Gardner Receives Common Sense Media Award

Professor Howard Gardner was honored last month with a 2010 Common Sense Media Award praising him as an outstanding leader in education and digital ethics. Common Sense Media (CSM) is a national organization led by concerned parents and individuals with experience in child advocacy, public policy, education, media, and entertainment.

Gardner received the award along with three other recipients: George Lucas, director of Star Wars and creator of the George Lucas Educational Foundation; Julius Genachowski, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission; and Nichole Pinkard, founder of Digital Youth Network and cocreator of Remix World. "I am honored to be among the distinguished award winners and thrilled to have had a chance to meet the original R2-D2 and C-3PO," Gardner says.

In 2006 with the support of the MacArthur Foundation, Gardner launched the GoodPlay Project, the first phase of which included interviewing young people 15 to 25 years old about ethics and online activity. The research examined the beliefs, values, and goals youth bring to online activities, as well as ethical considerations and identities they construct online.

Gardner's research investigating trust in contemporary society and ethical dimensions entailed in the use of the new digital media continues today with Common Sense Media. "[The GoodPlay Project's] collaboration with CSM focuses on ethical dimensions of the use of the media, and, as we put it, what it means to become a digital citizen," Gardner says. "CSM has unparalleled access to opinion leaders around the country."

"The pioneering work of Dr. Gardner's GoodPlay team has been fundamental in developing Common Sense Media's Digital Citizenship Curriculum, which we expect will be in schools this fall," says Linda Burch, chief strategy and education officer at Common Sense Media. "The fact that a world-renowned scholar like Dr. Gardner has taken a real interest in how technology is changing the way our kids navigate the digital landscape is so important since it is such a new terrain with few established norms. Ultimately, we hope that our collaboration will help kids develop into good digital citizens so that they can harness the power of these media to make the world a better place."

Due to recent urging by Common Sense Media, the GoodPlay Project will refocus their research on a younger age group. They are currently interviewing 10- to14-year-olds about their ethical dilemmas online. "There was a lot of concern and panic around middle school-aged kids and what they are doing as they become more autonomous from parents," explains Carrie James, research director and principal investigator with the GoodPlay Project. "There are some concerns about online risks [for this age group] since on a moral development scale they are middle school kids and are a little too young to fully understand the potential consequences of actions they take."

Today, when practically every child has a social networking page, James says this latest research, also supported by the MacArthur Foundation, will investigate how aligned children's beliefs on important ethical dilemmas are with those of influential adults. "There is no universally agreed-upon notion of what privacy means and how to manage it today," says James. "We think there may be slightly different notions of privacy among youths than [among] adults. These interviews with parents, teachers, and youth will see where we align, misalign, or can encourage more dialogue."

The collaboration with Common Sense Media provides a unique opportunity to get research out of academia and into the hands of parents and teachers, James says. "Being attached to Common Sense allows us to broaden the audience that we bring our educational resources to. They have a huge constituency of parents and readers of their website," she explains, noting that many parents seek out Common Sense for their helpful reviews and information on media that contains difficult language or violence.

The completion of the current research regarding 10- to 14-year-olds is anticipated for next spring.