Journal of Media Literacy Education Call for Papers

JMLE invites submissions for a special theme issue exploring the relationship between media literacy and digital media and learning. New norms of online participation are emerging as part of child and adolescent socialization. However, some scholars with interests in digital media and learning position their work at a distance from the practice of media literacy education, privileging the study of user behavior, social connectivity and participation and dismissing practices associated with message interpretation, critical analysis and inquiry, and communication skill development. In this issue, we are interested in exploring both the areas of disjuncture and areas of overlap, aiming to conceptualize new ideas that may fuel the development of both fields. Your work may be framed around scholarship and practice in education, media studies, cultural studies, or other fields.

Some issues we hope the manuscripts may consider:

• How do media literacy’s structured, formal and critical practices of reading texts/contexts/cultures map onto new forms of participation and engagement in social media environments?
• How does learning about young peoples’ out-of-school literacy practices with digital media support the development of in-school programs?
• Why are aspects of mass media and popular culture generally absent from discussion about digital media and learning?
• How are new online tools (including those for remix, screen capture, commenting, and collaborative writing) shifting the role of media production practices both in and out of the classroom?
• Is the focus on digital “tool competence” contributing to another kind of “technicist trap?”
• How does scholarship in digital media and learning address issues of representation and cultural difference?
• Is digital citizenship a new set of life skills or a form of moral education that frames media and technology use in terms of middle-class values and cultural norms?
• How do messages about media literacy and about the value of digital media and learning resonate with journalists, policymakers, school leaders, teacher, parents and children and young people themselves?

Call for Papers: Special Issue
For the special issue, the Journal will consider articles, essays, and book reviews related to the theme. We encourage submissions from scholars, professionals, and educators at any level and in any discipline. Contributors are encouraged to query the editors in a short email describing their papers to determine suitability for publication. Contributors are invited to make submissions at any time on the JMLE website at http://www.jmle.org. Final date for all volume 2 issue 2 submissions is June 1, 2010. Guidelines for submission are available at: http://jmle.org

Video Diaries Across Borders and Platforms

The Center for Social Media highlights a fascinating project called Havana-Miami. The site features video diaries contrasting people who live in Havana and who live in Miami. This project shows how prevalent working in various media is for students, as The Center for Social Media explains:

These stories about work, family, sports, love, separation and connection appear three times a week on a social networking site that allows users to comment, embed and export videos and upload their own video and photographs. (The site has been receiving 50,000-60,000 hits per week.) Both production teams include training for young media makers. The US stories are shot by undergraduate honors students at the University of Miami’s School of Communication, trained by graduate students. The Havana team is led by a professional Cuban documentary filmmaker and include Cuban film school graduates.

This project also shows how valuable non-print media can be for academic studies.

Study: How The American Public Benefits from Internet and Computer Access at Public Libraries

The report, Opportunity for All: How the American Public Benefits from Internet Access at U.S. Libraries (pdf), is based on the first, large-scale study of who uses public computers and Internet access in public libraries, the ways library patrons use this free technology service, why they use it, and how it affects their lives. It was conducted by the University of Washington Information School and funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

The executive summary (pdf)  is only 12 pages long and worth a complete read.  Some key points I pulled out:

• Over the past year, 45 percent of the 169 million visitors to public libraries connected to the Internet using a library computer or wireless network during their visit
• As the nation struggled through a historic recession, nearly one-third of the U.S. population over the age of 14 used library Internet computers and those in poverty relied on these resources even more
• The library’s role as a technology resource has exploded since 1996, when only 28 percent of libraries offered Internet access.
• up to a third of all libraries say they lack even minimally adequate Internet connections to meet demand. More report that they cannot provide the access their patrons truly need
• 44 percent of people in households living below the federal poverty line ($22,000 a year for a family of four) used public library computers and Internet access.
• Among young adults (14–24 years of age) in households below the federal poverty line, 61 percent used public library computers and Internet for educational purposes.
• Among seniors (65 and older) living in poverty, 54 percent used public library computers for health or wellness needs.

My personally favorite fact

nearly two-thirds of library computer users (63 percent) logged on to help others.

Recommendations from the report:

• State and local government should include libraries in comprehensive broadband deployment and adoption strategies.
• Business and government agencies should engage libraries in economic and workforce development strategies.
• State and local education reform initiatives should partner with and invest in public libraries to broaden educational opportunities for K-12 students and adults.
• Public and private health officials and organizations should support the public library as a partner in disseminating health and wellness information and as a resource for future health communications research.
• Federal, state, and local government agencies should support libraries as points of access for eGovernment services. Government agencies are moving a
• Support technology services that build communities.

Evernote for Every Literacy

Read Buffy Hamilton’s fulll post on supporting transliteracy with Evernote

Multimodal Fluency: Classroom to the Cloud