New Literacies New Practices Media Literacy and Web

New Literacies, New Practices : Media Literacy and Web 2. 0 Applications Dr Julia Davies University of Sheffield

New literacies, new practices § This presentation is based on the premise that literacy is changing in a new media world (Kress, 2003; Lankshear and Knobel, 2006).

Cult of the Amateur § “Useless and corrupt user generated content” § “Self promotion - narcissism” § “Bloggery …. an enormous threat” (Andrew Keen: BBC Radio 4. 25. 6. 07. )

“Kids are going on the internet and are believing everything they read we are creating an increasingly media illiterate culture … in order to understand the internet you need to be literate before you get to the screen…. ” (Andrew Keen: BBC Radio 4. 25. 6. 07. )

What is Web 2. 0?

Useful tools for developing media literacy § § Blogs Wikis Podcasts RSS Feeds (Really Simple Syndication)

How can Web 2. 0 develop media literacy? § Products and services enable manipulation of and reflection on data. § Collaboration and participation are key factors – can encourage group critical reflection. § Fosters agency and creativity of individuals e. g. citizen journalists. § Easy and free access to web-based software.

Citizen journalism …is the act of citizens ‘playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analyzing and disseminating information’ (Bowman and Willis, 2005) ‘Peoplerazzi’ http: //www. nowpublic. com/

Wikis and citizen journalism

London bombings 7/7

Key question for pupils What are the advantages and disadvantages of ‘citizen journalism’?

News and blogs

News and blogs § Many ‘news’ blogs maintained by ‘citizen journalists’ e. g. blog kept by Iraqi civilian Salam Pax, who was eventually invited to write a column for the Guardian on the Iraqi invasion § Many newspapers now have blogs in addition to printed newspapers and online news

http: //hometownbaghdad. com/

Links Comments facility Folksonomic tags Blog archives, categorised by content

Identity of commenter and date comment stated Readers can report on offensive comments

Guardian news blog

Guardian news

Key question for pupils What do a news blog and newspaper website do that a printed newspaper doesn’t, and vice-versa?

Syndication and news

Google News

Frustrated Cities http: //www. frustratedcities. com

Vote for your favourite news story! Digg

News and podcasting

Evoca

Monteney’s Egyptian News

http: //radiowaves. co. uk/

Radiowaves

News and online publishing systems

Making the News

Conclusion § Web 2. 0 products and services have great potential for work on the media. § Pupils can create blogs, wikis and webpages for relaying news as well as exploring the way in which news is created and reported across Web 2. 0 platforms. § Web 2. 0 is changing the nature of journalism and the newspaper industry – contemporary pupils can be at the forefront of tracing these changes and their implications. § New literacy practices are needed for new times – educators need to take risks and explore potential.

New Literacies, New Practices : Media Literacy and Web 2. 0 Applications Dr Julia Davies, University of Sheffield