New Creativity Paradigms

Kylie Peppler is an assistant professor of Learning Sciences Program at Indiana University. An artist by training, she engages in research that focuses on the intersection of arts, media, new technologies, and informal learning. Peppler’s dissertation work on the study of the media-rich programming environment Scratch resulted in the book, The Computer Clubhouse: Constructionism and Creativity in Youth Communities. Peppler has since collaborated with Leah Buechley, Yasmin Kafai, and Mike Eisenberg to study etextiles, which resulted in the forthcoming co-edited volume titled, Textile Messages: Dispatches from the World of E-Textiles and Education. Her current work on creativity, computation, and media arts in youth communities is supported by the National Science Foundation and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

• Contents: The Importance of Arts Learning – How Are Youths Creatively Using Digital Technology? – The New Digital Arts: Forms, Tools, and Practices – New Media Arts, the Do-It-Yourself Movement, and the Importance of Making – Communities That Can Support Interest-Driven Arts Learning – Inviting and Sustaining Participation in the Arts – Challenges and Recommendations.

«This is a careful and thoughtful study. Kylie Peppler shows how forms of learning that we associate with the arts actually offer a dynamic way of supporting new creative production and making activities with digital technologies. In a wide-ranging and timely review she argues that developing these capabilities in a range of settings including the school, homes, and in the community will contribute to making education more exciting and relevant for the twenty-first century. Full of constructive and practical advice.» (Julian Sefton-Green, Principal Research Fellow, Department of Media & Communication, London School of Economics; Honorary Professor of Education, Hong Kong Institute of Education)«This book introduces a new and growing field of research on adolescent and young adult learning. It focuses on the powerful desire of youth to create, use, and critique the arts and how that desire motivates young people to learn outside of school. The book brings together foundational work done in the past and insights from new studies of learning through the arts and technology to make recommendations for youth arts programming and research. It is a valuable resource for researchers, educators, program developers, and other stakeholders interested in improving the lives of adolescents. Undoubtedly, this book will help to move this emerging field forward. Every arts educator – every educator – should read this book.» (Kerry Freedman, Professor, Art + Design Education, Northern Illinois University)«Kylie Peppler brings together a wonderfully diverse set of research and insights, showing that learning in the arts is most powerful when people can organise their own learning, driven by passion, building knowledge and skills just because they want to. This book is essential reading for everyone interested in digital creativity.» (David Gauntlett, Professor in the School of Media, Art and Design, University of Westminster, United Kingdom)