Mizuko (Mimi) Ito is a cultural anthropologist, studying youth new media practices in the US and Japan. She oversees research activities of the Digital Media and Learning Hub and is developing a research area focused on interest-driven learning. She is a Professor in Residence at the UC Humanities Research Institute, and has appointments at the Department of Informatics and the Department of Anthropology, and is the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Chair in Digital Media and Learning at UC Irvine. http://www.itofisher.com/mito
Mimi Ito
Publications
Articles
October 30, 2017
Three Myths About Education Technology and the Points of Light Beyond
Three powerful myths persist in our narratives around education technology. The first is that technology has the capacity to disrupt systems. For all the hope and hype that technologies can enable major...
Categories: Edtech, Equity, ResearchSeptember 27, 2017
5 Secrets to Creating an Innovative After-school Program
A little over a year ago, Mahad Ibrahim reached out to me about Connected Camps, an organization I’m leading with Katie Salen that offers online learning programs and mentorship in Minecraft. Mahad...
Categories: Connected Learning, Equity, Reimagining LearningJuly 27, 2017
It’s the Relationships, Stupid: Connected Camps Mid-Summer Report
Two years ago, Connected Camps and Institute of Play launched Minecraft Summer of Learning, piloting a new model for in-game virtual summer camps. We’ve served over two thousand families since then, and...
Categories: Connected Learning, Reimagining LearningMarch 30, 2017
Introducing UCI’s Connected Learning Lab
Spring is a fitting season to announce the launch of our new Connected Learning Lab (CLL) at UC Irvine, an interdisciplinary research center dedicated to studying and mobilizing learning technologies in equitable,...
Categories: Connected Learning, EquityJune 1, 2015
Summer of Minecraft and the Magic of Peer Mentorship
One summer day when he was 12 years old, my son declared with delight that his application to join a prominent Minecraft server had been accepted. He had discovered this server through...
Category: Connected LearningApril 20, 2015
What does connected learning look like when it is centered on civic and political interests? A new paper that I co-authored with Lissa Soep, Neta Kliger-Vilenchik, Sangita Shresthova, Liana Gamber-Thompson, and Arely...
Category: Digital Citizenship