Mimi Ito: Kids' Digital Media Literacy Is Important

Cultural Anthropologist, Mimi Ito, gives us an excellent summary of just why it is important to engage children with digital media from elementary school onwards. It goes for 7 minutes. You should watch it. She asks at the beginning:

So, my question is this: Why do we assume that kids' socializing and play is not a site of learning? And, on the flip side: Why do we assume that schools can't have a spirit of entertainment and play as part of what they are doing?

It is great to see someone asking the "why" question and challenging our core assumptions about education - how it should be and what it should be like, especially when it is made off the back of a solid 3 year study that engages and talks with children and students about how they learn and their experiences.

(via dmlcentral.net)