"Digital media, and the technological advances associated with it, disrupts traditional conceptions of the teaching and learning experience. In this volume, Joanna Black, Juan Carlos Castro, and Ching-Chiu Lin assist educators in navigating this disruption in a comprehensive, compelling, and provocative way. Students, and their communities, will be well served as a result." - Doug Blandy, Professor in the Arts and Administration Program, University of Oregon "Young people's informal learning through the arts and digital media has become a vital consideration in understanding contemporary human development. This book builds context for the study of youth digital arts practices and brings together several, informative case-based examples, illustrating the range and depth of learning that occurs as a result of these practices outside of school. Any educator could benefit by reading this book and attending to these practices, which have become a defining characteristic of digital natives. Young people's informal learning through the arts and digital media has become a vital consideration in understanding contemporary human development. This book builds context for the study of youth digital arts practices and brings together several, informative case-based examples, illustrating the range and depth of learning that occurs as a result of these practices outside of school. Any educator could benefit by reading this book and attending to these practices, which have become a defining characteristic of digital natives." - Kerry Freedman, Professor and Division Head, Art + Design Education, Northern Illinois University "This book is a timely and important addition to the educational literature at the intersection of learning, digital technology, and contemporary youth culture. As the authors note, this book is particularly interested in exploring "the relationship regarding youths' digital culture in connection to creativity, it's correlation to technology, and the potential for fostering youth's imagination." The authors present five sites across Canada as cases through which they explore key concepts such as digital dissonance; creativity, social and new media; information communication technologies (ICTs); and formal, informal, and non-formal learning. The content of the chapters is built on a comprehensive review of extant literature in combination with the authors' empirical scholarship in schools, youth centers, community-based arts education and media programs, and other informal learning sites, the majority of which include participants from marginalized, exceptional needs, or at-risk populations. Unified in purpose, the chapters are exemplary ethnographic case studies in arts and new media educational sites. Offering more than mere discussions and illustrations of formal and informal learning through and with digital technologies, this book provides crucial insights into key pedagogical approaches. Youth Practices in Digital Arts and New Media provides valuable guidance to arts educators and others who seek to better understand this multi-faceted relationship within contemporary youth culture in pursuit of new possibilities for meaningful educational experiences that emerge through connections and collaborations among various sites and modes of learning. I am eager to use this book in my pre-service art education courses and in professional development workshops with veteran practitioners." - B. Stephen Carpenter II , Professor of Art Education, Pennsylvania State University
