In recent years, some educators have witnessed a decline in the attention span and work ethic of their students. Students have become passive participants in their education. What has caused this shift away from engagement? One thought is that the passivity is a symptom of the programming directed at youth. The multi-media barrage of fast-paced imagery on television and the web is inundated with advertising, entertainment, and information. Educators find themselves lowering their standards, repeating skills previously taught, and fighting the pull of inactivity where information and entertainment are delivered to the viewer and the viewer is passive. Looking objectively at this problem, the solution is to use the cause to change the effect. Teachers must demystify programming to create an active learning environment. This can be accomplished by using the media and communicative arts as a teaching tool. This article describes how this can be done through what the author calls "layering", the process of taking a standard school project and adding significant dimension to it.