CALL FOR PAPERS: SPECIAL ISSUE OF THE JOURNAL OF MEDIA LITERACY EDUCATION
The Journal of Media Literacy Education invites submissions for a special theme issue exploring the relationship between media literacy and digital media and learning. Children and young people are growing up with new forms of media and communication technology that are unfamiliar to many parents and teachers. Scholars are making significant efforts to document
the way young people play and socialize online. 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.
You are invited to submit manuscripts that explore the topic of digital media and learning in ways that connect with the practice and pedagogy of media literacy education. 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 do those who explore digital media and learning conceptualize the various protectionist-empowerment positions?
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 which frames media and technology use in terms of middle-class values and cultural norms? How are issues of political economy get learned and taught in relation to social media tools like YouTube and Facebook? 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?
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. You may contact the editors with any questions at editor@jmle.org
