[Air-L] Announcing DML Competition's Trust Challenge: Building Trust in Connected Learning Environments #dmltrust

[Sheryl Grant]

What could be more important than trust? Trust is at the heart of every
meaningful learning experience, whether it's between educator and student,
mentor and learner, or peers and their learning networks.


As learners become more immersed in digital learning experiences, trust has
also become increasingly important in connected learning environments. The
press release announcing the Trust Challenge, the fifth Digital Media and
Learning Competition, details how the MacArthur Foundation and HASTAC are
responding to the Aspen Institute Task Force's report about Learners and
the Internet, particularly challenges facing trust in connected learning
environments.

The $1.2 Million Learning Challenge: Building Trust Online

Fifth Digital Media & Learning Competition responds to Aspen report citing
the need for a safe and open internet to foster learning

WASHINGTON – June 17, 2014 – HASTAC and the John D. and Catherine T.
MacArthur Foundation, responding to a landmark Aspen Institute report,
announced a $1.2 million challenge to foster trust in online learning
environments and help educators harness one of the most powerful tools of
the digital age—online networks.

The 5th Digital Media and Learning Competition, dubbed The Trust Challenge,
will offer year-long development grants of up to $150,000 to teams with the
most promising innovations for fostering trusted learning environments
online. The open invitation for proposals is supported by the MacArthur
Foundation through a grant to the University of California, Irvine,
administered by HASTAC, an alliance of more than 14,000 humanists, artists,
social scientists, scientists and technologists working together to
transform the future of learning.

The Trust Challenge is a response to a new report by the Aspen Institute
Task Force on Learning and the Internet that called for innovations that
enable people to pursue learning experiences online in an environment that
is safe and private. The task force focused on American education, but the
Trust Challenge is an international competition because the challenge is
global.

“The Aspen Institute Task Force on Learning and the Internet has
highlighted the transformative role that digital media can play in helping
every learner to reach his or her full potential,” said David Theo
Goldberg, a HASTAC board member and the director of the University of
California Humanities Research Institute. “Our

competition seeks to advance solutions that build the trusted environments
learners need online so they can safely and confidently access the rich
learning opportunities the Internet affords.”

In the Task Force report, Learner at the Center of a Networked World, also
made public on Thursday, Honorary Co-Chairs Jeb Bush and Rosario Dawson
argue a trusted online environment is necessary for effective learning.
“Technology should revolve around the learner, not the other way around,”
they wrote.

“And the learner should possess the digital age literacy tools to use and
understand the media in both the virtual and physical worlds.”

The Aspen Institute report envisions a future of openness and innovation in
education if America can shift away from a fear-based approach to using the
Internet that unwittingly blocks access to valuable learning resources.

“Just as the digital revolution changed many industries, its promise is now
being realized in learning environments inside and outside schools,” said
Connie Yowell, MacArthur’s Director of Education and a leading proponent of
Connected Learning. “The Internet is a vital link, and innovative educators
are helping learners create unique and personalized learning pathways as
they follow their interests online, connect to supportive peers and
mentors, and become the creative makers and producers today’s economy
rewards. Our goal is to support this explosion of interest-driven learning
by ensuring all learners can safely and confidently leverage these rich
digital resources.”

The Trust Challenge is open to museums, libraries, school districts,
schools, higher education institutions, community organizations,
developers, researchers and others committed to creative, open connected
learning. Successful projects will develop digital projects and tools
designed to build privacy, security, and

safety into its digital offerings and build awareness around data and
trust. Projects might include web or online applications, digital badge
systems, data management platforms, online learning content or other
innovations.

Winners will receive grants of $10,000 to $150,000 as well as a year of
programming designed to support successful project development. Grantees
will be networked with each other and more broadly into a highly
innovative, cross-disciplinary community of technologists, educators,
scholars and leading thinkers.

Organizations and institutions can also win three $5,000 People’s Choice
Awards that will support the purchase of approved technology. People’s
Choice Winners will be determined by an online vote.

For more information about the Trust Challenge, visit www.dmlcompetition.net
.

Contact:

Sheryl Grant

Director of Social Networking, HASTAC/MacArthur Foundation Digital Media
and Learning Competition

sheryl.grant at duke.edu

Useful Links:

Trust Challenge: Building Trust in Connected Learning Environments:
www.dmlcompetition.net

MacArthur Foundation Digital Media & Learning Initiative:
macfound.org/programs/learning/

HASTAC: hastac.org

Connected Learning Alliance: CLAlliance.org

Sheryl Grant
Director of Social Networking
HASTAC/MacArthur Foundation
Digital Media and Learning Competition
sheryl.grant at duke.edu

Duke University
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