Literacy, Media, Technology - by Becky Parry & Cathy Burnett & Guy Merchant (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Literacy, Media, Technology considers the continued significance of popular culture forms such as postcards, film, television, games, virtual worlds and social media for educators. Following multiple pathways through technological innovation, the contributors reflect on the way in which digital and portable devices lead to new and emerging forms of reading, participating and creating. Rejecting linear conceptualisations of progression, they explore how time is not linear as technological advances are experienced in multiple ways linked to different personal, social, political and economic trajectories. The contributors describe a range of practices from formal and informal education spaces and interrogate some of the continuities and discontinuities associated with literacy, media and technology at a time when rapidly evolving communicative practices often meet intransigence in educational systems.

The chapters adopt diverse forms: historical perspectives, personal story and reflection, project reports, document analysis, critical reviews of resources, ethnographic accounts, and analyses of meaning-making within and beyond educational institutions. Together, they provide multiple insights into the diverse and fluid relationships between literacy, media, technology, and everyday life, and the many ways in which these relationships are significant to educational research and practice.

Review Quotes

A compelling guide to how literacy, media and technology have converged. Read it to understand how communication practices have changed. Prescribe it for students to challenge their assumptions about available technologies. Recommend it to doctoral candidates to push their thinking in new directions.
Ilana Snyder, Emeritus Professor, Faculty of Education, Monash University, Australia

Highlighting provocative connections between our present day literacy practices and those from the past, this engaging and thought-provoking collection of essays uncovers valuable insights about how we shape, and are shaped by, media and technology. Calling attention to troubling gaps between media research and educational practice, the volume has important implications for curriculum and pedagogy.
Carrie James, Lecturer, Harvard Graduate School of Education, Harvard University, USA

About the Author

Becky Parry is Research Fellow at the University of Nottingham. She is author of Children, Film and Literacy (Palgrave, 2013).

Cathy Burnett is Professor of Literacy and Education at Sheffield Hallam University, UK. She has published widely in the field of literacy and technology and is on the editorial boards for Literacy and Journal of Early Childhood Literacy.

Guy Merchant is Professor of Literacy in Education at Sheffield Hallam University, UK. He is widely published and known internationally for his work on literacy and digital technology.