, D., Martínez, K., Perkel, D., Sims, C., & Tripp, L. (2008). White paper – Living and learning with new media: Summary of findings from the Digital Youth Project. Chicago: The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jacobson, M. J., So, H.-J., & Teo, T. (2007). Teachers’ beliefs, leadership, and technology use in Singapore schools: Executive summary of project findings. Singapore: National Institute of Education.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jacobson, M. J., So, H.-J., Teo, T., Lee, J., Pathak, S., & Lossman, H. (2010). Epistemology and learning: Impact on pedagogical practices and technology use in Singapore schools. Computers & Education, 55, 1694–1706.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jenkins, H. (2007). Confronting the challenges of participatory culture: Media education for the 21st century. Retrieved from http://digitallearning.macfound.org/atf/cf/%7B7E45C7E0-A3E0-4B89-AC9C-E807E1B0AE4E%7D/JENKINS_WHITE_PAPER.PDF

  • Kim, B. (2010). Note on game-integrated curriculum (Proposal). Singapore: National Institute of Education.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kim, B., Tan, L., & Kim, M. S. (2013). The affordances of informant design in educational game development. International Journal of Arts and Technology (IJART), 6(3), 215–228.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • King, J. R., & O’Brien, D. G. (2002). Adolescents’ multiliteracies and their teachers’ needs to know: Toward a digital detente. In D. E. Alvermann (Ed.), Adolescents and literacies in a digital world (pp. 40–50). New York: Peter Lang.

    Google Scholar 

  • Knobel, M. (1999). Everyday literacies: Students, discourse, and social practice. New York: Peter Lang.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kress, G., & Street, B. (2006). Foreword. In K. Pahl & J. Rowsell (Eds.), Travel notes from the new literacy studies: Case studies in practice (pp. vii–x). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lankshear, C., & Knobel, M. (2003). New literacies: Changing knowledge and classroom learning. Berkshire: Open University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lankshear, C., & Knobel, M. (2006). New literacies: Everyday practices and classroom learning. Berkshire: Open University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lankshear, C., & Knobel, M. (2007). Sampling the “new” in new literacies. In M. Knobel & C. Lankshear (Eds.), A new literacies sampler (pp. 1–24). New York: Peter Lang.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lankshear, C., & Knobel, M. (2010). DIY media: Creating, sharing and learning with new technologies. New York: Peter Lang.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Lim, C. P. (2006). Supporting strategies for effective integration of ICT in schools. In The science and art of integrating ICT in Singapore schools (pp. 85–98). Singapore: iT21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lister, M., Dovey, J., Giddings, S., Grant, I., & Kelly, K. (2009). New media: A critical introduction (2nd ed.). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Luke, A. (2002). What happens to literacies old and new when they’re turned into policy. In D. E. Alvermann (Ed.), Adolescents and literacies in a digital world (pp. 186–203). New York: Peter Lang.

    Google Scholar 

  • Manovich, L. (2001). The language of new media. Cambridge, MA: The Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Reily, T. (2005). What is Web 2.0? Retrieved from http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/30/what-is-web-20.html

  • Papen, U. (2005). Adult literacy as social practice. London: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Reid, M., Burn, A., & Parker, D. (2002). Evaluation report of the BECTa Digital Video Pilot Project. Retrieved from http://partners.becta.org.uk/page_documents/research/dvreport_241002.pdf

  • Sefton-Green, J. (2004). Literature review in informal learning with technology outside school. Retrieved from Futurelab: http://www.futurelab.org.uk/resources/documents/lit_reviews/Informal_Learning_Review.pdf

  • Sefton-Green, J. (2005). Timelines, timeframes and special effects: Software and creative media production. Education, Communication & Information, 5(1), 99–110.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Street, B. (2005). Introduction: New literacy studies and literacies across educational contexts. In B. Street (Ed.), Literacies across educational contexts: Mediating learning and teaching (pp. 1–21). Philadelphia: Caslon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tan, L. (2013). Production-on-the-go practice: Storyboarding as a retrospective and redundant literacy activity. Learning, Media and Technology, 38(1), 86–101. doi:10.1080/17439884.2011.638928.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tan, L., & Guo, L. (2009). From print to critical multimedia literacy: One teacher’s foray into new literacies practices. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 53(4), 315–324.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lynde Tan .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2015 Springer Science+Business Media Singapore

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Tan, L., Kim, B. (2015). Learning by Doing in the Digital Media Age. In: Lin, TB., Chen, V., Chai, C. (eds) New Media and Learning in the 21st Century. Education Innovation Series. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-326-2_12

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics