As kids get left out—not only of videogame play but also of other digitally based experiences popular among their peers—they willcontinue to fall further and further beyond.

A virtue of gaming that is sometimes overlookedby those seeking grander goals. . . is its unparalleled advantages in training and educationalprograms. A game can easily be made fascinating enough to put over the dullest facts. To sitdown and play through a game is to be convinced as by no argument, however persuasivelypresented.”

Many good videogames can take 50 to 100 hours to win, even for good players. Furthermore,it was—for me—profoundly difficul

Different people can interpret each type of text differently

I am ma inly concerned with the sorts of videogames in which the player takes on the role of a fantasy character movingthrough an elaborate world, solving various problems (violently or not), orin which the player builds and maintains some complex entity, like an army,a city, or even a whole civilization.

For the first time in history, amajority of high school students, even those succeeding in school, regardit as little more than accreditation. Meanwhile, the number of studentsdropping out of high school is reaching an all-time high, according tomost reports, because “school is boring” (

Students are bring-ing more and more digital technologies (such as iPhones) with them toschool, creating disruptions between the social order of the digital worldand the print-based one of schools.

The genres of participa-tion that emerged from our research can be viewed as an alternative to existing taxonomies of media engagement that generally are structured by the type of media platform, frequency of media use, or structural categories such as gender, age, or socioeconomic status

While Geo Gem has accepted the fact that she can watch only the occasional movie on the family DVD player, she notes that this often presents problems when her friends come over, “since they usually watch cable.”

e s p i t e h i s s l i p p i n g g r a d e s a t s c h o o l , L u i s ’ s w o r k a t t h e c l u b h o u s e clearly demonstrated a rich imagination, persistence, attention to detail, and resourcefulness in furthering his own development. These characteristics are markers of the potential to thrive as a learner. Had his teachers been attuned to his expertise development earlier, they may have found ways to build on his excellent out-of-school learning skills to reengage him in academic content. Typically, par-ents act to coordinate across settings and in Luis’s case they intervened to reallo-cate his time at the clubhouse so that he would spend more time on schoolwork rather than try to bring his talents to the attention of school staff.

While Luis was fi nding his own technical way with the equipment, the clubhouse coordinators recognized and encouraged his incoming interest in fi lm-making and offered new ideas

Those that can use technology in more advanced ways have typically been deeply supported by parents, peers, or teachers that have expertise. For example, in a study of technologically sophisticated youth in Silicon Valley, (Barron, Martin, Takeuchi, & Fithian, 2009 ) , w e f o u n d t h a t p a r e n t s a d v a n c e d t h e i r c h i l d r e n ’ s l e a r n i n g w h e n they collaborated with them, learned from them, brokered outside learning opportu-nities for them, provided nontechnical support to them, or hired them to do technical work. Parents also played instrumental roles when they shared their technical expertise through informal teaching processes or provided their children with learning resources such as books or new media tools.

, we look farther into the room and fi nd more youth at work using high-end technology equipment, including a full digital recording studio, new computers with professional design software, digital animation supplies, and the latest gaming technology. W