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Acknowledgments

A book like this does not happen without the support and contributions of a number of people. There are far too many to mention by name here so a special thanks to the many people, organizations, and universities that contributed to this project in some way.

I owe a special thanks to the Digital Edge team, which helped to design the study and collect and analyze the data that informs this book. The core team members over the life of this project were Andres Lombana-Bermudez, Jacqueline Vickery, Alexander Cho, Vivian Shaw, Lauren Weinzimmer, Adam Williams, Jennifer Noble, and Bailey Cool.

This project was also influenced by my colleagues from the Connected Learning Research Network, a team of extraordinarily generous scholars who offered expertise, feedback, and rich perspectives over the life of this work. This group includes, Mimi Ito, Sonia Livinstone, Kris Gutiérrez, Juliet Schor, Jean Rhodes, Bill Penuel, Vera Michalchik, and Dalton Conley. Also, advisors to the CLRN that influenced this project include Julian Sefton-Green, Ben Kirshner, Richard Arum, Katie Salen Tekinbaş, Nichole Pinkard, Daniel Schwartz, and Kylie Peppler.

A lot of this work was also supported by the fantastic team at the Digital Media and Learning Hub at the University of California at Irvine, including David Theo Goldberg, Claudia Caro Sullivan, Amanda Wortman, Mimi Ko Cruz, Anita Centeno, and Jeff Brazil.

Several of my colleagues at the University of Texas at Austin also provided intellectual support and encouragement, including Sharon Strover and the UT|Portugal Collaboration, Wenhong Chen, Tom Schatz, Joseph Straubhaar, Kathleen Tyner, and two Deans, Rod Hart and Jay Bernhart.

The Digital Edge team and CLRN were the beneficiaries of generous and forward thinking funding from the MacArthur Foundation and the Digital Media and Learning—DML—initiative. DML anticipated the digital revolution in the lives of young people and funded both research, policy, and the prototyping of new learning futures. During her stewardship of the DML effort, Connie Yowell was a significant advocate of the work that I and my CLRN colleagues conducted. There are so many people to thank at the Foundation including, Jennifer Humke and the current President, Julie M. Stasch.

Family provide more than they ever know when taking on a project of this scope. Thus, I’d like to thank my beautiful wife and daughter, Angela Hall Watkins and Cameron Grace Watkins. I shared many insightful conversations about this project with Sherry Watkins and Karen Munson, two people who have been a constant source of inspiration in my life.

Finally, this book was made possible by members of the Freeway High School community—teachers, administrators, district leaders, parents, and students—who gave us incredible access to their lives. We could not have asked for more and hope that we represent you in a fair, respectful, and appreciative light.