Using Working Examples to Bridge Research and Practice with Digital Media and Learning

This panel joins K-12 and higher education researchers and practitioners demonstrating “working examples” as a new form of scholarship informing research and practice. Together their presentations illustrate the successes and failures of current research-based digital media initiatives in school. Drawing on theory, and grounded in concrete instances, authentic examples are presented as a means of creating an interdisciplinary “participatory culture” (Jenkins et al., 2006) around digital media and learning (DMAL). Revealing, and then discussing, the complicated task of moving from research to practice with DMAL opportunities proposes a collaborative approach serving to further expertise. Recognizing the changing definition of literacy, fueled by practices with technology, necessitates rethinking traditional beliefs around schooling and scholarship serves as the backdrop for this conversation.