Resources

YOUmedia Learning Labs have created a range of resources to help you get started with the ideas and practices that undergird the Learning Labs project. These resources include research and evaluation studies, material about Connected Learning theory, and practical tools for opening your own Learning Lab.

Research

There are several resources and reports that can help you and your lab understand the history, reach, and context of the YOUmedia Learning Labs Network. They are gathered in this section to help you get started with ideas and practices, gathered and written by researchers and network members.

Tools

There are many tools and resources are available for people who are interested in the YOUmedia model. Interested groups should start by forming a team of interested adults and youth to explore the YOUmedia model. Visit your local Learning Lab in a library, museum, youth center or school to assess the potential for creating a full Learning Lab in one of the spaces in your community.

Post-Emergent Library Makerspaces Project

Having been built on the YOUmedia Network’s foundation of connected learning and HOMAGO and with the philosophy that youth are best engaged when their interests are prioritized and cultivated by program staff and administration, the Post-Emergent Library Makerspaces Project allowed for us to surface the issues that many libraries (and museums) were facing after opening their labs, but had not yet defined. We began our gatherings and action research in earnest in late 2015. We met online monthly to compare data and observations, then gathered in August 2016 to surface what we had identified as post-emergent themes that emerged across labs. We presented initial findings at the Digital Media and Learning conference in October 2016 in Irvine, CA.