From a Blog by Dr. Marilyn Hill

The Community of Education Leaders recently discussed “Transmedia in Education” on GETideas.org. The major thread of the conversation was that today’s students are vastly different from their predecessors and that education must change to meet their needs. Simon Pulman expressed, “Educators and administrators who do not move quickly to incorporate digital learning and cross-platform thinking into the curriculum will do a disservice to students.” Lucas Johnson affirmed that people do not live within a single medium at a time. Instead, they continually “immerse themselves across multiple medias — reading, watching, listening, touching.”

A high quality 21st Century education must challenge students to “evaluate biases, see problems from different perspectives, and examine the credibility of each information source” (Pulman). Most topics can be explored in greater depth through sources outside the classroom. Students can build a personal voice through creative use of multiple platforms. Educators must understand how information flows from one media platform to the next. Only then will they be able to design interactive experiences that produce meaningful learning for students.