I found this seminar by Dr. Kevin Clark both fascinating and inspiring. Check the summary of it below and enjoy!

Dr. Kevin Clark begins this seminar by presenting a model of the “cone of learning”, which highlights the percentage of information that is retained by using passive forms of acquiring information (i.e. reading, hearing and seeing). At most, the passive approach allows one to retain approximately 50% of information. However, more active forms of learning (i.e. what we say and do) allow us to obtain anywhere from 70%-90% of information. This is interesting, because it essentially means that becoming more involved in our learning mechanisms will allow individuals to acquire more information about what is being presented.

Dr. Clark originally became involved with creating educational video games for youth in the early 90s. He initially created two video games that were eventually sold to school districts and helped young children learn how to write, improve their reading comprehension and learn about historical figures. In addition, the characters that were involved in these video games were diverse in nature, which was an aspect that was often neglected in video games. He presented a situation which made him realize the need for an increase in the level of diversity in media. Dr. Clark presented the “princess dilemma”, where he reports driving an hour to purchase a princess book that featured an African American girl as the main character. He bought the book because his daughter requested him to read her a princess book that featured a girl that resembled her own race. After further investigation, he realized that only 3% of children books contained African Americans as the main character. In terms of other races, 1.5% of Latinos, 1% of Native Americans and 2% Asians were main characters of children books. 93% of Caucasians are main characters of children books and Dr. Clark began realizing the need to bring more diversity into children’s media.

In order to find ways to make media more diverse, Dr. Clark was apart of a project called Center for Digital Media Innovation and Diversity. This program was designed as a gateway to education by using games to help children learn. He spoke about a project where he worked with elementary school children to increase their motivation in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math. This program used a participatory design approach, allowing elementary students to learn how to make educational games by adjusting prototypes to fit their own schemas that would be incorporated in the overall design of the games. This program brought forth an important finding: 2.5 hours a day of engaging in technology allowed children to feel more confident about their math, science and technology skills.

Another important project that Dr. Clark took part of concerns the digital lives of youth and their parents. This was a two year project that aimed to understand what ways teenagers and parents were using media in their homes. Surveys were administered online and focuse groups were set up in a variety of states to understand issues around technology and education in media. This project brought forth a variety of key discoveries to be applied in the future. First, it is essential to incorporate technology into a girl’s life at a young age, specifically between the ages of 11-12. This is because their desire to learn more about technology appears to decrease with increasing age. Second, by understanding what fields teenagers are interested in learning more about, those who are in teaching positions will know where to focus their efforts in terms of guiding the direction of learning. Third, African Americans from low socioeconomic statuses were less likely to learn about computers in a formal setting, subsequently impacting their abilities to acquire information. Fourth, the attitude of parents is very important, because if they are confident about their own computer usage, then their children are more likely to be confident as well. Finally, many teenagers encounter content that is disrespectful to both women and black people and thus, it is essential to create a strong voice to encourage positive content. Overall, Dr. Clark concludes the seminar by recommending an increase of advanced computer education, more parental involvement with computers and an increase of diversity distribution. By doing so, this can allow youth to use more active approaches towards their own enrichment.