The growth of interest in virtual worlds and other online spaces for children and young people raises important issues for literacy educators and researchers. This book is a timely and much-needed collection of current research in the area. It provides a synthesis of knowledge and understanding and will be a key resource for scholars, students and teachers, particularly those interested in digital literacies. The work presents a coherent vision of current knowledge, and some of the most engaging, empirical research being undertaken on virtual worlds and online spaces in and beyond educational institutions. It contains international studies from the UK, North America and Australasia.

This is an important time for those researching virtual worlds, videogaming and Web 2.0 technologies, since there is growing professional interest in their significance in the education and development of children and young people. Whether these technologies are solely associated with informal learning or whether they should be incorporated into classroom contexts is hotly debated. This book provides a principled evaluation and appreciation of the learning, teaching and instruction that can occur in digital environments, showing children, young people and those who work with them as active agents with possibilities to navigate new paths.

This bold, forward-thinking text offers a clear rationale for the development of curricula and pedagogy that will reflect young people's in-school and out-of-school popular culture practices. By providing a sound theoretical framework and addressing popular culture and new technologies in the context of literacy teacher education, this book marks a significant step forward in literacy teaching and learning. It takes a cross-disciplinary approach and brings together contributions from some of the world's leading figures in the field. Topics addressed include: children's popular culture in the home informal literacies and pedagogic discourse new technologies and popular culture in children's everyday lives teachers working with popular culture in the classroom. This book illustrates the way in which literacy is evolving through popular culture and new technology and is an influential read for teachers, students, researchers and policy makers.

The growth of interest in virtual worlds and other online spaces for children and young people raises important issues for literacy educators and researchers. This book is a timely and much-needed collection of current research in the area. It provides a synthesis of knowledge and understanding and will be a key resource for scholars, students and teachers, particularly those interested in digital literacies. The work presents a coherent vision of current knowledge, and some of the most engaging, empirical research being undertaken on virtual worlds and online spaces in and beyond educational institutions. It contains international studies from the UK, North America and Australasia. This is an important time for those researching virtual worlds, videogaming and Web 2.0 technologies, since there is growing professional interest in their significance in the education and development of children and young people. Whether these technologies are solely associated with informal learning or whether they should be incorporated into classroom contexts is hotly debated. This book provides a principled evaluation and appreciation of the learning, teaching and instruction that can occur in digital environments, showing children, young people and those who work with them as active agents with possibilities to navigate new paths.

Recent work on children's digital cultures has identified a range of literacies emerging through children's engagement with new media technologies. This edited collection focuses on children's digital cultures, specifically examining the role of play and creativity in learning with these new technologies.

The chapters in this book were contributed by an international range of respected researchers, who seek to extend our understandings of children's interactions with new media, both within and outside of school. They address and provide evidence for continuing debates around the following questions: What notions of creativity are useful in our fields? How does an understanding of play inform analysis of children's engagement with digital cultures? How might school practice take account of out-of-school learning in relation to digital cultures? How can we understand children's engagements with digital technologies in commercialized spaces?

Offering current research, theoretical debate and empirical studies, this intriguing text will challenge the thinking of scholars and teachers alike as it explores the evolving nature of play within the media landscape of the twenty-first century.

Popular culture, media and new technologies are having an increased influence on the lives of children and young people, yet this is not adequately reflected in teaching and the literacy curriculum. This bold, forward-thinking text offers a clear rationale for the development of curricula and pedagogy that will reflect children and young people's out-of-school popular cultural practices.
By providing a sound theoretical framework and addressing popular culture and new technologies in the context of literacy teacher education, this book marks a significant step forward in literacy teaching and learning. It takes a cross-disciplinary approach, and brings together contributions from some of the world's leading figures in the field. Topics addressed include:
- children's popular culture in the home
- informal literacies and pedagogic discourse
- new technologies and popular culture in children's everyday lives
- teachers working with popular culture in the classroom
This book illustrates the way in which literacy is evolving through popular culture and new technology, and will be an influential read for teachers, students, researchers and policy-makers.

This book offers a range of perspectives on children's multimodal experiences, providing a ground-breaking account of the ways in which children engage with popular culture, media and digital literacy practices from their earliest years. Many young children have extensive experience of film, television, printed media, computer games, mobile phones and the Internet from birth, yet their reaction to media texts is rarely acknowledged in the national curricula of any country. This seminal text focuses on children from birth to eight years, addressing issues such as: * media and identity construction * media literacy practices in the home * the changing nature of literacy in technologically advanced societies * The place of popular and media texts in children's lives and the use of such texts in the curriculum. By exploring children's engagement with popular culture, media and digital texts in the home, community and early years settings, the contributors look at empirical studies from around the world, and draw out vital new theoretical issues relating to children's emergent techno-literacy practices. With an unmatchable team of international experts evaluating topics from text-messaging to the Teletubbies, this book is a long-overdue, fascinating and illuminating read for policy-makers, educational researchers and practitioners, and crosses over to appeal to those in the linguistics field.

This book offers a range of perspectives on children's multimodal experiences, providing a ground-breaking account of the ways in which children engage with popular culture, media and digital literacy practices from their earliest years. Many young children have extensive experience of film, television, printed media, computer games, mobile phones and the Internet from birth, yet their reaction to media texts is rarely acknowledged in the national curricula of any country.

This seminal text focuses on children from birth to eight years, addressing issues such as:

* media and identity construction
* media literacy practices in the home
* the changing nature of literacy in technologically advanced societies
* The place of popular and media texts in children's lives and the use of such texts in the curriculum.

By exploring children's engagement with popular culture, media and digital texts in the home, community and early years settings, the contributors look at empirical studies from around the world, and draw out vital new theoretical issues relating to children's emergent techno-literacy practices.

With an unmatchable team of international experts evaluating topics from text-messaging to the Teletubbies, this book is a long-overdue, fascinating and illuminating read for policy-makers, educational researchers and practitioners, and crosses over to appeal to those in the linguistics field.

As children's digital lives become more relevant to schools and educators, the question of play and learning is being revisited in new and interesting ways. Children's Virtual Play Worlds: Culture, Learning, and Participation provides a more reasoned account of children's play engagements in virtual worlds through a number of scholarly perspectives, exploring key concerns and issues which have come to the forefront. The global nature of the research in this edited volume embraces many different areas of study from school based research, sociology, cultural studies, psychology, to contract law showing how children's play and learning in virtual spaces has great potential and possibilities.

Recent work on children's digital cultures has identified a range of literacies emerging through children's engagement with new media technologies. This edited collection focuses on children's digital cultures, specifically examining the role of play and creativity in learning with these new technologies.

The chapters in this book were contributed by an international range of respected researchers, who seek to extend our understandings of children's interactions with new media both within and outside of school. They address and provide evidence for continuing debates around the following questions: What notions of creativity are useful in our fields? How does an understanding of play inform analysis of children's engagement with digital cultures? How might school practice take account of out-of-school learning in relation to digital cultures? How can we understand children's engagements with digital technologies in commercialised spaces?

Offering current research, theoretical debate and empirical studies, this intriguing text will challenge the thinking of scholars and teachers alike as it explores the evolving nature of play within the media landscape of the 21st-century.

Enhancing Digital Literacy and Creativity is an exploration of how young children gain digital literacies in 'makerspaces.' The international authors investigate how hands-on experimentation with a variety of materials - from traditional arts and crafts to contemporary digital tools like 3D printers and laser cutters - can aid children in their development of play, creativity and storytelling. From museums to libraries, nursery schools to community centres, this research shows how 'making' supports the development of creative skills and introduces concepts to be explored in a variety of environments and contexts. Drawing on examples from around the globe, described by a range of international academics, Enhancing Digital Literacy and Creativity includes chapters on: Virtual reality Museum and library makerspaces Intergenerational making in families Making in schools and nursery settings Assessing learning in makerspaces Links to previous theories Social imagination This book will be a valuable resource for students and researchers in the fields of education and digital literacies; early childhood teacher educators and practitioners; librarians; museum educators; and makerspace staff.

Most children engage with a range of popular cultural forms outside of school. Their experiences with film, television, computer games and other cultural texts are very motivating, but often find no place within the official curriculum, where children are usually restricted to conventional forms of literacy.

This book demonstrates how to use children's interests in popular culture to develop literacy in the primary classroom. The authors provide a theoretical basis for such work through an exploration of related theory and research, drawing from the fields of education, sociology and cultural studies.

Teachers are often concerned about issues of sexism, racism, violence and commercialism within the discourse of children's media texts. The authors address each of these areas and show how such issues can be explored directly with children. They present classroom examples of the use of popular culture to develop literacy in schools and include interviews with children and teachers regarding this work.

This book is relevant to all teachers and students who want to develop their understanding of the nature and potential role of popular culture within the curriculum. It will also be useful to language co-ordinators, advisers, teacher educators and anyone interested in media education in the 5-12 age-range.

As children's digital lives become more relevant to schools and educators, the question of play and learning is being revisited in new and interesting ways. Children's Virtual Play Worlds: Culture, Learning, and Participation provides a more reasoned account of children's play engagements in virtual worlds through a number of scholarly perspectives, exploring key concerns and issues which have come to the forefront. The global nature of the research in this edited volume embraces many different areas of study from school based research, sociology, cultural studies, psychology, to contract law showing how children's play and learning in virtual spaces has great potential and possibilities.

Enhancing Digital Literacy and Creativity is an exploration of how young children gain digital literacies in 'makerspaces.' The international authors investigate how hands-on experimentation with a variety of materials - from traditional arts and crafts to contemporary digital tools like 3D printers and laser cutters - can aid children in their development of play, creativity and storytelling. From museums to libraries, nursery schools to community centres, this research shows how 'making' supports the development of creative skills and introduces concepts to be explored in a variety of environments and contexts. Drawing on examples from around the globe, described by a range of international academics, Enhancing Digital Literacy and Creativity includes chapters on: Virtual reality Museum and library makerspaces Intergenerational making in families Making in schools and nursery settings Assessing learning in makerspaces Links to previous theories Social imagination This book will be a valuable resource for students and researchers in the fields of education and digital literacies; early childhood teacher educators and practitioners; librarians; museum educators; and makerspace staff.

This book explores changes in the nature of the relationship between play, media and commercial culture through a comparison of play in the 1950s/60s and the present day, examining the continuities and discontinuities in play over time. There are many aspects of play which remain the same today as they were sixty years ago, which relate to the purposes of play, the way in which children weave in material from a range of sources in their play, including media, and how they play with each other. Differences in play between now and the mid-twentieth century are due to the very different social and cultural worlds children now inhabit, in which technology is central to many play activities. Challenging deficit notions of play in contemporary society and providing evidence to contest the recurrent myth of the disappearance of play, the book: Provides an historical account of changes in the relationship between play, media and commercial culture over the past sixty yearsOffers fascinating, illuminating and direct accounts of children playing in the 1950s / 60s and today Engages with the work of the renowned folklorists Iona and Peter Opie and reviews their legacyAddresses key issues such as outdoor play, technology and play, and gender and play "Changing Play recovers the groundbreaking work of Iona and Peter Opie, making it relevant and consequential for the contemporary study of children, play and media cultures. Marsh and Bishop convincingly demonstrate how children's play practices, when approached on their own terms, exhibit a persistent dynamism that cannot and should not be reduced to simple exclamations of panic or celebration." Daniel Thomas Cook, Department of Childhood Studies, Rutgers University USA"Using the work of Iona and Peter Opie as a benchmark, Changing Play tracks the continuities in children's play and the changes that have taken place over the past half-century. The research juxtaposes the memories of children who grew up in the 1950s and 1960s with observations of and conversations with today's children in Sheffield and London; in doing so it allays much of the current anxiety about consumption and the media. Timely and topical, Changing Play will find its place alongside the Opies' classic volumes." Hugh Cunningham, University of Kent, UKAuthor of The Invention of Childhood"This important new text challenges the prevailing view that children's play has been contaminated by access to digital technologies. In exploring accounts of children's play from the 1950s and 60s to the present day against the backdrop of rapid changes within media and commercial markets, the authors skillfully reveal the particular ways in which children's play has changed and stayed the same. In so doing, they invite the reader to reject romantic notions of 'lost childhoods' and embrace the realities and richness of children's play in the 21st century. I highly recommend this book." Professor Trisha Maynard, Director, Research Centre for Children, Families and Communities, Canterbury Christ Church University, UK

This new edition of the much-loved Handbook of Early Childhood Literacy has been revised and updated to retain its cutting-edge focus on emergent and important areas of research. This comprehensive work guides the reader through current social, cultural and historical analysis on a global scale. The new edition contains a greater range of methodologies, and chapters on: - space and literacy - disabilities and early childhood literacy - digital literacies - indigenous literacy - play and literacy - policy In the Handbook, readers will find coverage of all the key topics in early childhood literacy. The exceptional list of contributors offers in-depth expertise in their respective areas of knowledge. The Handbook is essential for Undergraduate students; Masters students; PhD students; CPD students; researchers, and literacy-centre personel. 'The second edition of this internationally respected and widely used text encompases a myriad of new issues and insights, both through new contributions and thoughtfully revised chapters which raise fresh questions and challenges for research and practice. In pushing the boundaries still further, the handbook retains its rightful place at the forefront of research into early childhood literacy practice in the 21st century' -Professor Teresa Cremin, Open University UK 'This handbook provides in-depth knowledge of insights and theories about the dynamic process of how children come to know literacy as thinking humans in social and cultural spaces. There is a rich array of research perspectives of children's meaning-making through family and digital liteacies, play and literacy, and in-school and out-of-school literacy experiences' - Yetta Goodman, Regents Professor, University of Arizona

Offering an overview of the major fields in literacy studies, this book presents a detailed and accessible discussion of key theories and their relevance in the primary classroom. Each chapter uses a real life case study to explore the application of theory in practice, followed by a detailed discussion of the case study material by a leading name in the field, including contributions from Barbara Comber, Michele Knobel, Colin Lankshear, Gunther Kress, Brian Street, Kevin Leander and Patricia Enciso. The text also offers reflections on theoretical foundations for research, exploring literacy as a practice grounded in social, cultural, historical and political contexts and in relationships of power. This second edition includes: New chapters covering digital literacy, space and play, and multimodality Examples and contributions from a range of international contexts, including US, UK, Canada, Australia and South Africa Further reading links to key texts on each main theory Essential reading for students at undergraduate and post-graduate level on primary education courses and an invaluable guide for anyone wanting to understand literacy theory and successfully apply this to the classroom.

Offering an overview of the major fields in literacy studies, this book presents a detailed and accessible discussion of key theories and their relevance in the primary classroom. Each chapter uses a real life case study to explore the application of theory in practice, followed by a detailed discussion of the case study material by a leading name in the field, including contributions from Barbara Comber, Michele Knobel, Colin Lankshear, Gunther Kress, Brian Street, Kevin Leander and Patricia Enciso. The text also offers reflections on theoretical foundations for research, exploring literacy as a practice grounded in social, cultural, historical and political contexts and in relationships of power. This second edition includes: New chapters covering digital literacy, space and play, and multimodality Examples and contributions from a range of international contexts, including US, UK, Canada, Australia and South Africa Further reading links to key texts on each main theory Essential reading for students at undergraduate and post-graduate level on primary education courses and an invaluable guide for anyone wanting to understand literacy theory and successfully apply this to the classroom.

What are the ways in which young children learn to communicate? Collating their extensive experience of language and literacy in the early years, the contributors explore key aspects of this topic, linking practical ideas for early years settings and classrooms to relevant theory and research.

This second edition is updated to take into account important developments in research, policy and practice, and now covers the 0-8 age range. It also addresses developments in new media and the impact this has upon literacy in young children, and offers chapters on new areas which have emerged in recent years, such as multimodality, media literacy, creative arts and literacy.

Explored in the book are:

" the relationship between play and literacy;

" the role environmental print has in early literacy development;

" the language and literacy development of young bilinguals;

" ideas, suggestions and justifications for the use of poetry;

" a two-year research project, funded by Creative Partnerships; and

" key issues relating to family literacy.

This book will be of interest to experienced practitioners, and to student teachers on a range of early years courses, as well as to professionals and managers of children's centres and services, this book conveys the excitement shared by both children and practitioners in celebrating children's developing literacies.

Most children engage with a range of popular cultural forms outside of school. Their experiences with film, television, computer games and other cultural texts are very motivating, but often find no place within the official curriculum, where children are usually restricted to conventional forms of literacy. This book demonstrates how to use children's interests in popular culture to develop literacy in the primary classroom. The authors provide a theoretical basis for such work through an exploration of related theory and research, drawing from the fields of education, sociology and cultural studies. Teachers are often concerned about issues of sexism, racism, violence and commercialism within the discourse of children's media texts. The authors address each of these areas and show how such issues can be explored directly with children. They present classroom examples of the use of popular culture to develop literacy in schools and include interviews with children and teachers regarding this work. This book is relevant to all teachers and students who want to develop their understanding of the nature and potential role of popular culture within the curriculum. It will also be useful to language co-ordinators, advisers, teacher educators and anyone interested in media education in the 5-12 age-range.

`Here is timely and extremely useful exposition and guidance on the management and procedure of language and literacy teaching. Practical advice is offered on the breadth of the role of the primary school English subject leader right from the starting point of compiling an application for such a post. The extensive and thorough coverage is frequently supported by reference to current demands and expectations, including the Framework for teaching of The National Literacy Project. An impressive adjunct to the detail is the applied anecdotal evidence and the inclusion of actual examples of documentation devised and in use in schools. I was pleased to note such aspects as the conferencing technique for both reading and writing being integral to everyday strategies' - School Librarian `Everything co-ordinators need on policy development, implementation and evaluation in English, language and literacy' - Junior Education High quality teaching in English language and literacy is a central part of the primary school curriculum. The coordinator has a key role to play in building on good practice, introducing new ways of working and monitoring their effectiveness. This book is written for coordinators and for those who are intending to take on the subject leadership, and addresses the issues of policy development, implementation and evaluation in primary English. By drawing on background theory and research, the authors provide clear guidance on the central tasks of subject co-ordination. Case study material is used to illustrate development work in English language and literacy in primary schools. The authors give up-to-date and practical advice on how to understand the processes of change.