Matt Gullett, Kelly Czarnecki & Craig Davis: "Supporting Culture With Creative and Participatory Digital Media Learning Activites

Matt and Kelly introduced GameLab at PLCMC and talked about their many partners and projects. Animation is posted both on YouTube and the Library website and the MySpace page.

Craig Davis introduced his company, the Youth Digital Arts CyberSchool, that provides online month long technology classes on game design and other digital art. There are forums, lessons and tutorials as well as models.

He showcased games--complex, multi-level games--programmed by 8 & 9 year olds, as well as explanations from the designers on how they made the game. Enterpeuerism is part of the experience; so is mentoring. Students are encouraged to post and share their code, especially to work through problems.

Other course offerings include music production and digital painting. Craig showed some really beautiful images, and it's all self-expression.

Creating original work steps around the problem of kids ripping music.

Note: production level is incredibly high when the audience is your peers.