DLI: Thoughts from DML's Emerging Scholars: Findings and Insights from Early Career Researchers, Developers, and Practitioners

This year’s DML conference is about connectedness; as conference organizers explained, this focus is about bringing to fruition the promise of digital media by “bridging learning practices and philosophies through networks of learning institutions and alliances.”  Part of this challenge is bridging gaps between academic fields and discipline and among researchers, developers, and practitioners in formal and informal settings and across virtual and non-virtual environments.  But how do we go about this work?

In this panel we will hear from a group of early career researchers, developers, and practitioners who are trying to build “connectedness” into the work they do, both conceptually and concretely.  They are a part of an “Emerging Scholars Group” organized and supported by James Gee.

The panel will speak on three topics: first, the benefits and challenges of doing interdisciplinary, multi-stakeholder research and development; second, specific examples of their work now in progress; and third, the importance, successes, and challenges of building a distributed support network of junior and senior scholars. (Words up to this point w/out history: 159)

Part I: Benefits and Challenges of Doing Interdisciplinary, Multi-Stakeholder Research and Development

How does the Digital Media & Learning “movement” define who DML “belongs to,” and who belongs to DML? How can we develop a shared language and system of collaboration when the needs and interests of our respective fields vary so widely? And how can we address differences in how stakeholders 1) conceptualize and talk about learning, 2) define methodological boundaries, and 3) think about and value ways of impacting the field overall? The panel will discuss how these factors shape the field (i.e., defining DML and addressing practical issues) and how we might address some of these challenges.

Part II: How to feed and water your scholarly network
The Emerging Scholars group is sustained through a mix of junior and senior scholars who offer a range of support structures, from serving as panelists and sounding boards for innovative work to offering travel funds for the Scholars to work with each other. In this section, James Gee will discuss what he has learned through the development and support of the Gee-Unit, his team of researchers, practitioners, and designers working in DML.

Part II: Examples of Emerging Scholars’ Work

In this session, panelists will present current work that addresses some of the concerns identified earlier in this panel. This work includes:
Framing Discourse for Digital Media and Learning, an ongoing effort to frame the research and rhetoric of DML for increased impact on the broader field of education.

ECDemocratized: ECD (Evidence-Centered Design) is an approach to educational assessment that relies on evidentiary arguments. We will present the design of a tool based on ECD ideas, that supports the learning of assessment as a 21st century skill. The use of this tool is distributed across both teachers and students such that students are participants in the assessment development process as well as the production of work to satisfy the assessment.