Electronic communication is radically altering literacy practices. Silicon Literacies unravels the key features of the new communication order to explore the social, cultural and educational impact of silicon literacy practices.
Written by leading international scholars from a range of disciplines, the essays in this collection examine the implications of text produced on a keyboard, visible on a screen and transmitted through a global network of computers. The book covers topics as diverse as role-playing in computer games, the use of graphic symbols in on-screen texts and Internet degree programmes to reveal that being literate is to do with understanding how different modalities combine to create meaning.
Recognising that reading and writing are only part of what people have to learn to be literate, the contributors enhance our understanding of the ways in which the use of new technologies influence, shape and sometimes transform literacy practices.

The education of marginalised peoples and communities is a topic of great contemporary importance. Closing the Gap in Education? increases our understanding of the nature and challenges of marginalisation in southern world societies. The book also canvasses possible directions for change that might improve the social participation of young people. It is both timely and distinctive. Closing the Gap in Education? emanates from a conference organised by the Monash Institute for the Study of Global Movements, in partnership with Monash South Africa, held in 2009 at Monash s Johannesburg campus. Leading scholars and public figures from Australia, South Africa and New Zealand participated. The authors provide illuminating accounts of marginalisation which point to the inadequacy of many current educational policies. Several contributors question the usefulness of notions of closing gaps and bridging divides, suggesting alternate ways to frame the debates. In explaining the key terms marginalisation, gaps, divides, peripheries the contributors consider capabilities, social practices, neo-liberalism, human capital theory, raciology, redistribution, the education debt, the politics of hope, history as a cultural resource and other concepts. They do so as academics and activists committed to social justice in education. The achievement of social transformation is particularly emphasised. Closing the Gap in Education? makes a most important contribution to understanding education in marginalised communities. It is a thought-provoking work, relevant to all readers interested in education, policy, government, global, media and indigenous studies.

Due to enhanced mobility, students more than ever before have the option to study abroad. Higher proportions of students are drawn from countries outside the home bases of universities; and tertiary institutions have become increasingly dependent for their financial viability on the revenues derived from these students. As a result, an activity that has historically been evaluated in terms of its contribution to the public good is now more likely to be assessed through the application of business and marketing principles. The character of the higher education experiences in many countries, including South Africa and Australia, have also been dramatically changed by the increasing diversity and cosmopolitanism associated with the flow of students from a range of countries. In this book, a timely and distinctive collection of papers enhances understanding of the complex issues associated with international education in globalizing times. The book's contributions come from a conference at Monash University's Johannesburg campus in November 2010. The focus of the conference was international students in South Africa and Australia. A distinctive feature of the conference was the theme of racism in its many forms that has attracted much media attention, particularly in Australia. Drawing on a range of social theories, the book analyzes key issues that have demanded attention in this area, thereby helping to move the field forward. It provides detailed accounts of international education, questioning the adequacy of many current higher education policies, including the Australian government's related current immigration policy. It also challenges the current emphasis on international education as a commodity rather than as a public good and proposes alternate ways of framing the debates and formulating policies.

Hypertext, e-mail, word processing: electronic technologies have revolutionized textual practices. How does language on screen work differently from language on the page? What new literacy skills are needed and how do we teach them?
Page to Screen collects some of the best contemporary thinkers in the field of technology and literacy. They analyze the potential of the new forms of text, the increased emphasis on visual communication, new forms of rhetoric, learning in the age of global communication networks and new approaches to storytelling.
Page to Screen is compelling reading for anyone interested in Literacy Education, Language Studies, English, Library Studies, Multimedia and Communication Studies.
International contributors include Gunther Kress, Cynthia Selfe and Gail E. Hawisher.