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Do today's young people think differently? Does their ubiquitous use of digital media to work,
create, socialize, and play profoundly shape the way they develop? And if so, how? These
are some of the questions guiding the research of the Developing Minds and Digital Media
(DM2) project. Working closely with our fellow colleagues in the GoodWork project, we are
investigating the intersection of child development and new digital media (NDM) as they
relate to how children and young adults think and relate to others. The project synthesizes the leading theories of cognitive development (Piaget, Vygotsky, Bruner,
Erikson), education and media studies (Turkle, Papert, Jenkins), and empirical findings about young people’s
digital media engagement.
To better understand changes in young people over time related to digital media, DM2
researchers administered in-depth qualitative interviews and complementary surveys with forty
outstanding and experienced educators in the greater Boston area. The project is currently
synthesizing and analyzing the data from these interviews, and expects to release its first
publication by fall 2009.
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