meme™ jr. — Experimental Media for Kids!

Live digital media performance (also called video jamming or VJ-ing) is a new, global, cultural phenomenon. It is an art form currently below the cultural radar, yet we see it in very conspicuous places, as backdrops to live music concerts and televised events.

meme™ jr. opens this world of creativity and digital media exploration to young people, by creating a laboratory environment for experimentation, within a structured sequence of learning experiences.

meme™ jr. challenges students to create visual art, animation, music, and narrative while developing their skills in performance, collaboration, and developing interactive software. meme™ jr. is an online application that runs on any browser, and allows kids to upload their own material and play it in their classroom lab, or to even present it as a live performance!

Created by Florida Atlantic University Professor Joey Bargsten, meme™ jr. is a project intended to help young people explore the possibilities of interactive digital media through live performance. It's both an online application, and a curriculum for junior high to high school students to guide them in discovering the interplay of sound, images, and words.

The lab is an environment where young people will create their own jams— both visual and sonic material — which can then be played on the meme™ jr. software—The Digital Stuff-Making Machine!

The software allows kids to mix their jams just by pressing keys on the computer keyboard, but they can also mix in live video, and live music using traditional instruments, voice, or even the iPod touch. If fully funded, the meme™jr program will develop a free, open-source version of the mixing software which can be controlled by multitouch devices like the iPad.

By creating a lab environment for experimentation, meme™ jr. is what art class will look like in the 21st century!