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FINE Newsletter, Volume VI, Issue 2
Issue Topic: Making it Real—Connected Learning in the Digital Age

Tips & Tools

Social media provide parents, practitioners, and policymakers with the means to stay up-to-date on the ways that technology can be harnessed to enhance children’s learning. Social media tools such as Facebook and Twitter allow people to access information and participate in conversations about digital media in the lives of children by looking at both—concerns related to children’s use of digital media as well as the many positive aspects of using such media to engage children’s curiosity, creativity, and collaboration.

In order to create a guide to the oftentimes overwhelming array of Web offerings related to social media, we turned to our FINE readers and asked them: When it comes to getting the latest information on family engagement in DML, who do you look to on social media? We incorporated their valuable feedback into the following compilation of individuals and organizations that are exploring family engagement in a new light—that is, with a focus on how families can navigate digital media to help children succeed.

The social media resources presented below are organized into four categories: DML Researchers and Organizations; DML Practitioners; DML Programs in Action; and News and Updates on DML, each of which includes a description and links to its Twitter and Facebook pages to help you start navigating.

We are always interested in your feedback and invite you to send us any suggestions for this list—help keep us all informed of the latest additions to this dynamic digital environment to enhance children’s learning!

DML RESEARCHERS AND ORGANIZATIONS
Experts who provide digital media research to inform practice and public policy

	Digital Media and Learning Research Hub The Digital Media and Learning Research Hub’s mission is to advance research in the service of a more equitable, participatory, and effective ecosystem of learning keyed to the digital and networked era.
	Family Online Safety Institute The Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI) works to develop a safer Internet by identifying and promoting best practices, tools, and methods that also respect free speech.
	Fred Rogers Center Staying true to the vision of Fred Rogers and emulating the guiding principles of his life’s work, the mission of the Fred Rogers Center is to advance the fields of early learning and children’s media by acting as a catalyst for communication, collaboration, and creative change.
	Joan Ganz Cooney Center The Cooney Center is a research and innovation lab that catalyzes and supports research, development, and investment in digital media technologies to advance children's learning.
	Lisa Guernsey Screen Time author Lisa Guernsey directs the Early Education Initiative at the New America Foundation, a nonpartisan think tank in Washington, D.C., where she focuses on the potential of technology to shape high-quality learning environments and ensure school readiness for young children, birth through age 8, particularly children from low-income and disadvantaged backgrounds.

DML PRACTITIONERS
Educators and administrators who are advancing family engagement in the digital age 

	Joe Mazza As school administrator, blogger, Innovation Coach at the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education, and lead learner at Knapp Elementary School in Pennsylvania, Joe Mazza has continued to use social media to promote family–school relationships. In particular, he shares ways that educators can use innovative tools to complement face-to-face communication between home and school.
	Larry Ferlazzo An award-winning inner-city high-school English teacher, popular education blogger, and book author, Larry Ferlazzo writes about a wide range of subjects, including technology and learning, and building family engagement in the classroom.
	Michele Borba Media commentator and prolific author, Michele Borba offers parents and educators research-based advice on parenting, bullying prevention, education, and child/teen issues, with a focus on strengthening children’s character and resilience and building strong families.
	Roots of Action Developmental psychologist and author Marilyn Price-Mitchell is dedicated to helping parents, schools, and communities grow supportive families, innovative workers, engaged citizens, and ethical leaders in the new Digital Age.

DML PROGRAMS IN ACTION
Community-based organizations that help youth develop digital media literacy

	Afterschool Matters After School Matters offers Chicago teens innovative out-of-school activities in the arts, communication, sports, science, and technology to help them develop their talents while gaining critical skills for work, college, and beyond.
	Remake Learning Kids+Creativity is a collaborative network of people, projects, and organizations working together in the Greater Pittsburgh Region to help children and youth develop science, art, and technology skills that the new economy rewards.
	YOUmedia @ Chicago Public Library YOUmedia hosts a digitally inspired learning space for teens at five Chicago Public Library locations. Created to connect young adults, books, media, mentors, and institutions in one dynamic space, it is designed to inspire collaboration and creativity.

NEWS AND UPDATES ON DML
Organizations that bring the latest DML research into public focus

	Common Sense Educators Through news, curricula, tips, and professional development for integrating technology in the classroom, this branch of Common Sense Media is dedicated to helping educators empower young people to think critically, behave safely, and participate responsibly in a changing digital world.
	Edutopia With a strong emphasis on such topics as technology integration, classroom technology, and digital citizenship, Edutopia provides inspiration and information for what works in education by shining a spotlight on evidence-based strategies and best practices that improve learning and engagement for students.
	Mind/Shift Launched by NPR and KQED in 2010, MindShift explores the future of learning, covering cultural and technology trends, innovations in education, groundbreaking research, and education policy. It also offers important resources within categories such as games and learning, teaching strategies, “big ideas,” and children and media.

This resource is part of the April FINE Newsletter. The FINE Newsletter shares the newest and best family engagement research and resources from Harvard Family Research Project and other field leaders. To access the archives of past issues, please visit www.hfrp.org/FINENewsletter.