Table of Contents

Introduction Part I: The digital landscapes for youth
Overview
Chapter 1: Digital playgrounds v. virtual playpens in early childhood
Chapter 2: Multimedia parks v. virtual malls in the elementary years
Chapter 3: Wireless hangouts v. a palace in time during high school
Summary Part II: A framework for designing digital landscapes for personal development
Overview
Chapter 4: Creating digital content to promote competence
Chapter 5: Creativity to build confidence
Chapter 6: Choices of conduct to develop character traits
Chapter 7: Communication for promoting connections
Chapter 8: Collaboration to form caring networks
Chapter 9: Community building as contribution
Summary Part III: Plotting learning trajectories through design
Overview
Chapter 10: Programs and policies
Chapter 11: From developing curriculum to designing experiences
Chapter 12: Case studies Case Study 1: Robotic playgrounds in early childhood
Case Study 2: Virtual worlds for medically ill pediatric patients Case Study 3: A college campus for the future Conclusion
References

About the Author

Marin Umaschi Bers, PhD is Associate Professor at the Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Development and Adjunct Professor in the Computer Science Department at Tufts University, where she heads the interdisciplinary Developmental Technologies (DevTech) research group.

Reviews

"Designing Digital Experiences for Positive Youth Development will become part of a new and necessary conversation - one that does not ask 'is digital technology good for children and teens?' but 'how can we make it so?'"-- Sherry Turkle, Ph.D., Professor of the Social Studies of Science and Technology, Director of MIT Initiative on Technology and Self, and author of Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other
"Preparing students for the workplace. Helping students acquire new skills. Making the learning process more efficient. That's how most people think about the role of new technologies in education. Marina Bers brings a refreshingly different perspective. Through a well-balanced mixture of insightful theory and compelling examples, Bers describes how new technologies, if appropriately designed, can help young people develop new ways of thinking about themselves,
their place in the world, and their relationships with others. A century ago, John Dewey argued that education should help students learn not just how to make a living but how to make a life. Read
this book to see how new technologies can help fulfill Dewey's vision." -- Mitchel Resnick, Ph.D., LEGO Papert Professor of Learning Research and Academic Head, Program in Media Arts and Sciences, MIT Media Lab
"To this neo-Luddite, Marina Bers' book is an eye-opening introduction to the technological opportunities from which a new generation of children are benefitting. Bers makes a powerful and convincing case that appropriate access to technology not only teaches cognitive and technological skills but can play a central role in promoting positive development, beginning in early childhood. Educators, developmentalists, and parents will be similarly engaged,
enthralled, and informed by the evidence that creative exploring using new media plays a central role in psychosocial and intellectual development."-- Michael E. Lamb, Ph.D., Head of the Department of Social
and Developmental Psychology, University of Cambridge
"This book describes how to inculcate core skills children need for our innovation-based economy and turbulent world: creativity, caring, collaboration, and contribution." -- Christopher Dede, Ed.D., Timothy E. Wirth Professor in Learning Technologies, Harvard Graduate School of Education