About our grantmaking
The digital media and learning initiative aims to determine how digital media are changing the way young people learn, play, socialize and participate in civic life. Answers are critical to education and other social institutions that must meet the needs of this and future generations.
Latest news
January 19, 2011
Lady Gaga and her mother, Cynthia Germanotta, will officially launch the Born This Way Foundation on February 29 at an event co-hosted by MacArthur and Harvard’s Berkman Center. With a special emphasis on reaching youth through digital media, the new foundation will focus its efforts on promoting self-confidence, mentoring, career development, and general well-being while also discouraging bullying among young people.
More »
December 7, 2011
The Consortium for School Networking has selected 13 school districts to participate in a collaborative effort to share experiences, challenges and best practices for innovative uses of new media in K-12 education.
Read the press release »
Press Releases
November 17, 2011
MacArthur, in partnership with the Institute for Museum and Library Services, selected the first 12 winners of a national competition to build 21st Century teen learning labs in museums and libraries around the country.
Read the press release »
Read about the 12 locations »
Press Releases
November 7, 2011
They are always on their cells or tapping away on laptops and tablets. They create and plan their social lives digitally and can find the right app for anything. But for all their perceived savvy, many teenagers haven’t begun to explore technology’s vast potential for learning. In recent years, museums, libraries, and other nonprofits have stepped into the breach, but much more can be done. In a major effort to expand the possibilities for digital learning, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and The New York Community Trust created the Hive Digital Media Learning Fund in 2010.
Read the press release »
More about Hive Learning Network NYC »
November 2, 2011
MacArthur will partner with Lady Gaga's Born This Way Foundation to raise the profile of issues related to digital media and learning.
Read the
press release »
September 15, 2011
The 4th annual Digital Media and Learning Competition will provide $2 million in grants to leading organizations, learning and assessment specialists, designers and technologists to create and test badges and badge systems. Read the press releaseor watch video of event »
Digital Media & Learning, Press Releases
August 5, 2011
Heather Weiss of the Harvard Family Research Project discusses her work assessing how MacArthur's grantmaking has impacted the field of digital media and learning. Specifically, she is looking at how MacArthur support is helping to create influential principles, practices, infrastructure, leaders, networks, and prototypes for more connected learning environments with demonstrable outcomes for youth. Read the Q&A »
Video
Sign up 
Phone: (312) 726-8000