1. DIGITAL ATELIERCONNECTING LEARNERS TO THEIR INTERESTS
THROUGH SPACE AND TECHNOLOGY
RESEARCH SUMMARY

2. Convergence Academies is an initiative of the Center for Community Arts Partnerships
at Columbia College Chicago. It was seeded by a U.S. Department of Education
Investing in Innovation grant to create and implement a whole school reform model in
two high need, traditionally low performing schools to support 21st Century learning
through digital media and technology integration in curriculum, instruction, and
school culture at large.
2
CONVERGENCE
ACADEMIESBRINGING CONNECTED LEARNING TO TEACHERS AND YOUTH ON SITE AND ONLINE.

3. TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgements 5
Findings Summary 6
Chapter 1
Convergence Academies 8
Connected Learning 14
Chapter 2
Using Informal Learning to Drive Student Success 18
Learning and Self-Expression 20
Building Teacher and Student Capacity 24
An Environment to Support New Teaching 28
Students Invested in Their Learning 32
Chapter 3
Design of the Learning Space 42
A Safe, Inviting Place to HOMAGO 44
A Place to Play and Explore 50
Chapter 4
Mentoring 54
Lessons from the Gaming World 56
Effective Mentoring 60
Appendix
Research Methods 67
Biographies 68
Convergence Advisory Board Members 71
Resources 71
3

4. 4

5. 5
BRETFORD.COM
Acknowledgements
We hope that as you read through the following pages of this research summary, you are struck
by how a renovated space inside a high need urban school can communicate genuine respect
and love to the young people for which it was designed. It is an environment that says ‘we believe
in your creative potential, we understand your needs and we support your future promise and
growth.’ The Digital Atelier is a physical manifestation of what happens when many partners and
people come together to realize a dream.
On behalf of the Center for Community Arts Partnerships, we want to express profound gratitude
to Bretford, chiefly Chris Petrick and Cindy Eggebrecht for their commitment to bringing
technology, creativity, and new ideas to schools and learning environments. It was Bretford’s
deep level of involvement that enabled Convergence Academies to fully realize its lofty vision for
the Digital Atelier as a model for a 21st century incubator of learning and creativity. It was also
their commitment to improving the field of K-12 education through research and sharing of models
that work which led to this Research Summary. I want to thank all the writers, designers, and folks
behind the scenes who created this publication with a special shout out to Kelsey Greene whose
project management skills made it all come together.
The Digital Atelier is a remarkable space that would not have been possible without the early
leadership and support of Susanne Schnell, Archeworks and the brilliant multi-agency team
of architects and designers who led the entire participatory design process. Their work in
co-designing prototypes and frameworks, as documented in the Digital Atelier toolkit, paved
the way for the partnership with Bretford.
The third power anchor of our triumvirate is Dr. Nathan Phillips from the University of Illinois’
College of Education, who along with his research associate Virginia Lund, conducted hours of
rigorous and insightful ethnographic study of how young people are transformed when connected
learning design principles are intentionally integrated into schools.
We want to thank the leaders and supporters who believed in our ambitious vision including
Executive Director, David Flatley, The MacArthur Foundation, The Robert McCormick Foundation,
the Hive Chicago Fund for Connected Learning and Generation All, at the Chicago Community
Trust, Adobe Foundation, Chase Foundation, Lego, Little Bits, FLOR, TOMs and, of course, the
U.S. Department of Education’s Investing in Innovation fund.
We also want to praise the noble heroes of Tilden Career Community Academy, Principal Maurice
Swinney, Assistant Principal, Ellen Kennedy, Data Coordinator, Jackson Klein, Dawn Ramos,
Sharon Holmes plus all of the engineers, social workers, teachers, and support staff who worked
side-by-side with an idealistic bunch of artists and designers to try out something new and
unique in their school.
Finally, the real DNA of the Digital Atelier is made up of the courageous and creative students of
Tilden and the teaching artists whose mentorship, intuition, wisdom, and love for youth breathed
vivacity into the space that infuses all who enter. Kathleen, Luke, Dawn, Sean, Dina, Maria, and
Anthony —you brought the DA to life and changed lives in the process. Thank you so much.
— Mindy Faber and Don LaBonte, Co-Directors of the Convergence Academies, Center for Community Arts
Partnerships, Columbia College Chicago, in partnership with Chicago Public Schools

6. 6
FINDINGS
SUMMARY

7. 7
BRETFORD.COM
In partnership with Archeworks and Bretford, Convergence Academies built Digital Ateliers (DA)
in two high need, traditionally low performing Chicago Public Schools (Tilden Career Community
Academy High School and Donald L. Morrill Math & Science Elementary School).
Over the last two and a half years, Convergence has conducted ethnographic observations with a
with a research team from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) School of Education.
The Digital Atelier Is An In-School, Student-Centered Makerspace That Provides:
• A safe, creative environment for students to learn and explore digital media
• Relationships with caring adults who are tech-savvy and artistic (digital media mentors)
• Innovative instructional approaches based on interest-powered learning
Key Findings:
“Connected learning,” in which students are free to explore topics that interest them
in an informal setting, is important to students’ academic and personal growth—and
schools can play a vital role in fostering this type of learning.
The design of learning spaces is critical to students’ success. When students have
access to flexible, comfortable learning spaces and are given a choice in their learning
tools, they are inspired to create and explore.
Mentors trained in a connected mentorship model play a significant role in building the
capacity of students and teachers to use digital media in support of learning.
The Digital Atelier motivates reluctant learners to attend school, resulting in improved
attendance and GPA.
Participation in the Digital Atelier increases students communication skills through a
variety of technologies and media.
Students who frequently visit the DA receive over 100 hours of additional informal learning
time while they’re at school each year.
Tilden Digital Atelier Student Participation Statistics:
• 74% of students used the Digital Atelier at least once during lunch or afterschool (2014-2015).
• There were 1,872 total visits during lunch periods and 2,200 total visits after school (2014-2015).
• Students with high participation rates in the Digital Atelier have higher attendance and higher
GPAs than those who do not participate at all (2015-2016).
[Source: Independent evaluation report by Rockman et al; CPS School collected data]

8. CHAPTER 1
CAN ‘CONNECTED
LEARNING’ HELP
SOLVE THE URBAN
EDUCATION CRISIS?
8

9. BRETFORD.COM
9
ONE

10. 10

11. DIGITAL ATELIERS STAFFED WITH DIGITAL MEDIA MENTORS AIM TO
BRIDGE THE GAP BETWEEN FORMAL AND INFORMAL LEARNING
FOR SOME CHICAGO STUDENTS
Larry is a public high school student in Chicago who loves composing music. “I try and
create a (new) beat every single day,” he said in a recent interview.
Like many students in Chicago, Larry lives in an under-resourced community that doesn’t
provide many opportunities to learn from a music professional. But thanks to a federally
funded program, this Tilden junior is able to pursue his passion during lunch or after
school with the help of a Columbia College mentor who shares his talents during free
time in the school’s new digital creative space.
Larry and other Tilden students are benefiting from a program to support experiential,
21st-century learning in two Chicago public schools, called Convergence Academies.
By connecting student interests to academics, the program is expanding traditional ideas
about education—while also raising achievement and giving urban students a greater
sense of purpose.
The Center for Community Arts Partnerships at Columbia College Chicago joined
with Chicago Public Schools on the program, which is making learning more active
and engaging by integrating digital media into both the culture and curriculum of the
participating schools.
With support from a $3 million Investing in Innovation (i3) grant from the U.S. Department
of Education, one of the program’s key components is the Digital “Atelier”, an innovative
space designed and implemented in Chicago’s Morrill Math and Science School, a K-8
elementary school, and Tilden, a high school serving grades 9-12.
These “maker” spaces have served as a hub for both formal and informal learning
experiences at the two schools.
BRETFORD.COM
11
ONE
Digital Atelier - an inviting student-centered, technology-rich space that encourages exploration, invention, and interaction inside schools.

12. During the day, teachers take their students into the Digital Atelier to complete
hands-on projects using technologies such as graphic design software, video editing
tools, electronics kits, and 3D printers.
After school, the ateliers provide a safe and comfortable place for students to gather and
explore 21st century skills under the guidance of artists and other professionals, called
“digital media mentors” (DMMs).
This blending of formal and informal learning is one of many aspects that
make the program unique.
Drawing from the 280 tools added to the Digital Atelier from 2013 - 2015, teachers more
confidently and frequently incorporated technology into their instruction and students
enhanced their media skills for passion-driven exploration and communication.
“Students learn in multiple ways,” said Mindy Faber, co-director of Convergence
Academies. Besides learning in the classroom, “they learn through their peer culture,
and their interests motivate their learning,” she explained. But schools traditionally have
not been very good at cultivating the learning that happens when the school day ends,
Faber said—and the Convergence Academies model could be one way to change that.
12
Digital Media Mentors (DMMs) - Contracted teaching artists with backgrounds in the media arts. Within the Convergence Academies,
DMMs were paired with Chicago Public School teachers to collaboratively design project-based and media-infused units.

13. “The creation of the Digital Atelier provided a powerful
space for learning, among both students and teachers, and
it was particularly advantageous to (and utilized by) students
with lower academic grades.”
- Rockman External evaluation Report
BRETFORD.COM
13
What schools
can learn from
the Convergence
Academies model
The Convergence Academies
model involves…
• A safe, creative environment
for students to learn and
explore digital media
• Relationships with caring
adults who are tech-savvy
and artistic (digital media
mentors)
• Innovative instructional
approaches based on
interest-powered learning
Key lessons learned:
1. “Connected learning,”
in which students are
free to explore topics that
interest them in an informal
setting, is important to
students’ academic and
personal growth—and
schools can play a vital
role in fostering this type
of learning.
2. The design of learning
spaces is critical to
students’ success. When
students have access to
flexible, comfortable
learning spaces and are
given a choice in their
learning tools, they are
inspired to create
and explore.
3. Mentors play a significant
role in building the capacity
of students and teachers
to use digital media in
support of learning.
ONE
55
Computers
25
Tablets
50
Media & Gaming
Resources
30
Maker Kits & Tools
120
Digital Media
Software Licenses
Tools of the Digital Atelier

14. 14
CONNECTED
LEARNING

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15
As the nation’s third largest school system, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) face the same
challenges that beset other large urban districts, including high poverty, greater student
mobility, and a large diversity of languages spoken. About a third of the city’s students
fail to graduate, although that number has been slowly rising this decade.
The Convergence Academies program aims to hasten that trend. It’s a whole-school
reform model based on the concept of “connected learning” advanced by UC-Irvine
researcher Mizuko (Mimi) Ito and others. Ito writes…
“Connected learning is realized when a young person is able to pursue a personal interest
or passion with the support of friends and caring adults, and is in turn able to link this
learning and interest to academic achievement, career success, or civic engagement.”
ONE
Connected Learning - “A model of learning that holds out the possibility of reimagining the experience of education in the information
age. It draws on the power of today’s technology to fuse young people’s interests, friendships, and academic achievement through
experiences laced with hands-on production, shared purpose, and open networks.” Credit: Connected Learning Research Network and
Digital Media & Learning Research Hub
0 100
Asian
Black
Hispanic
White
Other
1.7%
56.6%
26.9%
10.7%
4.1%
0 100
Low Income
Diverse Learners
Limited English
Mobility Rate
96.2%
35.9%
4.1%
36.3%
0 100
Asian
Black
Hispanic
White
Other
1.7%
56.6%
26.9%
10.7%
4.1%
0 100
Low Income
Diverse Learners
Limited English
Mobility Rate
96.2%
35.9%
4.1%
36.3%
Tilden High School Demographics
2015 - 2016 CPS data
Statistics

16. 16

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17
To apply this model within a school setting, the program consists of three
key components:
• A creative space for students to learn and explore digital media
• Relationships with caring adults who staff this space
• Redesigning of instructional approaches to take advantage of these resources
The program’s goals are to engage students more deeply in their learning, increase their
achievement in core content areas, improve their college and career readiness, and
develop important 21st-century skills such as communication, collaboration, problem
solving, and creativity.
The grant application’s original language focused on digital media integration, Faber said,
but this focus has evolved over time. “We realized it was so much more than that,” she
explained. “It’s not so much about the tools or the technologies that are being used,
but about the type of learning those tools enable.”
Program leaders now describe their focus as creating active, hands-on, and participatory
learning environments, in which students are given a choice in how to learn.
“We believe that kids need opportunities to become protagonists of their own learning,”
Faber said. When students have a greater sense of participation in their own learning,
they become more actively engaged citizens in a democracy, she asserted—and better
prepared for careers involving team-based work and creative problem solving.
“Kids are engaged outside of school in these connected learning experiences that are
very relevant and meaningful for them,” she said, “but in school, we don’t do that enough.
We’re so concentrated on a very narrow focus of what we understand learning to be,
which is knowledge consumption, that we don’t allow really good learning to take place.”
She added: “We’re trying to shift the way we think about teaching and learning.”
ONE
Space
Relationship Instruction
21st-century skills - A broad set of knowledge, skills, work habits, and character traits that are believed—by educators, school reformers,
college professors, employers, and others—to be critically important to success in today’s world (Credit: EdGlossary.org)

18. CHAPTER 2
USING INFORMAL
LEARNING TO DRIVE
STUDENT SUCCESS
18

19. BRETFORD.COM
19
TWO

20. 20
CONNECTED LEARNING CAN EXPAND OPPORTUNITIES FOR
LEARNING AND
SELF-EXPRESSION

21. BRETFORD.COM
21
THE LEARNING THAT HAPPENS OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM CAN
HAVE A PROFOUND IMPACT ON ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT.
BUT HOW CAN SCHOOLS LEVERAGE AND ENCOURAGE THESE
INFORMAL LEARNING EXPERIENCES?
Convergence Academies has a solution.
Thanks to technology and the Internet, students today have access to learning
opportunities “that were unimaginable just a generation ago,” writes Mimi Ito. And
many of these opportunities are being pursued outside of school: Teens are writing fan
fiction and submitting it to websites, watching YouTube videos to learn new skills, and
forming peer networks online to discuss and critique each others’ work.
Ito and other researchers call this kind of activity “connected learning,” and they are
interested in how connected learning can expand opportunities for learning and
self-expression, as well as how it relates to more formal academic achievement.
They’re also concerned about how the digital divide can widen the “opportunity gap”
between students who grow up with ready access to digital tools and resources
and those who do not.
While it’s clear that connected learning can lead to greater success in life, what isn’t
so clear is how schools can help bridge the gap between these formal and informal
learning experiences.
TWO

22. 22

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23
There are many programs that offer digital learning opportunities for students, such as
members of the Chicago Hive Network and Youth Radio in the Bay Area. But most of
these are community-based programs, said Mindy Faber, co-director of the Convergence
Academies program in Chicago—and few involve public school settings in which
students, teachers, and administrators are designing and engaging in connected learning.
The Convergence Academies program hopes to change that. With its Digital Atelier
spaces that are staffed by DMMs and are open to students after school, the program
aims to channel students’ interest in digital media in ways that develop important
21st century skills—while also closing the digital divide for students from
impoverished families.
But integrating connected learning within a school setting brings a number of challenges.
One of the hurdles faced by program leaders was how to provide a structure that exists
outside the traditional domain of school, yet still fosters deeper, richer learning.
“The metrics we use to measure success are very well established during the school day,
but we’re not being held to any standards or accountability in what students are doing
after school, and there is no set curriculum,” explained Don LaBonte, the program’s
other co-director.
“When students come into the space after school, and they are not being graded, how
can we encourage them to challenge themselves? Those learning pathways are not really
defined like they are in the classroom, and that has been our struggle: how to capture
what learning looks like within the atelier after school, and how to communicate that
to (stakeholders).”
TWO
It is almost impossible to quantitatively measure the impact the Digital Atelier
has had on students who utilize it. Qualitatively, I see students who are more
engaged, more confident in their abilities, and more willing to take risks in the
classroom. I see students who are learning to be leaders in the school.
Personally, I love the Digital Atelier. Aside from being physically safe, the kids are
emotionally safe because they have learned to respect one another’s differences
and strengths. In this space, kids take risks to explore themselves – their
interests, their dreams, and their fears. I believe the DA is saving lives,
figuratively, and literally.
“
” – Sharon Holmes, Tilden High School English teacher

24. 24
BUILDING
TEACHER
AND STUDENT
CAPACITY

25. BRETFORD.COM
25
Digital Media Mentor (DMM) Role
Critical to the success of the program have been the DMMs, who are like “artists in
residence”. They have diverse areas of expertise ranging from photography, video editing,
and graphics design to gaming, robotics and circuitry, and maker culture.
The role of the DMMs is to build the capacity of both students and teachers to use digital
media in support of learning. They work directly with students, encouraging their interests,
and showing them how to take their use of digital media to a whole new level—but they
also coach teachers to help them design and implement instructional units that take
advantage of these tools.
REDEFINING TEACHER ROLE
DMM Support of Teachers
“We’re trying to shift the idea of what a teacher is from a deliverer of content to a designer
of learning experiences,” Faber said. And the DMMs play a key role in this process.
Each of the teachers in the participating schools were offered 100 hours of professional
learning per year. Sixty of these hours were for formal learning experiences, such as a
three-day summer institute and other forms of structured professional development,
while 40 hours were devoted to one-on-one planning time with a DMM.
The DMMs serve as a “coach and supporter,” Faber said—which is essential when
teachers are trying a new approach. “It’s very anxiety-producing to try teaching a
different way,” she explained. “We knew that having those embedded supports was
going to be incredibly important for teachers to build their own creative confidence.”
Media integration specialists serve as liaisons between the teachers and DMMs. They
meet regularly with teachers to discuss their curriculum and how teachers can create
projects that integrate digital media to support the Convergence Academies’ six pillars
of instructional design: authentic participation, choice of expression, collaboration,
critical response, iterative learning, and play. Then, based on the ideas that come
from these conversations, the media integration specialists will pair teachers with an
appropriate DMM.
“It’s almost like matchmaking, because the relationships between the teachers and
mentors are so important,” Faber said.
TWO

26. 26

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27
With the help of DMMs, teachers are designing project-based units to support their
instruction. For instance, one English teacher taught a unit on Macbeth by having her
students remix the play for a modern-day audience using contemporary television
genres. Students used video creation tools in the Digital Atelier to record and edit
their productions—and in the course of their retelling, they were demonstrating their
understanding of the play.
“To remix a text, you really have to have a deep and nuanced understanding of it,”
Faber said. “You can’t remix it unless you understand the original intent.”
Program leaders have found that these informal professional learning opportunities—the
one-on-one sessions between the teachers and DMMs—have had the biggest effect on
changing teachers’ practices.
“We have seen more teacher growth and transformation from these informal coaching
sessions, as opposed to the sit-and-get professional development,” she said. “When
you put a teacher who has the content knowledge together with an artist who has the
process knowledge about how to do something in a hands-on way that engages kids,
then you have this great marriage. And these ideas come out that are just like, Wow!
Where did that come from?”
TWO

28. 28
AN ENVIRONMENT
TO SUPPORT NEW
TEACHING

29. BRETFORD.COM
29
TEACHERS ACQUIRE NEW STRATEGIES FOR LEADING
SELF-DIRECTED LEARNING
A recent professional development workshop held in the Digital Atelier at Tilden offers a
model for how teachers can learn to design and evaluate digital media projects, while
giving students the space to create and explore.
The full-day workshop was organized by the Chicago Public Schools’ Office of Arts
Education. During the workshop, about 20 teachers assumed the role of learners as they
completed challenges using tools such as robotics, photo and video editing software,
and graphic design software.
“Our goal was to help teachers make the connection between play, tinkering, and
discovery and how these lead to deeper learning experiences for students—all within a
safe space to learn and explore,” said Convergence Academies Co-Director Mindy Faber.
TWO

30. 30
Organizers set up the Digital Atelier with six different stations that teachers could explore
during the first part of the day. “We gave them time to play around with the software and
to see the expressive capabilities of each of those tools,” said Liz Radzicki, a media
integration specialist, who led the workshop.
At each station, teachers could assume one of four roles, depending on their comfort
level with technology: observer, dabbler, tinkerer, and innovator. Each teacher received a
challenge card with a task to complete at that station, based on the role they chose.
The tasks—which helped introduce teachers to each digital media tool—became more
complex as the roles progressed from observer to innovator. “Teachers completed the
activities as if they were the learner,” Radzicki said.
In the afternoon, participants formed small groups. Each group developed an idea for
a project they could assign to students, using the digital media tools they had explored
that morning.
The furniture in the Digital Atelier, supplied by Bretford, is modular in nature and is
designed to be moved easily to create flexible configurations. The teachers took
advantage of this ability by moving the furniture around to create their groups.

31. BRETFORD.COM
31
“We wanted to get teachers over the hurdle of moving the furniture and show them it was
OK to do that,” Faber said.
The workshop “allowed teachers to see what their students could do in a hands-on
environment, and how to manage and assess those activities,” said Margaret Conway,
another media integration specialist for the district.
In a post-event survey, 94 percent of teachers said the session was “highly effective”
in helping them learn new strategies for leading and assessing self-directed, interest-
driven learning.
“Many teachers said they would use these techniques in their classroom right away,”
Radzicki said.
“Please help set up a Digital Atelier at my school!” one teacher wrote. Another noted:
“This was high-quality, high-interest both personally and professionally.”
TWO

32. 32
STUDENTS
INVESTED IN
THEIR LEARNING

33. BRETFORD.COM
33
The Convergence Academies program is in the final year of its i3 grant, and external
evaluations suggest it is making an impact.
An external evaluation from Rockman et al is ongoing, but early results indicate that
reading and math scores on standardized tests have increased in most grade levels.
81%
74%
74% of Tilden students used the
Digital Atelier during lunch or after school
during the 2014-15 school year.
TWO

34. 34
Students have expressed that they translate skills they are learning in the DA to their
broader coursework.
0
I Strongly Agree
I Somewhat Agree
I Somewhat Disagree
I Strongly Disagree
2 4 6 8 10
4
9
11
45.8%
I have learned skills in the DA that I have used in my classes or schoolwork.
[ How strongly do you agree with the following? ]
I have learned new skills in media and technology in the DA.
[ How strongly do you agree with the following? ]
37.5%
16.7%
0%
12
I Strongly Agree 17 70.8%
Photo courtesy of Jacob Boll

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35
What’s more, there is excitement, engagement, and increased confidence among
students and teachers about connected learning at the schools.
Researcher Nathan Phillips from the University of Illinois-Chicago said he has seen rich
learning experiences taking place in the Digital Ateliers after school. “There is a lot going
on that is really positive,” he said.
“The work the mentors are doing to support individual learning is very powerful.”
At Tilden, 74 percent of students used the space after school or during their lunch
period during the 2014-15 school year. Students visited the space an average of 17
times during the course of the year, and one student came 138 times—resulting in
more than 300 additional hours of informal learning, Faber said.
TWO
0
I Strongly Agree
I Somewhat Agree
I Somewhat Disagree
I Strongly Disagree
2 4 6 8 10
4
9
11
45.8%
I have learned skills in the DA that I have used in my classes or schoolwork.
[ How strongly do you agree with the following? ]
I have learned new skills in media and technology in the DA.
[ How strongly do you agree with the following? ]
37.5%
16.7%
0%
12
0
I Strongly Agree
I Somewhat Agree
I Somewhat Disagree
I Strongly Disagree
4 8 12 16 20
1
6
17 70.8%
25%
4.2%
0%
Since coming to the DA, I am learning to get along better with others.
[ How strongly do you agree with the following? ]
0
I Strongly Agree
I Somewhat Agree
I Somewhat Disagree
I Strongly Disagree
4 8 12 16 20
1
6
17 70.8%
25%
4.2%
0%

36. What’s more, attendance at both schools has increased since the program began,
and especially at Tilden—where average attendance has increased from 76 percent
(2013) to 81 percent (2015).
36
81%
74%
76%
Tilden’s average attendance increased
since the program began in 2013.
2013
2015
0
I Agree
I Disagree
Not Sure
5 10 15 20 25
2
21 91.3%
Having the DA at Tilden makes me want to come to school more.
[ Do you agree or disagree with the following statements? ]
The DA is a place that belongs to me and other students at Tilden.
[ How strongly do you agree with the following? ]
0%
8.7%
I Strongly Agree
I Somewhat Agree
I Somewhat Disagree
6
18 75%
25%
0%

37. Scaling the
Convergence
Professional
Learning Model
• Tailored + Personalized
School administrators and
teachers choose what works
for their classroom, content,
students and style
• Community of Practice
Access coaches and collaborate
with colleages in a reflective
learning environment
• Resource Library
One stop shopping for
searchable lesson plans, rubrics,
activity guides, standards,
and curricula
• Self-Paced Learning
Access materials anytime,
anywhere to meet teacher
needs and schedules
• Earn Badges Based
on Competencies
Accomplishments acknowledged
and shared through shareable
micro-credentials
• Multimedia
Simulations, videos, discussion
forums, chat room - Google
Hangout all supported
within platforms
Source: Convergence Academies
CREATING A SUSTAINABLE,
COST-EFFECTIVE MODEL
Embedded staff supports such as those provided
by the Convergence Academies are costly,
Faber acknowledged, and program leaders have
been thinking about how to scale the program’s
successes—particularly in urban settings where
school budgets are stretched thin.
One thing they are doing is offering a series of
blended professional learning modules through a
partnership with VIF Learning Center, using VIF’s
Global Gateway platform. Teachers can
“try something out in their classroom with low risk
(and) low barriers of participation,” Faber said, while
receiving online feedback from mentors and earning
digital badges of accomplishment. “There’s not a
school in the country that couldn’t do this in a
cost-effective way,” she said.
Community partnerships can help as well. The
Convergence Academies program collaborates
with city youth and cultural organizations such
as Chicago’s Hive Learning Network, Ingenuity,
Generation All, Collective Shift, and the Cities of
Learning movement—and Faber said other urban
districts could follow suit.
BRETFORD.COM
37
TWO

38. “There are a lot of cultural organizations that are supporting connected learning
opportunities for kids,” she noted. “Maybe the schools don’t have the resources to staff
and support a space like the Digital Atelier, but collectively, as a city, we might—and we
need to figure out how to broaden access to new resources, especially for our most
vulnerable students.”
The results suggest it might be worth exploring these opportunities.
“If you thrust kids into situations where they have to take ownership of what they want to
learn and how they want to learn it, you will be surprised at how much investment they
have in the process,” LaBonte said. “We have seen students much more engaged and
invested in what they’re producing, because they see the value in it.”
Larry, the Tilden junior who likes to compose music, has broadened his skills with the
help of a mentor named Luke. “He’s amazing,” Larry said. “He knew all about music,
and he taught me so many things that I didn’t know, because music is way deeper than I
thought it was.”
The Digital Atelier “makes me want to come to school more, so I can be here and create
the things I want to create,” he said, adding that he wants to go to college and study
music producing or engineering. That wasn’t necessarily the case before.
“I want to stay in school for a long time,” he concluded. “I like it.”
38
0
I Agree
I Disagree
Not Sure
5 10 15 20 25
2
21 91.3%
Having the DA at Tilden makes me want to come to school more.
[ Do you agree or disagree with the following statements? ]
The DA is a place that belongs to me and other students at Tilden.
[ How strongly do you agree with the following? ]
0%
8.7%
0
I Strongly Agree
I Somewhat Agree
I Somewhat Disagree
I Strongly Disagree
4 8 12 16 20
6
18 75%
25%
0%
0%
I have created something I am proud of in the DA.
[ How strongly do you agree with the following? ]
0
I Strongly Agree
I Somewhat Agree
I Somewhat Disagree
I Strongly Disagree
4 8 12 16 20
3
7
14 58.3%
29.2%
12.5%
0%
The DA has helped me figure out what I want to do in my future?
[ How strongly do you agree with the following? ]
I Strongly Agree 15 62.5%

39. BRETFORD.COM
39
TWO
0
I Somewhat Agree
I Somewhat Disagree
I Strongly Disagree
4 8 12 16 20
6 25%
0%
0%
I have created something I am proud of in the DA.
[ How strongly do you agree with the following? ]
0
I Strongly Agree
I Somewhat Agree
I Somewhat Disagree
I Strongly Disagree
4 8 12 16 20
3
7
14 58.3%
29.2%
12.5%
0%
The DA has helped me figure out what I want to do in my future?
[ How strongly do you agree with the following? ]
0
I Strongly Agree
I Somewhat Agree
I Somewhat Disagree
I Strongly Disagree
4 8 12 16 20
9
15 62.5%
37.5%
0%
0%
Coming to the DA has helped me discover something new that I am
truly passionate about. [ How strongly do you agree with the following? ]
0
I Strongly Agree
I Somewhat Agree
I Somewhat Disagree
I Strongly Disagree
4 8 12 16 20
4
1
19 79.2%
16.7%
4.2%
0%

40. 40

41. BRETFORD.COM
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TWO
Why I Love the Digital Atelier
By Anthony James, Tilden senior
Having experience with technology is important. It’s all about technology now. In the
Digital Atelier, we have a Playstation 4, vinyl cutting, 3-D printing, and so much more.
Before I came to the atelier, I had seen 3-D printing on TV, but I never knew it was real. It’s
like MythBusters for me to have it here at school!
We have green screening! I always wanted to do it. The mentors will put you on this
website and it shows you step-by-step what to do. If you’re not the type of person to do
it step-by-step on your own, they will help you personally. They will sit there every step
of the way with you. Once you’re done, they will make you feel like you just completed
something important.
Plus, once you have that experience, you can actually help somebody else who doesn’t
know what they’re doing. After I learned how to do it, one of my teachers wanted me to
set up a green screen. None of the teachers and none of my peers knew how to do it,
but I did. My teacher asked me, “How did you know?”
“In the Digital Atelier they showed me,” I told her. Then she had me teach three other
freshmen how to do the same thing. That’s fun.
In the atelier, it doesn’t feel like we are being taught. Learning with the mentors is like
learning something fun with a friend.
The Digital Atelier has helped me get through my emotions. My junior year, I started to
get into fights and I dealt with a lot of peer pressure. But the atelier has been a breath of
fresh air. It’s a place to just go and calm my nerves, relax, and get my mind off everything.
It’s kind of like going to the gym. When I go in there, I have something academic and
educational to do, whether it’s making a button, or vinyl cutting, or – 3D printing.
Whatever I’m doing, I’m doing something productive. While I’m doing it, it’s getting my
mind off anger I sometimes feel. By the time I’m ready to leave, I forget about the situation
because I have had just such a great time in there. I think, “What was I even mad about?”
Between the Digital Atelier, my close friends, and other things going on at school, I
calmed down a lot. By the end of my junior year, people at school asked if I would
become a senior mentor. Now, I help nine underclassmen with their behavior, attendance,
and grades. Seeing how my mentors helped me has influenced how I work with my
mentees. I tried to make a strong first impression, build connections with them, and show
a lot of patience. Everyone should have patience with each other because people don’t
work all at the same pace.
Photo courtesy of Jacob Boll

42. CHAPTER 3
DESIGN OF THE
LEARNING SPACE
42

43. BRETFORD.COM
43
THREE

44. 44
WANTED: A SAFE,
INVITING PLACE
TO HOMAGO

45. BRETFORD.COM
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THE DESIGN OF THE DIGITAL ATELIER PLAYS A KEY ROLE IN THE LEARNING
THAT OCCURS THERE. HERE’S HOW:
The design of a learning space can have a profound impact on the learning that takes
place there, the Convergence Academies program demonstrates.
In the Digital Ateliers, the use of modular furniture from Bretford has led to flexible,
creative, and inviting spaces that enable a new kind of “connected learning” to take
place, in which students learn while collaborating with mentors or even just hanging
out with their friends.
In creating the Digital Ateliers, program leaders were inspired by the Reggio Emilia model
of early childhood education, which originated in Italy after World War II. Reggio Emilia
is based on the idea of giving students access to a rich array of materials and allowing
them to explore on their own through a self-guided curriculum.
“We took that model and brought it into our schools, with the idea that students could
explore digital media tools in the same way to foster their sense of identity, discovery,
and freedom,” said Mindy Faber.
Faber and her colleagues also were inspired by the makerspace movement, as well
as the “hanging out, messing around, geeking out” (HOMAGO) movement that is
grounded in Ito’s research on how kids learn today. “What (Ito) discovered is that the
freedom of kids to be able to select their own learning experiences… is really, really key,”
she said.
This HOMAGO theory is being put into practice in a number of libraries, Faber said—
including the Harold Washington Library Center in Chicago, which built a space for teens
only called YOUmedia. YOUmedia spaces now exist in 10 other Chicago Public Library
branches as well.
“We went to YOUmedia, and we were saying this needs to be inside schools,” Faber said,
noting that many of the city’s youth don’t feel safe traveling downtown to hang out in a
library. Students need a safe, convenient place to gather and engage in informal learning
experiences, she said—and schools provide a perfect location for this.
THREE
HOMAGO (hanging out, messing around, geeking out) - An experiential learning theory based on research by Mimi Ito on how youth learn
in new and social media environments.

46. 46
Researcher Nathan Phillips from the University of Illinois-Chicago has been observing the
activity in the Digital Ateliers for more than 30 hours, and he said the flexibility of these
spaces “makes learning possible in ways that would be difficult or impossible in most
traditional classrooms.”
For example, he said, teachers “set up camp” on soft couches so that students who are
working in the computer lab can come to them to share and discuss work. Teachers and
mentors can observe other teachers and mentors working in the space and gather ideas
that Phillips has seen them discuss and implement later. Teachers, mentors, and students
also rearrange the easily movable Bretford furniture to create impromptu groupings—and
having chairs on wheels “means mentors and students can move quickly between one
workstation and another to ask a question or help out with an issue,” he noted.
What’s more, the furniture and other spatial arrangements of these rooms creates “social
spaces for feeling comfortable, feeling safe, being with friends, being challenged, (and)
wanting to learn,” Phillips said.

47. BRETFORD.COM
47
For example, “the high-back couches facing each other make possible a sort of
cornered-off hangout space in the midst of the atelier. The tables set up in the center
of the room make a kind of showcase space for performances like chess; the television
for gaming is a gathering space for fun with friends; (and) the whiteboard and couches
are for collaborative work together.”
The modular furniture from Bretford makes it easy for students to form quick collaborative
groups or break off individually to do their own thing. And the power supplies that are
embedded in the tables and soft seating allow them to sit anywhere and still plug in a
laptop or other digital device for working. But there is another, equally important benefit
derived from this furniture, Faber said: The use of comfortable seating creates a warm,
inviting environment that draws students into the space and inspires their creativity.
“We asked ourselves how can this space show love to the young people who come here.
How can it communicate an authentic commitment to their opportunity to learn what
they are most passionate about.”
The schools were built several decades ago, and much of the infrastructure around the
students is crumbling, Faber said, adding: “These kids have rarely had comfortable
places to sit and just chill.”
The combination of the technology and the layout of the space is calming for students
and lets them focus on whatever they need to focus on, said Luke Sequeira, a digital
media mentor at Tilden.
“Real learning happens in these casual spaces,” he said in a video interview. “You kind
of come in and learn at your own pace, and you’re self-directed. And I think self-directed
learning is extremely powerful, because no one can inspire you to learn the things that
you want to learn more than yourself.”
The Digital Atelier has become “an escape for students at Tilden,” wrote Kathleen Tieri
Ton, a “Digital Atelierista” who is responsible for managing its space, resources, and
staff, in a recent blog post. “It became a change in their day, somewhere they could
go to and do what they do—whether it be decompressing, connecting with others,
exploring something new, or expanding on something they began in their class.”
Spaces were always important to Tieri Ton as a student. “In high school, I felt
disenfranchised by the culture of the school,” she wrote. “And I found my solace in
spaces within the building that were directly related to activities I enjoyed—the
darkroom, the light booth. Places where the purposes were explicit, but also allowed
for me to just be.”
THREE
Digital Atelierista - The manager of the Digital Atelier who ensure the equipment is organized and accounted for and guide students and
teachers in their use of the unique and open learning space.

48. 48

49. The Digital Atelier has assumed that role for many
Tilden students, she noted. One reason is that the
space feels somehow separate while still being in
the school.
“Being in the school took away limitations that some
students face because they are unable to travel
to places beyond school or home for a multitude
of reasons—safety, permission, confidence,
financial…,” she wrote. “But it didn’t feel like other
spaces in the school. It looked different. The colors,
the furniture, the quality of the space is a big change
from the rest of the building.”
Also, the resources in the Digital Atelier “respect
the students as sophisticated learners,” she
added. “The furniture is beautiful. The cameras are
professional. The computers work. The software is
top of the line… I believe wholeheartedly that the
resources in the Digital Atelier—technological and
spatial—empowered the students to participate and
learn because they felt respected and given the
proper tools.”
BRETFORD.COM
49
The design
of learning
spaces is
critical to
students’
success.
The Digital Atelier provides
a safe, comfortable place
for students to learn,
explore, or just hang
out and discover their
identity—with flexible
seating that can be
configured to
meet a variety of
spontaneous needs.
“Real learning happens in
these casual spaces.
You kind of come in and
learn at your own pace,
and you’re self-directed.
And I think self-directed
learning is extremely powerful,
because no one can inspire
you to learn the things
that you want to learn
more than yourself.”
– Digital Media Mentor Luke Sequeira
THREE

50. A
A
B
B
B
B
A
E
G
F
G
H
I
I
F
J
J
K
K
L
L
M
M
M
F
A
A
50
A SPACE TO PLAY
AND EXPLORE
A
A
B
B
B
B
A
E
G
F
G
H
I
I
F
J
J
K
K
L
L
M
M
M
F
A
A

51. DM
F
F
F
N
P
BRETFORD.COM
51
The design of learning spaces plays an important role in this shift. “When we put kids in
rows all facing the front of the room, that’s good for classroom management—but it’s
not necessarily good for learning. They become passive rather than active participants,”
said Don LaBonte.
That’s where the Digital Ateliers come in. “We wanted them to be spaces powered by
creativity and play, making a new kind of learning possible,” Faber said.
Faber enlisted the help of Archeworks, a Chicago-based multidisciplinary design school
that advances design in the public interest, to design the ateliers with input from students
and teachers.
“We asked kids about their hopes and dreams for the space,” Faber said. “Archeworks
also developed a toolkit so other schools could build similar spaces.” The result, she
said, is a “physical manifestation of connected learning” that is inspired in part by the
“maker” culture.
One of the challenges designers faced was resolving the tension between what students
and their teachers wanted from the space. Teachers who were used to a traditional
classroom layout favored a more structured learning environment, where they could see
all students as they worked on their computers. Students, on the other hand, wanted
spaces for collaboration—but also some private areas for doing independent work.
THREE
“Maker” Culture - A contemporary, technology-based extension of the “Do It Yourself” or DIY culture. (Definition derived from Wikipedia)

52. 52
As a compromise, designers of the space divided it into two parts. One side looks more
like a traditional computer lab, but with soft seating and tables for collaboration—while the
other side is a more informal space for students to lounge and quietly explore technology
on their own.
Equipment in the space includes computers, tablets, and video monitors; robotics and
electronics kits; a 3D printer; a vinyl cutter; and multimedia production equipment such
as cameras, tripods, a green screen, lighting, keyboards, and turntables. Adobe Creative
Suite is available on all the computers, allowing for video editing and graphic design.
The furniture, from Bretford, includes comfortable seating options, tables on casters that
can be moved around easily, and electrical outlets built into the table tops and soft seating
for students to plug their digital devices into. All of the furniture is modular and can be
arranged in flexible groupings to support collaboration as needed.
While the space is used for project-based learning during the day, after school, students
can hang out and learn digital skills with the help of DMMs who hold professions as digital
artists and filmmakers outside of their mentoring role.
The space is open until 5:30 p.m., and students can drop in as they want; it’s supervised
by up to three DMMs each day.
Aided by the Bretford furniture, the flexibility of the space makes learning possible in ways
“that would be difficult or impossible in most traditional classrooms,” said Nathan Phillips.

53. BRETFORD.COM
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Phillips said the modular furniture allows for a variety of interactions between students
and mentors.
The Digital Atelier spaces support a more hands-on, constructivist approach to
education, while allowing students to continue their learning when the school bell ends.
Perhaps more importantly, these students from low-income families now have “places
where they can relax, develop caring relationships with adults, and explore their own
identities,” Faber said.
THREE
CREATIVE
ENVIRONMENT
TEACHER-LED
LEARNING
ENVIRONMENT
Storage Zone
Hang-out
Zone
Autonomous
Play Zone
Hang-out
Zone
Presentation Zone
Constructivist - A theory of knowledge that argues that humans generate knowledge and meaning from an interaction between their
experiences and their ideas.

54. CHAPTER 4
MENTORING
54

55. BRETFORD.COM
55
FOUR

56. 56
LESSONS
FROM THE
GAMING WORLD

57. BRETFORD.COM
57
Program leaders have borrowed a concept from the gaming world: presenting students
with a set of skill-based challenges and inspiring them to “level up” as they complete
progressively harder tasks.
At Tilden, program leaders have created a website that lists multiple challenges for
students to engage in during their time in the Digital Atelier. Each challenge is a miniature
lesson created by one of the DMMs to introduce a skill or a new digital tool, such as
“Critique a Photo,” “Create a Story from Random Images,” or “Arrange a Beat
in Garageband.”
Each challenge indicates a number of “leaderboard points” that can be earned when
students complete the task. Students can use these points to redeem rewards (such as
gift cards) or to earn the chance to use resources in the Digital Atelier (such as using the
3D printer or going on YouTube). The leaderboard is posted prominently in the Digital
Atelier and is also publicly visible on the website, with students ranked by the points
they’ve earned.
FOUR

58. Presenting opportunities for informal learning in a game-based “challenge” format has
led to greater engagement and participation, said Phillips.
“Throughout my observations, I have seen students taking up new challenges that
lead them to become interested in new tools or in developing new skills,” Phillips said.
“For example, students who spend time on Adobe Illustrator drawing characters…
identify new tasks for themselves that leverage these skills for new projects,
like creating a poster.”
The academic gains made by Tilden students suggest a connection between the learning
happening in the Digital Atelier and the learning happening inside the classroom—and
schools are missing a key opportunity to engage their students if they aren’t leveraging
these kinds of informal learning experiences as well as more formal ones, Faber said.
58

59. “We see something very powerful that happens with
these approaches to skill development in informal
settings,” she said. “We like the challenge of taking a
theory like connected learning and bringing it to life
in a school. Nobody’s doing that—and it’s crazy that
nobody’s doing that.” - Mindy Faber
BRETFORD.COM
59
Connected
learning is
important to
students’
growth–
and schools
can play a
key role.
To implement connected
learning within a school
setting, Convergence
Academies leaders have
borrowed a concept from
the gaming world:
presenting students with
a set of skill-based
challenges and inspiring
them to “level up”
as they complete
progressively harder tasks.
“We see something very
powerful that happens
with these approaches
to skill development in
informal settings.”
– Convergence Academies Co-Director
Mindy Faber
FOUR

60. 60
WHAT THE CONVERGENCE ACADEMIES
PROGRAM REVEALS ABOUT
EFFECTIVE
MENTORING

61. BRETFORD.COM
61
DIGITAL MEDIA MENTORS CHALLENGE STUDENTS TO
EXPAND THEIR LEARNING BY LOOKING FOR OPPORTUNITIES
TO INTRODUCE ‘PROGRESSIVE COMPLEXITY’
In establishing spaces designed for informal learning opportunities within two Chicago
public schools, the Convergence Academies program walks a “fine line,” said
Don LaBonte.
On one hand, the Digital Ateliers are intended to be “an informal drop-in space” for
students to hang out in after school, he said—but on the other hand, program leaders
also want to “push those kids into avenues they might be interested in” and deepen
their learning.
Program leaders are encouraging this type of informal, connected learning through both
the physical design of the space and the structures they have created for it—that is, the
leaderboard challenges that induce students to “level up” in pursuit of knowledge that
aligns with their interests. DMMs who staff the space are equally as important to
this process.
“If a student comes in and is excited about video games, the digital media mentor might
say, ‘Oh, you might be interested in using a video game editing tool,’” LaBonte said.
Since the Convergence Academies program began in 2013, program leaders have been
working with the DMMs to find ways of interacting with students that are most effective—
and what they have learned could prove useful for other youth mentoring initiatives.
FOUR

62. 62
“The DA is a student community where play, critical thinking,
and creativity collide. Students explore their own learning
pathways. And that’s where the lifelong journey begins.”
– Maurice Swinney, Tilden High School principal
Photo courtesy of Jacob Boll

63. BRETFORD.COM
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In their research into connected learning, Mizuko Ito and others wrote: “One of the
more powerful features of connected learning environments is that they link interest to
expertise by creating a need to know, a need to figure out how to create, share, or access
something related to (a participant’s) interest. Participants develop expertise in order
to access resources that are available, but just out of reach. They are motivated to take
up the challenge either because the problem context itself is engaging, or because it
connects to an existing interest or passion of theirs.”
This is the dynamic that DMMs are trying to tap into as they steer students toward
challenges that will engage them. But how do the DMMs foster this “need to know”
among the students who drop by the Digital Atelier? Making this task even harder for
the DMMs, they are not in control of who shows up, or when.
“The Digital Atelier is more of an after-school space than an after-school program,” wrote
DMM Dawn Graham in a blog post. “Students can drop in when they are able or feel like
it. But we can never be sure how often a student will come by or how long they will stay.”
In other words, mentorship in the Digital Atelier is about connecting with students at a
particular moment in time, said Nathan Phillips—and knowing when to engage and push
further, and when to back off. A guiding principle that the DMMs have found effective in
navigating this territory is known as “progressive complexity.”
This model comes from Digital Youth Network, which is part of Chicago HIVE. The
framework includes four principles of effective adult-youth interactions, Phillips said:
connection (developing a socio-emotional bond with students), reciprocity (establishing
a two-way street of youth-adult voice and opinions), progressive complexity (challenging
youth to learn and improve in areas of interest), and empowerment (encouraging and
supporting youth leadership and agency).
As a group, LaBonte and the DMMs have decided to focus on progressive complexity
in particular, Phillips said—looking for how they could improve the “leveling up”
opportunities they make available to students in the Digital Atelier after school.
FOUR
Progressive Complexity - Scaffolding content within an interaction or scaffolding learning opportunities in unstructured settings.

64. 64
In their moment-by-moment interactions with students, the DMMs “expertly construct
challenges” for students by gradually expanding the boundaries of learning opportunities
as these opportunities arise, Phillips said. This takes a lot of careful observation and skill
on the part of the DMMs.
In a research paper, Phillips described one example he saw in the Digital Atelier at
Tilden. The example involves a DMM named Eve and a student named Olivia. When
Eve discovered that Olivia was interested in photography, she sought to expand
Olivia’s understanding of the topic.
“Eve gave Olivia a digital camera, showed Olivia some basics, and then watched as
Olivia walked around the room taking pictures,” Phillips wrote. “As Olivia took pictures,
Eve looked up from time-to-time from what she was doing and offered tips and
explanations. At one point, Eve discussed how ‘digital zoom’ works
and reminded Olivia to ‘keep that wrist strap on.’

65. “After Eve watched Olivia for several minutes, she asked
Olivia, ‘What’s the most interesting thing for you to take
pictures of in the room?’ Olivia replied, ‘Computers.’
Eve then challenged Olivia to take five different-looking
pictures of computers. Olivia came back to show Eve
five pictures she had taken, each identical to the others,
and Eve sent her off again, saying, ‘No. They have to be
totally different pictures.’”
“Olivia spent the next 30 minutes taking different
pictures. Towards the end of the day in the DA, Olivia
showed Eve what she had created. They sat down
together to look at the pictures and to talk about how
Olivia could improve them next time she was in the
DA. The way in which Olivia took up the challenge
and checked in with Eve to see how she was doing is
evidence that Olivia viewed this as a learning opportunity.
Eve’s push back (‘No. They have to be totally different
pictures’) was an explicit boundary pushing move that
challenges Olivia to continue to learn.”
Phillips concluded: “Language, artifacts, and spatial
configurations in the DA are leveraged to expertly
construct challenge by mentors from moment
to moment.”
The way mentors interact with students in the Digital
Ateliers “has been really powerful,” LaBonte said.
“I’m really proud of how our mentors have come in
and pushed those kids into areas they never would
have been exposed to before.”
BRETFORD.COM
65
Mentors play
a significant
role in building
the capacity
of students
and teachers
to use digital
media.
In their moment-by-moment
interactions with students,
the Digital Media Mentors
“expertly construct
challenges” for students
by gradually expanding
their learning opportunities
as these opportunities
arise – a process known as
“progressive complexity.”
The way mentors interact
with students in the Digital
Ateliers “has been really
powerful. I’m proud of how
our mentors have come in
and pushed those kids into
areas they never would
have been exposed to before.”
– Convergence Academies Co-Director
Don LaBonte
FOUR

66. APPENDIXBIOGRAPHIES, RESOURCES, AND GLOSSARY
66
ABOUT CONVERGENCE:
Convergence Academies is an initiative of the Center for Community Arts
Partnerships at Columbia College Chicago. It was seeded by a U.S. Department
of Education Investing in Innovation grant to create and implement a whole school
reform model in two high need, traditionally low performing schools to support
21st Century learning through digital media and technology integration
in curriculum, instruction, and school culture at large.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
www.convergenceacademies.org
convergenceacademies@colum.edu
Twitter: @ConvergenceAcad
facebook.com/convergenceacademies
Center for Community Arts Partnerships
Columbia College Chicago
600 S. Michigan Avenue
Chicago, IL 60605
(312) 369-8850
www.colum.edu
ccapinfo@colum.edu

67. BRETFORD.COM
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Since 2012, Convergence Academies has conducted research with outside evaluator Rockman et al and
University of Illinois at Chicago School of Education faculty, collecting evidence of the Digital Atelier’s
impact on student learning, youth identity development, school culture, and teacher innovative practice.
University of Illinois at Chicago Research Methods
Researchers: Nathan C. Phillips and Virginia Killian Lund
Ethnographic qualitative data collection for the 2014-2015 school year and the 2015-2016 school year
included more than 60 hours of observations during DMM meetings and in the DA after school. We
attended DMM meetings weekly during spring and fall 2015, and during this time frame we typically
stayed after the DMM meetings (1-1.5 hours) to observe students and DMMs interact during the
entire after-school session (2 hours). During observations, Nathan (in year one) and Virginia (in year
two) recorded field notes on a laptop while sitting in a chair in the room—usually against a wall.
Activity during the after school program was video recorded while one of the mentors wore a wireless
microphone. Still photographs of key activities and artifacts were collected. Mentor meetings were
also audio recorded. Some segments of mentor meetings were video recorded. For example, while
it was typically the case that everyone sat together around a table to talk during the mentor meeting,
sometimes the mentors watched video together or conducted demonstrations, and these kinds
of interactions were video recorded. In addition to observations, we recorded informal and formal
interviews with key stakeholders including DMMs, Convergence staff, and community partners.
We are currently conducting additional interviews.
Rockman et al Research Methods
Senior Researcher: Adam Moylan
The independent evaluation of Convergence Academies by Rockman et al (REA) involved both an
impact study and an implementation study. The impact study examined evidence of changes in
school-level achievement in math and reading using a pre-post design for test elementary achievement
and an interrupted time series design without comparison for the high school achievement. The study
also examined potential improvements in college readiness at the high school level. The implementation
study involved a systematic measurement of the fidelity of program implementation. It also included an
investigation of school-level changes in students’ knowledge and skill levels in creating and responding
to digital media content, as well as in college and career readiness; and it included an examination
of school-level changes in teachers’ instructional practice through questionnaires, classroom
observations, and interviews/focus groups. Program records were used to gather attendance data at
the project professional development sessions, to gather curricula, and to gather examples of students’
project-based work in digital media.
Student and teacher questionnaires administered at the start of the project in Fall 2013 and in Spring
2014 and Spring 2015. New students and teachers in school year 2014-15 were administered the
respective questionnaire in Fall 2014 and Spring 2015. These questionnaires assessed perceptions
about experiences and outcomes in the Convergence project, including their beliefs and attitudes, as
well as some basic demographic information. There were site visits each Fall and Spring to observe
a sample of classrooms and other school areas to gather data about digital media integration. REA
conducted student interviews or focus groups in spring 2014 and spring 2015.
RESEARCH METHODS

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Liz Radzicki
Media Integration Specialist
Twitter handle: @LizRadzicki
As a media integration specialist for Convergence, Liz
leads professional development sessions, collaborates with
teachers on incorporating digital media into the classroom,
and designs participatory curricula for youth and educators.
Liz has been a teaching artist, classroom teacher, museum
educator, program manager, and instructional coach in
schools and communities in Providence, RI; Austin, TX; and
throughout Chicago. Liz has a BA in Education from Brown
University and a MA in Management from Columbia College,
with a focus in Arts in Youth and Community Development.
APPENDIX
BIOGRAPHIES
Don LaBonte
Co-Director
Twitter Handle: @DLaBee
As a co-director of Convergence Academies and an
employee of Chicago Public Schools (CPS), Don manages
and builds relationships within the CPS ecosystem to
support and sustain the project. He also facilitates program
evaluation plans by providing student data for federal
reporting purposes. Prior to Convergence, he was a
curriculum designer and teacher for ChicagoQuest Schools,
a teacher for University of Chicago Charter School, and a
senior patrol agent for the US Department of Homeland
Security. Don holds a BA in Psychology and Sociology
from the University of Iowa and MA in Teaching from
National-Louis University.
Mindy Faber
Co-Director
Twitter Handle: @mindyfaber
As a co-director of Convergence Academies, Mindy
develops and refines the vision of the project while planning
for sustainability, overseeing budgets, fundraising and
grant reporting. Prior to Convergence, she served as the
Video Data Bank associate director at the School of the
Art Institute of Chicago, taught media arts at Evanston
high school, founded Open Youth Networks, served as
Academic Manager of the department of Interactive Arts
and Media at Columbia College and co-chaired the Chicago
Youth Voices Network. She has been highly recognized for
her media arts work, including a George W. Foster Peabody
Prize and a Rockefeller Intercultural Media Fellowship.
Mindy holds an MFA in Art and Technology from the School
of the Art Institute of Chicago and a BA in Liberal Arts with
a concentration on Media Production and Critical Analysis
from the University of Kentucky.

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Margaret Conway
Media Integration Specialist
Twitter handle: @margaretkconway
As a media integration specialist for Convergence, Margaret
leads professional development sessions, collaborates with
teachers on incorporating digital media into the classroom,
and designs participatory curricula for youth and educators.
Prior to Convergence, she taught at ChicagoQuest Schools,
served as an arts integration specialist at Chicago Teachers
Center, and coordinated a student apprenticeship program
at Free Street Theater. Margaret holds a BA in Social
Science and Spanish from the University of Michigan and
an MA in Educational Theatre from NYU.
Luke Sequeira
Digital Media Mentor
Twitter handle: @NEYENmL
As a Digital Media Mentor for Convergence Academies,
Luke mentors teachers and students in music production,
design software and maker culture. He also serves as the
program coordinator for Adobe Youth Voices in Chicago,
the Head of Music Technology at The Opus Institute,
and the Lead Project Manager for the Elder Tree. He has
a BA in Law from Purdue University but spent most of
his time in the music technology labs teaching himself
the fundamentals of the recording arts, theory, DJing,
and music technology. For over 20 years he has studied
music, vibration, sound and its impact on culture through
independent inquiry and formal private piano instruction
with Stacey De and Company.
Nathan Phillips
Researcher (UIC)
Twitter handle: @nathancphillips
Nathan is an assistant professor of literacy, language,
and culture in the College of Education at the University
of Illinois at Chicago. He studies space and place as they
relate to literacy and learning—particularly youth learning.
He received his PhD in language, literacy, and culture from
Peabody College at Vanderbilt University and holds a BA
and MA in English from Brigham Young University.

70. 70
APPENDIX
Kathleen Tieri Ton
Lead Digital Atelierista (no longer staff)
Twitter Handle: @mstieriton
Kathleen is an art and media educator, with over 10 years of
experience ranging in school and community settings. As
an educator, her interests and pursuits include developing
curricula and learning spaces that foster inquiry, expression,
interdisciplinary learning, and remain rooted in social
justice. She has a MAT in Art Education from Columbia
College Chicago.
Dawn Graham
Digital Media Mentor (no longer staff)
Twitter Handle: @dawnzillamonstr
As a digital media mentor for Convergence Academies,
Dawn mentored teachers and students in photography.
She has a BFA in Studio Arts and BA in Gender Studies
from the University of Kentucky and has additional
certifications in transformative social work from the
University of Vermont.
Sean Owens
Digital Atelierista
Sean is an educator, digital media mentor, and learning
pathways developer. He is also a talented jazz trumpet
player and sound artist who started Lounge Fidelity
Recordings with label partner PJ Alton. Through his
educational work he has facilitated workshops in digital
music, recording arts, digital photography, video and
media literacy.
Kelsey Greene
Manager of Learning Resources
Twitter handle: @kelseylgreene
As the manager of learning resources for Convergence
Academies, Kelsey provides daily assistance to the
Co-Directors in the development of new and emerging
initiatives through grant writing and communications while
disseminating the success of the project through research
reports and marketing. Prior to Convergence she developed
and taught media education curriculum in Rhode Island and
New York. She serves on the leadership council for NAMLE,
has a BA in Documentary Production from Ithaca College
and a EdM in Education Studies from SUNY University
at Buffalo.
BIOGRAPHIES

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Convergence working in the open blog
http://convergenceacademies.postach.io/ Digital Atelier toolkit PDF
Convergence Vimeo account
https://vimeo.com/convergenceacademies
Relevant videos:
Interest driven Learning video - https://vimeo.com/125221896
Digital Atelier Closeup #1 video - https://vimeo.com/142892870
Chapter 1: Can ‘Connected Learning’ Help Solve the Urban Education Crisis?
Tilden Career Community Academy - http://tilden.cps.edu/
Columbia College - http://www.colum.edu/
Partnership for 21st Century Learning - http://www.p21.org/index.php
VIF Learning Center - https://www.viflearn.com/
Chapter 2: Using informal learning to drive student success
Connected Learning Article - http://dmlhub.net/wp-content/uploads/files/Connected_Learning_report.pdf
Chicago Hive Network - http://hivechicago.org/ and Youth Radio in the Bay Area - https://youthradio.org/
Tilden Digital Atelier website - https://tildenda.wordpress.com/
Chapter 3: Wanted: A safe, inviting place to HOMAGO
Reggio Emilia philosophy - http://www.education.com/reference/article/Ref_Reggio_Emilia/
HOMAGO: A Guidebook - http://dmlcentral.net/resources/homago-a-guidebook/
Harold Washington Library Center - http://www.chipublib.org/locations/15/
YOUmedia - http://www.chipublib.org/youmedia/
YOUmedia spaces - http://youmedia.org/locations/
Chapter 4: Convergence Academies offering a new model of mentoring
Progressive Complexity in the Digital Atelier HIVE post - http://hivechicago.org/progressive-complexity-digital-atelier/
Connected Learning Article - http://dmlhub.net/wp-content/uploads/files/Connected_Learning_report.pdf
Progressive Complexity in the DA Convergence blog post - http://convergenceacademies.postach.io/post
/progressive-complexity-in-the-da
Hive Chicago Learning Network website - http://hivechicago.org
CONVERGENCE ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS
RESOURCES
Rukiya Curvey-Johnson - Director of the Office of Teaching and Learning, STEM School
Developer/Incubator, Chicago Public Schools
Elyse Eidman-Aadahl - Director, National Programs and Site Development at National Writing Project
Antero Garcia - Assistant Professor at Colorado State University
Lucy Gray - Founder of Global Education Collaborative
Erica Halverson - Assistant Professor at University of Wisconsin-Madison
Renee Hobbs - Founding Director and professor at Harrington School of Communication and Media,
University of Rhode Island
Kathleen Tyner - Associate Professor, Dept. of Radio-Television-Film at The University of Texas at Austin
Julie Keane - Head of Research at VIF International Education

72. 72
Publications
Archeworks. (2015) New practice partnership with Convergence Academies: Digital Atelier toolkit. Retrieved from
https://www.archeworks.org/files/news/Archeworks_Newsletter_2014-15.pdf
Cannon Design. (2014). Greatest challenges: Design and the digital divide.
Faber, M., Gray, L., & Richards, K. (in progress). Convergence Academies.
Machado, E., & Woodard, R. (under review). Professional development in a digital age.
Phillips, N., Woodard, R., & Machado, E. (in progress). Connected learning in public schools: Exploring the ‘challenge
is constant’ design principle.
Pierce, Dennis. (2015). 3 ways mobile technology is transforming learning spaces. THE Journal. Retrieved from
https://thejournal.com/articles/2015/08/25/3-ways-mobile-technology-is-transforming-learning-spaces.aspx>
Woodard, R., Phillips, N., Machado, E., & Lund, V. (in progress). Designing and enacting connected learning for equity.
Presentations
Bannon, B., Faber, M., & Yowell, C. (2015 November). Education and youth in the 21st century. Panel presented at
Brookings Fall Board of Trustees Meeting. Chicago, IL.
Eggebrecht, C., Faber, M., Kobza, C., & Wolfe, E. (2015, October). Rethinking learning spaces: The transition from high
school to college to lifelong learning environments: Dell think tank. Symposium presented at Educause. Indianapolis, IN.
Faber, M., LaBonte, D., Phillips, N., Richards, K., Smirnov, N., & Woodward, R. (2015, June). Building a connected learning
model within Chicago public schools. Symposium presented at DML. Los Angeles, CA.
Phillips, N. (2015, April). Challenge/s in mentoring: Social and spatial boundaries of challenge in a connected learning
space in an urban high school. In Connected Learning in Chicago Public Schools. Symposium presented at the
American Educational Research Association. Chicago, IL.
Phillips, N. (2015, May). Mentoring in a digital design studio in an urban high school. In Connectedmentor.com. Symposium
presented at DML. Los Angeles, CA.
Phillips, N. (2015, May). Possibilities, challenges, and successes in mentoring in a connected learning space in an urban
high school. In Building a Connected Learning Model in Chicago Public Schools. Symposium presented at DML.
Los Angeles, CA.
Phillips, N. (2015, December). Designing and enacting connected learning for equity in a digital media arts studio within an
urban high school. In Designing for Equity and Connected Learning. Symposium presented at the Literacy Research
Association. Carlsbad, CA.
Phillips, N. (2015, December). Layered pathways of disciplinary learning in a design studio within an urban high school.
In Reimagining Boundaries and Trajectories of Disciplinary Literacies. Symposium presented at the Literacy Research
Association. Carlsbad, CA.
Phillips, N., Richards, K., Smirnov, N., & Woodward, R. (2015, April). Connected learning in Chicago public schools.
Symposium presented at AERA. Chicago, IL.
Woodard, R. (2015, May). It’s all about relationships: Connected learning professional development that builds a culture
of collaboration between digital media professionals, teachers, and administrators. In Building a Connected Learning
Model in Chicago Public Schools. Symposium presented at DML. Los Angeles, CA.
Woodard, R., Phillips, N., & Machado, E. (2016, April). Teachers and digital media mentors engaging in “constant challenge”
as connected learners. In Educators and Mentors as Connected Learners. Symposium to be presented at the American
Educational Research Association. Washington, DC.
APPENDIX
RESOURCES CONTINUED

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Intellectual Property
Convergence Academies and its contents were developed under a grant from the U.S.
Department of Education, Investing in Innovation (i3) Program. However, those contents do not
necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education, and you should not assume
endorsement by the Federal government.
© 2016 | All Rights Reserved | Columbia College Chicago,
Center for Community Arts Partnerships
All photos courtesy of Convergence staff unless otherwise noted.

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