Michael L. Dezuanni

The Building Blocks of Digital Media Literacy: Socio-Material Participation and the Production of Media Knowledge.

This article outlines the knowledge and skills students develop when they engage in digital media production and analysis in school settings. The metaphor of ‘digital building blocks’ is used to describe the material practices, conceptual understandings and production of knowledge that lead to the development of digital media literacy. The article argues that the two established approaches to media literacy education, critical reading and media production, do not adequately explain how students develop media knowledge. It suggests there has been too little focus on material practices and how these relate to the development of conceptual understanding in media learning. The article explores empirical evidence from a four-year investigation in a primary school in Queensland, Australia using actor–network theory to explore ‘moments of translation’ as students deploy technologies and concepts to materially participate in digital culture. A generative model of media learning is presented with four categories of building blocks that isolate the specific skills and knowledge that can be taught and learnt to promote participation in digital media contexts: digital materials, conceptual understandings, media production and media analysis. The final section of the article makes initial comments on how the model might become the basis for curriculum development in schools and argues that further empirical research needs to occur to confirm the model’s utility.

Redstone Is Like Electricity: Children's Performative Representations in and around "Minecraft".

This article investigates 8- and 9-year-old girls’ use of the popular game Minecraft at home and school, particularly the ways in which they performatively ‘bring themselves into being’ through talk and digital production in the social spaces of the classroom and within the game’s multiplayer online world. We explore how the girls undertake practices of curatorship to display their Minecraft knowledge through discussion of the game, both ‘in world’ and in face-to-face interactions, and as they assemble resources within and around the game to design, build and display their creations and share stories about their gameplay.

Copyrights and Creative Commons Licensing: Pedagogical Innovation in a Higher Education Media Literacy Classroom

This article examines the role of copyrights in contemporary media literacies. It argues that, provided they are ethical, young peoples engagement with text should occur in environments that are as free from restriction as possible. Discussion of open culture ecologies and the emergent education commons is followed by a theorisation of both literacy and copyrights education as forms of epistemology - that is, as effects of knowledge producing discourses and practices. Because Creative Commons licenses respect and are based on existing copyright laws, a brief overview of traditional copyrights for educators is first provided. We then describe the voluntary Creative Commons copyright licensing framework (‘some rights reserved’) as an alternative to conventional ‘all rights reserved’ models. This is followed by an account of a series of workshop activities on copyrights and Creative Commons conducted by the authors in the media literacy classes of a preservice teacher education program in Queensland, Australia. It provides an example of a practical program on critical copyrights that may be adapted and used by schools and other higher education institutions.

Fostering digital participation and communication through social living labs: a qualitative case study from regional Australia

ABSTRACT This qualitative case study explores the potential of social living labs to foster digital participation and communication among regional and rural communities. The context is Townsville, North Queensland (Australia) – one of the first communities connected to Australia’s National Broadband. The study focuses on two cases: inaugural social living lab events related to social interests identified by local residents. Drawing on interview and observation data, the study’s findings present a snapshot of digital participation and associated learning needs among this community. It also models a novel social living labs approach whose emphasis on informal learning differentiates it from more established living labs models that have a technological or product focus. This social living labs approach could be of interest to community developers, educators and residents. Addressing digital divide, it supports digital capacity building in Townsville and other regional and remote communities around Australia and the world.

‘These Are My Photos of When I Was Little’: Locating Media Arts in the Primary School Curriculum

‘Media arts’ has been included as a fifth area of the arts for the new Australian Curriculum which will become mandatory learning for all Australian children from pre-school to Year Six (Y6) from 2014. The current curriculum design is underpinned by an approach familiar to media educators who combine creative practice and critical response to develop students’ media literacies. Media arts within the Australian Curriculum will place Australia at the forefront of international efforts to promote media education as an entitlement for all children. Even with this mandated endorsement, however, there remains ongoing debate about where to locate media education in school curricula. Historically, media education in Australia has been approached through diverse curriculum activities at the secondary school level. These include the critical literacy objectives of subject English; vocationally oriented media and technology education or ICTs education; and Arts courses using new media technologies for creativity. In this chapter we consider the possibilities and challenges for media arts, specifically for primary school student learning. We draw on empirical evidence from a research project that has trialled a media arts curriculum with students attending a primary school in a low socio-economic status (SES) and culturally diverse community on the outskirts of Brisbane, Queensland.

Social living labs for digital participation and connected learning

Digital and new media technologies are profoundly reshaping how people communicate, seek entertainment and education, conduct commercial activity and access community-based services. Digital technologies are almost ubiquitous in postindustrial societies, and considerable research illustrates that those at risk of social and economic marginalization are especially vulnerable to digital nonparticipation or underparticipation, which potentially compounds disadvantage and lack of opportunity. People rely on digital media and technology as part of their everyday lives in order to: stay informed; remain connected to family, friends and community; purchase goods and services; gain an education; participate as digital citizens; seek employment or remain employed in contemporary work settings; access government services (see Chapter 2: Cultivating (Digital) Capacities: A Role for Social Living Labs?, Chapter 4: Going Digital: Integrating Digital Technologies in Local Community Initiatives and Chapter 10: Pittsworth Stories: Developing a Social Living Lab for Digital Participation in a Rural Australian Community).

A Deweyan Experience Economy for Higher Education: The Case of the Australian Indie 100 Music Event

In this essay we argue that a Deweyan experience economy will best support the higher education (HE) sector in the future, and we draw a contrast between that economy and the sector’s current focus on informational concerns, as expressed by the recent rush to Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and other mass online informational offerings. We base our argument on current developments in music education and music technology that we see as being preemptive of wider trends. We use examples from a three-year study of online and offline music pedagogies and outline a four-year experiment in developing a pedagogical experience economy to illustrate a theoretical position informed by John Dewey’s theory of experience,Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of habitus and capital, and recent work in economic geography on epistemic communities. We argue further that the future of the HE sector is local rather than global, experiential rather than informational, and that therefore a continued informational approach to the future of HE risks undermining the sector.; ;

Pittsworth Stories: developing a social living lab for digital participation in a rural Australian community

This chapter provides insights into a social living lab that aimed to foster digital participation in a rural Australian community in southeast Queensland, Australia. Research illustrates the importance of digital participation initiatives for social participation and social mobility, particularly for individuals who may be identified as being ‘at risk’ of nonparticipation. The Pittsworth Stories social living lab was codesigned by university researchers, local residents and a digital media facilitator to assist older residents to engage with digital technologies through interest-driven participation. This chapter provides an overview of the implementation of the social living lab and the benefits it provided for local residents.

Digital Storytelling for Community Participation: The Storyelling Social Living Lab

This chapter outlines a social living lab initiative led by the Fostering Digital Participation (FDP) project that aimed to encourage digital participation among a particular group of community members in the regional centre of Toowoomba (Queensland, Australia). Fostering digital participation through a social living lab model and methodology that uses social inclusion and digital connectivity differentiates this project from established living labs approaches that are typically designed more for industrial or commercial applications. Drawing on interview and observational data, the chapter discusses the processes and outcomes of a digital storytelling social living lab. The chapter provides a detailed outline of how the living lab was conducted and includes an analysis of the work produced by the young people involved in the social living lab. It also offers reflections on why the social living lab was a success, as well as the difficulties, challenges and insights for future practice.

Towards understanding young children’s digital lives in China and Australia

This article develops insights and generates new lines of inquiry into young children’s digital lives in China and Australia. It brings to dialogue findings from a national study of young childrens digital media use in urban settings in China with findings from studies in Australia. This is not presented as a direct comparison, but rather as an opportunity to shed light on children’s digital lives in two countries and to account for the impact of context in relatively different social and cultural circumstances. The article outlines findings from a study of 1,171 preschool-aged children (3 to 7-year-olds) in six provinces in China, including the frequency of their use of television, early education digital devices, computers, tablet computers and smartphones, music players, e-readers and games consoles. It also focuses on various activities such as watching cartoons, using educational apps, playing games and participating in video chat. Methods included a multistage sampling process, random selection of kindergartens, a weighted sampling process, the generation of descriptive data and the use of linear regression analysis, and a chi-square test. The study demonstrates the significance of a range of factors that influence the amount of time spent with digital media. The contrast with Australian studies produces new insights and generates new research questions.