New Media in the Classroom

Cathy Burnett is Professor of Literacy and Education at Sheffield Institute of Education, Sheffield Hallam University where she leads the Language and Literacy in Education Research Group. Her research interests focus on relationships between technology, literacy and education. A previous editor of Literacy, she has published widely in the areas of literacy, technology and education, including the co-edited collections New Literacies around the Globe: policy and pedagogy (2014), Literacy, Media, Technology: past, present and future (2017) and The case of the iPad: Mobile literacies in education (2017). She is President Elect of the United Kingdom Literacy Association. Guy Merchant is Professor of Literacy and Education at Sheffield Institute of Education, Sheffield Hallam University. He specialises in research into digital literacy and the inter-relations between children and young people, and new technologies of communication. He is widely published in international journals and is a founding editor of the Journal of Early Childhood Literacy. The ground-breaking Web 2.0 for Schools was co-authored with Julia Davies, and he has since co-edited a number of collections including Virtual Literacies (2013), New Literacies around the Globe (2014), Literacy, media, technology: past, present, future (2017) and The Case of the iPad (2017). He is active in literacy education and professional work, including writing curriculum materials and professional publications.

Chapter 1: The challenge of 21st century literacies Chapter 2: Acknowledge the changing nature of meaning making Chapter 3: Recognise and build on children's linguistic, social and cultural repertoires Chapter 4: Acknowledge diverse modes and media Chapter 5: Recognise the affective, embodied and material dimensions of meaning making Chapter 6: Encourage improvisation and experimentation Chapter 7: Use playful pedagogies Chapter 8: Create opportunities to work with the provisionality of digital media Chapter 9: Provide contexts that facilitate criticality Chapter 10: Promote collaboration around and through texts in negotiating meaning Chapter 11: Making the future together

Two established and innovative scholars partnered with classroom practitioners to generate new knowledge of how to support expansive meaning making for children in contemporary times-what's not to love? The book's pedagogical principles are essential and expertly explicated and illustrated. This book will be cherished by academics, students, and teachers. -- Rachel Heydon In this significant new text, Cathy Burnett and Guy Merchant foreground the affective, embodied and emergent nature of making meaning with new media. They offer fascinating examples of children and young people engaged in improvising their way forwards as they compose and collaborate in different digital environments. Illuminating the playfulness and provisionality involved, the authors skilfully show teachers how to create space for such experimentation, enabling children to engage both creatively and critically in this digital age. -- Teresa Cremin This book is a great read for educators and folks concerned with the impact on digital technologies on young people's literacy learning. It grapples with all the main questions teachers are asking about how and whether to incorporate communication technologies into their curriculum. It offers a set of principles to consider when working with new media in the classroom, which are both ethical and pragmatic. Burnett and Merchant's writing is uncluttered, entertaining and wise. I can imagine teacher study groups, staff meetings and seminars organized around this very helpful book. While these authors are exploring new theoretical ground in their scholarship their treatment of this complex area is light, accessible and fresh. -- Barbara Comber This an exciting publication that offers authentic approaches for educators to meet challenges of the literacy that students need in our evolving digital landscape. Cathy and Guy apply ongoing educational research to justify their proposal of a "Charter for 21st Century Literacies". While acknowledging extant polarisations and tensions, the nine principles of their Charter are designed around specific pedagogical approaches that allow for the diversity of students, their environment and the media. Through each chapter the authors demonstrate the need for classrooms to enable "creative, collaborative and experimental meaning making that draw on different elements of one's communication repertoire". Examples are offered to demonstrate the multidimensional potential of literacy across linguistic, media and social contexts. -- Dr Maureen Walsh