University of California Humanities Research Institute, HASTAC, and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the University of California, Irvine, Duke University and HASTAC have launched the third annual open-call competition that will provide $2 million in awards to innovators shaping the field of digital media and learning. President Obama named the Digital Media and Learning Competition as part of his initiative to improve education in math and science in a speech on November 23rd. The competition is supported through a grant to the University of California, Irvine and administered by HASTAC.
The competition seeks designers, inventors, entrepreneurs, researchers, and others to build digital experiences—the learning labs of the 21st century—that help young people interact, share, build, tinker, and explore in new and innovative ways. In a new component for 2010, Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) and Electronic Arts (EA), in cooperation with Entertainment Software Association and Information Technology Industry Council, will team with the competition to support the development of new science and math-related levels or adventures in popular existing games. According to MacArthur Director Connie Yowell: “Digital media provides an important opportunity to re-imagine learning in the 21st century. Through the competition, we may find that games such as LittleBigPlanet and Spore, which offer opportunities for collaborative and complex problem solving, can be powerful tools to engage the next generation in science, technology, engineering and math – in and out of the classroom. By working with Sony Computer Entertainment America and Electronic Arts, the digital media and learning competition will be able to tap into the innovation and scale of private industry to advance teaching and learning.” For complete information about the program, application information, past grantees, and the sponsoring organizations, visit www.dmlcompetition.net. The University of California Humanities Research Institute is a longstanding CHCI member. HASTAC is an affiliate of the John Hope Franklin Humanities Institute at Duke University.
