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Barry Joseph Part of New Series on Digital Media and Learning

New York, NY, January 8, 2008 – Global Kids’ Online Leadership Program Director Barry Joseph investigates Global Kids’ approach to youth education through online gaming as part of a new six-volume series that examines the effect of digital media on how young people learn, play, socialize, and participate in civic life. Published by the MIT Press, the series is supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and is designed to provide an intellectual framework for the emerging field of digital media and learning.

In the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning, Joseph addresses how to reconcile two different perspectives on media (media is dangerous; media is empowering) within a youth development model as a vehicle for describing an application of a games-based systems approach. Joseph has been with Global Kids since 2000, and has developed numerous innovative programs such as youth-led online dialogues, video games as a form of youth media, and educational potential of virtual worlds. He also serves on the steering committee of the MacArthur Foundation’s Digital Media and Learning initiative.

“The more educators and policy makers understand the importance of treating games as a form of youth media, the more prepared today’s youth will be for the networked education and globalized workplaces of tomorrow,” Joseph said.

Joseph is one of 56 authors selected through a competitive application process. Each author’s contribution addresses one of six issues facing young people in the digital age, which correspond to a volume in the series. Each volume was edited by an individual or team of experts on the subject selected by an advisory panel of leading scholars and practitioners in the field. Joseph’s article is part of the volume entitled “Civic Life Online: Learning How Digital Media Can Engage Youth.” Other volume topics include:

•    Digital Media, Youth and Credibility
•    The Ecology of Games
•    Youth, Identity, and Digital Media
•    Digital Youth, Innovation, and the Unexpected
•    Learning Race and Ethnicity

The series is part of a $50 million initiative supported by the MacArthur Foundation that is gathering evidence about the impact of digital media on young people’s learning and what it means for education. The initiative is marshaling what is already known about the field and seeding innovation for continued growth.

“Building an evidence base about the impact of digital media on young people’s learning is critical for developing educational environments and social institutions that can meet the needs of this and future generations,” said Jonathan Fanton, president of the MacArthur Foundation. “The series plays an important role by providing an intellectual framework for researchers and practitioners in the field.”

The series marks the launch of the new International Journal of Learning and Media. The new journal will continue exploring the effects of digital media on young people. It is supported by the MacArthur Foundation and will be published by MIT Press.

Beginning on December 12, 2007, all books in the MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning will be available in bookstores and online for download at http://mitpress.mit.edu/dml

About the MacArthur Foundation
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is a private, independent grantmaking institution helping to build a more just and sustainable world. Through the support it provides, the Foundation fosters the development of knowledge, nurtures individual creativity, strengthens institutions, helps improve public policy, and provides information to the public, primarily through support for public interest media. With assets of more than $6.4 billion, the Foundation makes approximately $260 million in grants annually. More information is available at www.macfound.org or www.digitallearning.macfound.org.

About Global Kids
Founded in 1989, Global Kids’ mission is to transform urban youth into successful students and global and community leaders by engaging them in socially dynamic, content-rich learning experiences. Through its leadership development and academic enrichment programs, Global Kids educates youth about critical international and domestic issues and promotes their engagement in civic life and the democratic process. Through professional development initiatives, Global Kids provides educators with strategies for integrating experiential learning methods and international issues into urban classrooms. Over 95% percent of the high school seniors who participate in GK’s leadership program graduate from high school.