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Danielle Herro

Sustainable Innovations: Bringing Digital Media and Emerging Technologies to the Classroom

Because traditional schools struggle to effec-

tively understand, implement, and sustain digital

learning initiatives, innovating with digital media

in classrooms is a difficult endeavor. Prac-

titioners need examples to better understand

conditions necessary to move forward with

digital media and learning (DML) in schools.

This article provides examples and supports

research proposing that context and culture

matter when innovating in schools. Three class-

room cases using Web 2.0, app development, and

game design are discussed, offering educators a

pathway to consider similar pedagogical and

participatory approaches to foster learning.

Classroom contexts, teachers’ perspectives, dis-

trict supports, technical requirements, and

scalability are highlighted. The examples suggest

innovative DML initiatives can flourish within

schools when participants are mindful of context

and when a participatory culture is supported

(Jenkins, Clinton, Purushotma, Robison, &

Weigel, 2006).

INNOVATION WITH digital media to promotelearning in schools is fraught with challenges. Prohibitive policies, inadequate infrastructure,

curriculum requirements, and insufficient pro-

fessional development limit teacher and student

digital media and learning (DML) experiences

(Collins & Halverson, 2009). The structure of

schooling with teacher-directed, inflexible blocks

of time runs counter to openly networked,

participatory practices enabled by digital media

(Fahser-Herro & Steinkuehler, 2009). Limited

support and embedded, industrial-age practices

like standardized instruction taught in discrete

chunks of time, common to schools, thwart

innovation and change (Cuban, 2001; Ertmer,

2005; Shaffer, 2006).

Research and models toward sustainable

DML practices suggest pathways for scalable

Danielle Herro is an assistant professor of Digital

Media and Learning at Clemson University.

Correspondence should be addressed to Professor

Danielle Herro, Eugene T. Moore School of Education,

Clemson University, 205 Tillman Hall, Clemson, SC

29634. E-mail: [email protected].

Color versions of one or more of the figures in the

article can be found online at www.tandfonline.com/

htip.

Theory Into Practice, 54:117–127, 2015

Copyright q The College of Education and Human Ecology, The Ohio State University

ISSN: 0040-5841 print/1543-0421 online

DOI: 10.1080/00405841.2015.1010834

117

innovations that can happen in schools. The

Consortium for School Networking (2014)

engaged in MacArthur funded research selected

13 innovative school districts detailing policies,

practices, challenges, and successes using digital

media for learning. The resulting whitepaper

suggested that to scale technological innovation

educators must (a) consider the context of

innovations, and (b) make a commitment to

shift classroom culture. It argued that sustainable

innovations must be supported by broad commu-

nity participation, ranging from policy changes to

professional development and collaborative

partnerships (Chamberlain et al., 2013).

Context, or circumstances unique to each

classroom, must be accounted for when con-

sidering ways to innovate. Tightly prescribed

reform models are often ineffective, as they fail to

consider teachers’ daily classroom conditions.

“One-size-fits-all educational innovations do not

work because they ignore contextual factors that

determine an intervention’s efficacy in a particu-

lar local situation” (Clarke & Dede, 2009,

p. 353). To enact meaningful, scalable change,

schools must consider the operational context and

identify what works for them based on their needs

and environment. Coburn (2003, as cited in Clark

& Dede, 2009) proposed four interrelated

dimensions that encompass meaningful reform,

summarized as:

Depth: deep, consequential changes in

classroom practice and curriculum altering

teachers’ beliefs;

Sustainability: maintaining changes over time;

Spread: diffusing the innovation to other

classrooms and schools; [and]

Shift: districts, schools, and teachers assuming

ownership of the innovation spreading the

impact. (p. 354)

In a similar vein, Songer, Lee, and McDonald

(2003) discussed scaling innovation through an

approach using “maverick” teachers (p. 495).

They described how interested and technologi-

cally savvy teachers may be early adopters

(mavericks) who can customize innovation to fit

their needs without extensive guidance and

adequate support. However, to scale innovations

systemic support and the capacity to adapt the

innovation to the local context are necessary,

and this often requires assistance from other

teachers, district administrators, or local

universities.

Recognizing that context matters is an

important, first step in proposing, driving, and

sustaining innovation. It takes vision, planning,

support, and commitment considerate of the

local reality to reform beliefs and practices with

DML.

Culture plays another significant role in

transforming classrooms with digital media.

Learners of all ages now participate in technol-

ogy-mediated, social and cultural communities to

share, support, and refine expertise. Jenkins et al.

(2006) defined this participation as a “participa-

tory culture” which includes “relatively low

barriers to expression, strong support for creating

and sharing with one another, informal member-

ship in which experience is passed to novices, and

members believing their contributions matter”

(pp. 5–6).

This article presents three innovative class-

room cases offering students opportunities to

learn through Web 2.0 tools, apps, and games,

drawing on teacher perspectives to understand

sustainability. Classroom contexts, teachers’

perspectives, district-level supports, technical

requirements, and scalability are highlighted.

I offer a framework not for particular tools but,

instead, to promote sustainable practices through

broad pedagogical approaches and participation

in a supportive, visionary culture.

Two overarching ideas presented provide a

basis for this article: being mindful of context

(Clarke & Dede, 2009) and offering opportunities

for involvement in a participatory culture with

DML matters when innovating with digital media

in schools (Jenkins et al., 2006). The article

concludes by discussing the context and culture

common among the cases proposing what

teachers might do to foster innovation within

their classrooms.

Digital Media and Learning

118

Case 1: Integrating Web 2.0 Tools in a Social

Studies Curriculum

Classroom Context

This case includes 2 teachers, Jill and Barbara,

and 37 students in 2 eighth-grade suburban

classrooms participating in a 9-week technology-

laden social studies curriculum asking students to

explore various perspectives on a global topic.

Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and social bookmarks

facilitated topic investigation and discussion. The

curriculum was cowritten by the teachers and the

District’s Instructional Technology Administra-

tor (ITA). For 9 weeks, the ITA supported

teachers and students through curriculum revi-

sion, coteaching, and general classroom tasks.

Topics included global issues such as going

green, cloning, animal testing, war, healthcare

reform, and the death penalty. Learning objec-

tives targeted social studies standards, and were

aligned with district-sanctioned English language

arts and technology standards. Criteria sheets and

rubrics directed students and provided guidelines

for formative and summative assessments. Class

was conducted in 2 middle school computer labs,

and consisted of daily, 55-minute lessons.

Students could choose the elective course, with

75% of approximately 150 students across both

sites electing to enroll during an academic

quarter.

Teachers provided content on teaching blogs,

acted as guides or facilitators more often than

engaging in direct instruction, and allowed

students choice in content and aesthetics for

their media creation. Group decision-making and

content sharing were encouraged. Students

created blogs after researching the issue, and

presented evidence citing the pros and cons of the

controversy with images, polls, and hyperlinks to

support reasoning. A screenshot representing a

typical blog is shown in Figure 1.

Students further supported their viewpoints by

creating podcasts role-playing stakeholders such

as famous scientists debating animal testing in

a radio news show, interviewing professors

discussing the pros and cons of cloning, or a

game show featuring contestants answering

questions about “going green.”

Teacher Perspectives

In this case, both teachers believed that digital

tools shifted their role away from “teachers

modeling technology” to “teachers facilitating

learning.” Barbara said she moved beyond

teaching research (retrieval) on the Internet or

simply providing step-by-step instructions, to

being flexible with new technologies; Jill

believed her role shifted from teacher-directed

to teacher-facilitated technology instruction.

District Support

Two primary district-level provisions allowed

this curriculum to move forward. First, a DML

support group called the Tech Cabinet was

developed, consisting of the Director of Instruc-

tion, Network Manager, Instructional Technol-

ogy Administrator, Library Media Specialist and

teachers. The Tech Cabinet was charged with

supporting teachers’ integration of digital learn-

ing. For example, teachers wanting to integrate a

digital game into their curriculum proposed it

to the Tech Cabinet seeking technical support,

demonstrating curriculum alignment, and

suggesting professional development for others.

The Tech Cabinet ensured that necessary

decision-makers moved ideas forward.

In addition, policies were rewritten allowing

students to access typically blocked Internet sites,

in turn compelling technical services to open sites

required for topic exploration, e.g., Google

accounts, Wikipedia, and YouTube. At times,

this required informing or asking permission

of the School Board, parents, or community.

Rethinking policy was key in allowing techno-

logical innovation and then aligning practices

(Chamberlain et al., 2013, p. 7).

Technical Requirements

With the exception of adequate broadband to

download YouTube videos, technical require-

ments were minimal. Computer labs existed in

Herro Sustainable Innovations

119

each school and nominal bandwidth was required

to access digital tools. Social media and web sites

utilized included Google Docs, Blogger, Deli-

cious, Audacity, and Wikispaces. Twenty iPods

were purchased via reallocated district funds

(typically spent updating hardware) allowing

students to check out devices and peer-review

podcasts at home.

Scalability

To extend teaching and learning and promote

innovation, Jill and Barbara delivered content on

blogs, acted as facilitators more often than using

direct instruction, and allowed students creativity

and choice in content and aesthetics. Group

decision-making and content sharing was encour-

aged. In turn, students tremendously engaged in

the tasks, accessed tools from home and school,

and met expectations on criteria-aligned assign-

ments. Some students expanded their learning

outside of school, mixing music with Audacity or

creating personal blogs or podcasts.

The proposed pilot course was considered so

successful it was expanded the next year scaling

to six, versus four, sections at each school; the

classes filled to capacity. Furthermore, course

teachers immediately extended the tools and

learning to their other courses, integrating social

bookmarks, blogging, and podcasting units in

fifth-, sixth-, and seventh-grade classrooms. They

offered professional development and created

onsite, summer graduate courses for their

colleagues. Although the course eventually

became required, the District’s intention was to

embed the tools and teaching across curricular

areas making the elective course unnecessary.

Figure 1. Screenshot of Student-Created Blog.

Digital Media and Learning

120

Case 2: Supporting a Traditional Science

Curriculum With App Development

Classroom Context

Delaney has been teaching eighth-grade

science for 8 years in a mid-sized suburban,

Southern city. Beginning in 2013, Delaney

utilized MIT App Inventor (http://appinventor.

mit.edu/) to support a 4-week, 12-lesson fossil

unit in science. The approximately 25 students in

each of the three eighth-grade science classes in

which the unit was taught represented a range of

abilities and socio-economic backgrounds.

Students learned about fossils as part of a rock

unit informed by state science standards.

Essential questions guided research regarding

fossil formation, and students ultimately designed

a story-telling app demonstrating understanding

of their investigations. Apps were designed with

images, buttons, and text providing users with

answers to questions such as “How do fossils

form?” or “Where are fossils found?” or “What

are the different types of fossils?” At the end of

the 12 lessons, each student planned (via

storyboarding), designed, play-tested, and revised

an app. Figures 2 and 3 provide an example of a

student-created app.

Teacher Perceptions

Delaney discovered app creation while attend-

ing a 2-day workshop focused on MIT App

Inventor, hosted by a local university.

In conversations during planning sessions before

the unit, she expressed excitement over bringing

interest-based learning to her classroom citing

media use by her previous eighth-grade students

as motivating, social, and production-oriented.

Throughout the unit, Delaney reminded her

students that creating apps was novel; she

encouraged collaborative learning and made

changes and improvements as the unit

progressed.

Delaney believed that engaging in the unit

assisted students in thinking critically about the

content (fossils) while designing and solving

problem when creating apps. She thought it

provided a foundation for students to consider

courses or careers involving visual programming.

During the unit, Delaney created numerous

instructional materials supporting learning,

made revisions, and committed to reteach the

unit the following year in her classroom and other

District classrooms. She frequently commented

on being flexible and embracing change with

digital media.

Figure 2. Screenshot of Student’s App in Designer View Using MIT App Inventor. Used with permission.

Herro Sustainable Innovations

121

District Support

The school is part of a large county district

consisting of 83 schools. Technologically pro-

gressive by today’s standards, the district’s

students were encouraged to bring their own

devices, and the district adopted Google Apps for

Education and Edmodo (https://www.edmodo.

com/) across 18 middle schools and 14 high

schools. The district web page encouraged using

Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook for communi-

cation. Although Internet filtering was common,

the district allowed limited access or unblocks

educationally valuable web sites. Policies encour-

aged responsible use, and the district provided

technology coaches, extensive on-site pro-

fessional development, and workshops facilitat-

ing technology innovation. Its innovative culture

included supportive policies, a district commit-

ment to using social media, and teacher

resources.

Technical Requirements

Before implementing the curriculum, district

technicians downloaded MIT App Inventor on 28

school-owned laptop computers. An important

component of building an app is play-testing the

in-progress app, so the partnering university

purchased Android tablets, and technical support

ensured Wi-Fi connectivity between the laptops

and tablets.

Scalability

Delaney intended to scale the MIT App

Inventor unit to other students and classrooms:

(a) reteaching the unit to three classes during the

pilot; (b) offering afterschool workshops to

introduce her colleagues to App Inventor; and

(c) applying for a district-level technology

coaching position hoping to integrate app

creation in other middle school classrooms.

Case 3: A Game Design Curriculum for High

School Students

Classroom Context

In its first year, 174 students at a Midwestern

public high school completed an introductory

Figure 3. Student Coding in Blocks Editor View of MIT App Inventor. Used with permission.

Digital Media and Learning

122

gaming course designed for students to examine

the history, elements, purpose, and usefulness of

games. The half-credit elective course was

offered in 90-min or 45-min blocks for 9 and 18

weeks respectively. After studying the value of

games in business, military, science, healthcare,

and education, students collaboratively played

and designed games. Criteria and rubrics aligned

to technical education, computer science, digital

literacy, and technological skill proficiencies

determine student success. The instructor scaf-

folded learning in this media-rich course; Google

Apps, Daqri (http://www.daqri.com/), The Game

Crafter (https://www.thegamecrafter.com/),

Kodu (http://www.kodugamelab.com/), Scratch

(http://scratch.mit.edu/), and Augmented Reality

Interactive Storytelling (ARIS; http://arisgames.

org/) facilitated communication, problem-sol-

ving, and design work. Peer evaluation and

play-tester feedback guided modifications.

In each course, students had played, designed,

and peer-reviewed a variety of board, digital, and

mobile games. Although student achievement

was undeniably important in measuring success

within any curriculum, the District’s initial focus

was on piloting, revising, and sustaining game-

design and game-play opportunities.

Teacher Perspective

The teacher, James, considered himself a

gamer who understands the value of games to

encourage problem solving and creativity.

He began gaming in elementary school and

continues to investigate and play new games for

personal and educational use. His identity, his

vast experience, and his immersion in gaming

culture influenced his perspective. Throughout

the course, James noted that the appeal of games

encouraged students to produce high-quality

content, and he was pleased with their work.

His students designed a host of multiscreen,

multiplayer games (in Kodu), complex program-

ming (in Scratch), and intricately scripted and

detailed mobile games (in ARIS).

Students’ varying academic performance,

behaviors, scheduling, and technical require-

ments were James’ greatest challenges.

In addition to high-performing students, he

acknowledged that the courses drew a fair

number of students with attention deficit disorder,

mild autism, or behavioral issues. He addressed

the challenges by rethinking collaborative

groups, opening the lab at lunch and after school

to accommodate students needing additional

time, and asking school administrators to use

block scheduling for the course. Issues with

technical support remained an ongoing frustra-

tion especially when new gaming platforms were

introduced. Despite the challenges, James

believed that the course succeeded in teaching

students design, technical, critical thinking, and

collaborative skills.

District-Level Support

The gaming course was supported by a culture

intentionally built by the district 3 years prior to

curriculum implementation. Building the culture

entailed (a) policy changes to review, unblock,

and consider responsible use for all forms of

media; (b) on-site professional development and

graduate courses that discussed technology-

related research and trends; (c) community

involvement and communication with digital

media tools; and (d) directed efforts to pilot and

evaluate content-focused units with embedded

Web 2.0 tools and mobile devices. In all

likelihood, games, as part of formal curricula,

would not have been embraced without this

supportive culture. The district was clearly

committed to innovation demonstrated by their

vision, curriculum writing, and resource and

staffing allocation.

Technical Requirements

Because the course relied on inexpensive or

free web sites, videos, and platforms, start-up

costs, beyond the instructor salary and existing

computer lab, totaled less than $8,000. Initial

expenditures included game controllers, mobile

devices, board games, and game-making supplies

partially funded by a local computer company.

Upgrades or technological advancements in

gaming platforms, tools, or online spaces dictated

Herro Sustainable Innovations

123

technical changes, at times limiting game and

curricular options.

Scalability

After the first year, the district continued

expanding learning options by forming after-

school clubs where students built interest-based

games, develop apps, and make community

connections. For instance, a local museum

enlisted student-game designers to build an

augmented reality game for patrons examining

exhibit artifacts, and a public education foun-

dation provided funds for high school game-

designers to create Smartboard games for

younger students. After Minecraft (https://mine-

craft.net/) was introduced in a high school

afterschool club, the district extended the

learning to two other middle schools clubs, and

eventually integrated Minecraft within formal

curriculum.

Popular with staff members, community

members, and students, the course was con-

sidered a viable model to use games for learning,

and resulted in developing a second high school

game design course the next academic year.

Focusing on computational thinking practices

and sophisticated design environments, new

course units explore MIT App Inventor, Portal

2 (http://www.thinkwithportals.com/), and Unity

(http://unity3d.com/) as preparation for careers

involving design and systems thinking.

Understanding Context: What Might

Educators Do?

Undoubtedly, moving forward with social

media, app and game design in classrooms

requires forethought and presents challenges. The

teachers outlined in the first two cases were eager

to consider curricular innovation in their class-

rooms, but unskilled in the digital technologies

and integration methods they employed; admit-

tedly the gaming teacher in the third case was

more of a “maverick” (Songer et al., 2003) with a

gaming mindset and experience, but he lacked

resources to write and implement the curriculum.

All of the instances required district-level support

and forethought to match the teachers’ interest

and ability to expertise and resources. Supporting

their interests resulted in increased use and

customization of innovative digital tools for their

classrooms. Increased planning and professional

developed is particularly important for teachers

using highly innovative game or app design

platforms such as MIT App Inventor, Kodu, or

ARIS, which are novel in their use of visual

programming, game-like environments, or inte-

gration with mobile technologies.

The examples herein also demonstrate the

absolute necessity of teachers cognizant of what

might work in their particular setting, whether

tying the innovation to requisite standards,

embedding it within current curriculum, or

offering new courses. The teachers innovated in

ways suited for their particular situation; Jill and

Barbara were comfortable trying numerous Web

2.0 tools; Delaney focused on supporting her

science curriculum with one innovative tool; and

James had expertise and backing to create an

entirely new game-based curriculum using

available games and customizing instructional

materials. District-level entities like Tech Cabi-

net, instructional coaches, and availability of

digital resources further supported their work.

The cases suggest that teachers would benefit

from considering the following when moving

forward with classroom innovations:

1. Take advantage of available district sup-

ports such as instructional coaches and

professional development, as well as

sanctioned tools like Edmodo, Google

Apps for Education, or other digital

resources. Make use of the often available

and underutilized instructional and the

increasingly common onsite professional

development focused on integrating tech-

nology. Share best practices among col-

leagues to offer support to locate, create,

refine, or coteach innovative lessons. Many

school districts facilitate this by creating

online repositories with district-endorsed

available tools, easing technical or policy

issues.

Digital Media and Learning

124

2. Focus on addressing innovation within

particular classroom contexts; with thou-

sands of free and available digital

resources, it is impossible and unnecessary

to understand the affordances of every tool.

Excellent resources are provided online,

including award-winning sites such as

Kathy Schrock’s Guide to Everything

(http://www.schrockguide.net/), organiz-

ations devoted to helping teachers innovate

such as Edutopia (http://www.edutopia.

org/), or trusted educational blogs such as

Mindshift (http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/)

or The Tech Savvy Educator (http://www.

techsavvyed.net/). The sites provide

resources to assist in choosing appropriate

tools that fit with content. Although many

tools can be learned via YouTube videos or

exploration, it is important to note which

digital tools require extensive time or

professional learning before introducing

them to students.

3. Advocate for technical support and polices

allowing access to educationally relevant

sites. Many districts separate technical

support from instruction, resulting in a

lack of common understanding and shared

goals, which hinder instructional progress.

Work with school-level administrators via

informal conversations, ad hoc committees,

or formal “Tech Cabinet” entities as

outlined previously to accelerate innovation

faster and cohesively.

4. Embrace the ever-shifting features in digital

tools. Unlike standard software packages of

the past, frequently updated online tools are

the norm. Students quickly adapt to changes

after learning the basics of digital tools, and

teachers can learn from their students and

accept a mindset of adaptation.

Similar to other successful school districts, the

innovations in these cases spread to other

classrooms and clubs, or extended curricular

opportunities because of supportive district

policies, job embedded professional develop-

ment, or assistance from a local university

(Chamberlain et al, 2013).

Fostering Participation: What Does it

Look Like?

Each case offered a “participatory culture”

(Jenkins et al., 2006, p. 5) that assisted in the

refinement or success of the innovation. Jenkins’

four main principles of a participatory culture,

outlined in the following with examples, offer

teachers a window into the possibilities for

classrooms.

Low Barriers to Expression

Across the cases, teachers and students

experienced “relatively low barriers to

expression” (Jenkins et al., 2006, p. 5) with a

host of available media. Web sites were

unblocked allowing access to Web 2.0 tools,

MIT App Inventor, and games. Digital media was

accessed in and out of school. Likewise, to enact

change and encourage expression with digital

media, teachers can and should familiarize

themselves with student use of media outside of

school and encourage similar skills in school.

Infographic creation, blogging, audio mixes, or

fanfiction writing, which are all readily available

online (and typically free), present low barriers to

learning and expression. For more difficult media

to adopt, such as games or coding programs,

teachers might participate in workshops or

professional development centered on how

these learning tools can foster creativity, design

and production while teaching requisite skills;

students will likely consider the tools “low

barriers to expression.”

Strong Support for Creating and Sharing Creations

The examples showed “strong support for

creating and sharing creations” (Jenkins et al.,

2006, p. 5); teachers encouraged students’

interests, peer review, and sharing of media

online, through portable means (iPods), or within

the community. Collaboration was fostered with

a local museum, during game nights, in online

communities, or in afterschool clubs. Teachers

can and should assist students in forming

Herro Sustainable Innovations

125

community memberships—online or local—

extending their access to mentors and peers

while supporting student interests and modeling

peer review. Likewise, teachers can share units,

lessons, resources, and student work with one

another, supporting best practices and discussing

challenges.

Informal Membership

Informal memberships allowed “experience to

be passed to novices” (Jenkins et al., 2006, p. 6)

as evidenced by the teachers’ use of teaching

blogs, peer apprenticeships in student groupings,

teacher workshops, or club events. Teachers in

the cases assisted other teachers, and students

instinctively assisted one another within each

unit. Accessing professional learning commu-

nities such as those found on Twitter or Pinterest,

forming cohorts with interested colleagues, and

committing to sharing best practices fosters and

supports new learning transferable to classrooms.

Membership within these groups centers on

common interests (e.g., enlisting fanfiction to

teach literacy, using iPads for digital storytelling,

or game design to teach STEM skills), where

teachers, students, and others with expertise help

one another achieve goals within informal

groups.

Recognizing Contributions

In all three examples, members “believed their

contributions mattered” (Jenkins et al., 2006,

p. 6). The district supported teacher-generated

pilots, encouraged creating units or courses,

offered technical support, and supported pro-

fessional development. Students were encour-

aged to review one another’s work, to bring

forward interests in media creation, and, at times,

to direct the type of media used to expand

learning. The participatory culture assisted in

sustaining and scaling innovation. Teacher-to-

teacher, teacher-to-student, and student-to-stu-

dent feedback, constructive critique, and sugges-

tions for refining work can build a culture within

or beyond classrooms where participants believe

their contributions matter and are worthy of

review and feedback. Additionally, pilot ideas

acknowledging the potential for failure or

refinement allow contributors to safely take

risks while legitimizing the contribution.

Shifting Policy and Practice: A New

Role for Teachers

The teachers frequently discussed their roles

as facilitator versus instructor; each committed to

altering their classroom practice during or after

the initial curriculum or unit was taught. They

adapted to change and implemented new ideas

when reteaching the courses or units. In the first

and third cases, teachers spread the DML

experiences to other district classrooms via

workshops, professional development, or new

course creation. The cases support Coburn’s

(2003) notion that changes in classroom practices

can produce meaningful reform. Teachers altered

their teaching beliefs (depth), maintained the

innovations over time (sustainability), and scaled

(spread) their work to other classrooms. Shift was

less apparent as the innovations noted are in their

infancy, however in each instance there is reason

to believe that shift may occur, as evidenced by

plans to embed Web 2.0 tools across the district.

In the first case, Delaney’s aspiration to become a

technology coach spread the innovation widely,

and James’s expansion of student gaming

practices spurred Minecraft units in other

schools. These cases underscore Chamberlain

and colleagues’ (2013) premise that understand-

ing the context of particular settings, and

situating innovation in supportive, participatory

cultures is imperative for success.

Over the last 15 years, typical educational

polices were primarily focused on “the technol-

ogy” to improve instruction by increasing broad-

band, computers, and technical support (Vrasidas

& Glass, 2005), however, these policies focused

on supporting learning initiatives that would

impact students via embedding innovative digital

technologies and rethinking curricula with new

approaches. The vision was enacted in classroom

practices and impacted learning, as students

became collaborators, creators, and producers.

Digital Media and Learning

126

In fact, a majority of students met or exceeded

formative and summative assessment criteria for

projects, convincing the districts to expand or

extend programs. Using this “bottom up” and

“top down” approach (Chamberlain et al., 2013,

p. 4) meshed the work of administrators, teachers

and students to encourage innovation, and district

support to carry out the vision. Inarguably, the

work in the classrooms and districts mentioned

herein has just begun, and advanced measures of

student achievement linked to innovation is a

necessary next step.

Final Thoughts

Broadening understanding to innovate with

digital media in classrooms is time intensive and

challenging. Understanding local contexts and

building a supportive, participatory culture helps

ensure deep, consequential, and sustainable

changes. To realize substantial impact with

DML, teachers must consider their situations,

alter beliefs about their roles, commit to

flexibility, rely on learning with and from

students, apprentice one another, and participate

within a broad community.

References

Chamberlain, A., Dronenm, M., Herro, D., Keen, M.,

Kelley, D., Mathews, A., . . . Bosco, J. (Eds.).

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  • Abstract
  • Case 1: Integrating Web 2.0 Tools in a Social Studies Curriculum
    • Classroom Context
    • Teacher Perspectives
    • District Support
    • Technical Requirements
    • Scalability
  • Case 2: Supporting a Traditional Science Curriculum With App Development
    • Classroom Context
    • Teacher Perceptions
    • District Support
    • Technical Requirements
    • Scalability
  • Case 3: A Game Design Curriculum for High School Students
    • Classroom Context
    • Teacher Perspective
    • District-Level Support
    • Technical Requirements
    • Scalability
  • Understanding Context: What Might Educators Do?
  • Fostering Participation: What Does it Look Like?
    • Low Barriers to Expression
    • Strong Support for Creating and Sharing Creations
    • Informal Membership
    • Recognizing Contributions
  • Shifting Policy and Practice: A New Role for Teachers
  • Final Thoughts