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The social success skills valued and ultimately acquired by youth during their formative years can be better understood by examining the social spaces, processes, and interactions that are related to their personal aspirations and related media experiences. Using a phenomenological approach, I conducted a year-long multi-case study about two Black male high school students’ thoughts on social success, their aspirations, their social experiences, and their experiences with media. The participants were selected using purposeful sampling. I collected data through semi-structured interviews, focus groups, and observations. I performed analyses by using the hermeneutic cycle which requires one to repeatedly read text, write reflections, and interpret data (Kafle, 2011; Laverty, 2008). Findings suggest that my participants’ aspirations held influence over the type of media content with which they chose to engage. Additionally, their thoughts about social success were influenced by their family members’ personal life experiences and the skills their family members valued. Moreover, their sociocultural contexts influenced their evolving thoughts on social success while their media served as resources to help them process their thoughts about social success and help them pursue their goals.

Morality originates in dispositions and attitudes formed in childhood and early adolescence. Fantasy play and both the perspective taking and interpersonal negotiation of conflicts that it affords, have been causally linked to the development of moral reasoning and a theory of mind. A closer examination of the self-regulated processes involved implicates a number of contributing factors that video games and virtual worlds are well suited to encourage. The authors present recommendations suggesting the ways in which such technology can facilitate moral development by supporting and simulating diverse social interaction in ways leading to the promotion of self-efficacy, critical thinking, and consequential decision making.

Critical race media literacy refers to the ability to 1) recognize negative stereotypical portrayals of historically oppressed groups in media, 2) question media producers’ intentions, and 3) produce media content that does not perpetuate stereotypes. Critical race media literacy can be taught in many college classes, but an undergraduate education course that utilizes a multimodal approach to teach students about the various ways learning occurs in the digital age is an excellent opportunity to develop this skill in undergraduates. This article provides specific examples of teaching techniques used in an undergraduate course about technological media and arts-based inquiry.

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