Prince Charming has Perfect White Teeth: Performativity and Media Education

This paper argues that Judith Butler’s post structuralist theory of performativity provides a valuable tool for understanding how students might contest prevailing hegemonic gender discourses in media education classrooms. It suggests an alternative to structuralist "empowerment" and "critical pedagogy" approaches, which continue to motivate many media educators, despite serious questions being asked about their effectiveness. The paper draws on data collected from a unit of work about video games, completed by year ten students at an all boys’ secondary school in Brisbane. It argues that many media related activities fail to elicit genuinely "critical" responses because they are complicit in the regulation of hegemonic discourses. It suggests that teachers are more likely to create the potential for variation in their students’ gender performances if activities are dialogic and open-ended and avoid placing emphasis on discourses of excellence and competition

Parenting in Babylon – a Minecraft digital backyard in Australia

Michael Dezuanni and Anna Whateley tell us about their own home, technology in family life and the role of Minecraft in teaching digital skills across generations. They both work at Queensland University of Technology, Michael is Deputy Director of the Children and Youth Research Centre, Anna teaches adolescent fiction and the sociology of education

The Global Youth Media Council: Young People Speaking and Learning about Media Reform

The 5th World Summit on Media for Children and Youth held in Karlstad, Sweden in June 2010 provided a unique media literacy experience for approximately thirty young people from diverse backgrounds through participation in the Global Youth Media Council. This article focuses on the Summit’s aim to give young people a ‘voice’ through intercultural dialogue about media reform. The accounts of four young Australians are discussed in order to consider how successful the Summit was in achieving this goal. The article concludes by making recommendations for future international media literacy conferences involving young people. It also advocates for the expansion of the Global Youth Media Council concept as a grass roots movement to involve more young people in discussions about media reform

Towards understanding young children’s digital lives in China and Australia

This article develops insights and generates new lines of inquiry into young children’s digital lives in China and Australia. It brings to dialogue findings from a national study of young children's digital media use in urban settings in China with findings from studies in Australia. This is not presented as a direct comparison, but rather as an opportunity to shed light on children’s digital lives in two countries and to account for the impact of context in relatively different social and cultural circumstances. The article outlines findings from a study of 1,171 preschool-aged children (3 to 7-year-olds) in six provinces in China, including the frequency of their use of television, early education digital devices, computers, tablet computers and smartphones, music players, e-readers and games consoles. It also focuses on various activities such as watching cartoons, using educational apps, playing games and participating in video chat. Methods included a multistage sampling process, random selection of kindergartens, a weighted sampling process, the generation of descriptive data and the use of linear regression analysis, and a chi-square test. The study demonstrates the significance of a range of factors that influence the amount of time spent with digital media. The contrast with Australian studies produces new insights and generates new research questions

Submission on the Final Report of the ACCC Digital Platforms Inquiry

A submission from Dr Tanya Notley (Western Sydney University) and Associate Professor Michael Dezuanni (Queensland University of Technology) to the Consultation on the ACCC’s Digital Platforms Inquiry

News Literacy and Australian Teachers: How News Media is Taught in the Classroom

The internet has changed the way young Australians participate in society. Digital platforms now rival traditional media, such as television, for young people’s attention when it comes to accessing information and entertainment. News is now produced and circulated more rapidly, using an ever-growing number of social media platforms, while social media users encounter news from a range of sources, often while news events are still unfolding. The pace of news production and circulation makes verifying sources and claims more complicated and this has led to a number of flashpoints for claims and counter-claims of fake news at critical moments during elections, natural disasters, acts of terrorism and most recently, during the Coronavirus Pandemic. At this critical juncture, it is essential that we understand efforts being made in schools to educate young Australians about the news media. Our investigations have illustrated that very little information has been collected on how news media is integrated into Australian schools, and very little is known about the extent to which teachers feel able and supported to teach students about the news. We undertook this research to investigate if teachers believe it is important to teach students about the news. We also wanted to understand how teachers utilise available curriculum documents to teach students about news media and how they access relevant support and resources to help them to do this. This research is timely given that the 2019 Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) Digital Platforms Inquiry emphasises the importance of digital media literacy education in schools. This formal inquiry recommends that the terms of reference for the scheduled 2020 review of the Australian Curriculum considers how digital media literacy education is approached1. Given that almost every aspect of our lives is mediated, a coherent educational strategy for digital media literacy in Australia is required and not a quick-fix or one-off solution. News literacy is an important component of digital media literacy that we believe should address areas such as bias in the news, disinformation and misinformation, the inclusion and representation of different groups (including young people), news media ownership, technology affordances and more. This effort should be part of a wider project that aims to make media literacy a prerequisite for all citizens to ensure every Australian is capable of making decisions about media participation and engagement that are effective, right, safe and appropriate for them. This research therefore represents an attempt to better understand teachers’ current news media literacy practices as one aspect of their broader digital media literacy education programs. Our goal is to inform teachers, school leaders, educational systems and policy makers about the current state of play, from the perspective of teachers, to assist these stakeholders to make recommendations and decisions that will support the ongoing development of news media literacy education

Constructing social participation around digital making : A Case study of multiliteracy learning in a Finnish day care centre

Abstract: In this article, we present a case study of digital making as an example for constructing social participation around multiliteracy learning in Finnish early years settings. Digital making is explored and evaluated through the practices and experiences from workshops conducted with four- to five-year-old children in one day care centre in the Helsinki metropolitan area in Finland. Reflections scrutinize children’s social interaction with digital technologies and aim to examine shared meaning-making in the design process. We explain how innovative technologies mediate and enable social interaction and what leads children to either collaborate or work individually while making meaning digitally. Our study indicates that although social participation can be intentionally achieved by children themselves, early childhood education and care (ECEC) professionals and pedagogical practices play a pivotal role, especially when the cultural tools used in learning are new and unfamiliar to children, in this case tablet computers and smartphones.In this article, we present a case study of digital making as an example for constructing social participation around multiliteracy learning in Finnish early years settings. Digital making is explored and evaluated through the practices and experiences from workshops conducted with four- to five-year-old children in one day care centre in the Helsinki metropolitan area in Finland. Reflections scrutinize children’s social interaction with digital technologies and aim to examine shared meaning-making in the design process. We explain how innovative technologies mediate and enable social interaction and what leads children to either collaborate or work individually while making meaning digitally. Our study indicates that although social participation can be intentionally achieved by children themselves, early childhood education and care (ECEC) professionals and pedagogical practices play a pivotal role, especially when the cultural tools used in learning are new and unfamiliar to children, in this case tablet computers and smartphones.Peer reviewe

Values and Media Literacy: Exploring the Relationship Between the Values People Prioritize in Their Life and Their Attitudes Toward Media Literacy

Media literacy is often described as an approach that can be used to address pressing public concerns ranging from combating misinformation to supporting citizens’ full participation in society. What is little understood, however, is the importance people give to the role of media literacy in their own lives. Drawing on data from a representative survey of Australian adults, this article examines the importance given to 14 media literacy abilities that are often the focus of media literacy programs. Incorporating Schwartz’s framework of motivational values into our analysis, we find that the specific media literacy abilities people identify as important are generally closely aligned with the underlying values they prioritize in their lives. Furthermore, people’s values offer more predictive power than sociodemographic characteristics when it comes to understanding the importance people place on specific media literacy outcomes. The article argues that by understanding how and why people respond differently to the goals of media literacy, educators can design more appealing and effective media literacy interventions

Social living labs for digital participation: designing with regional and rural communities

“Fostering digital participation through Living Labs in regional and rural Australian communities,” is a three year research project funded by the Australian Research Council. The project aims to identify the specific digital needs and practices of regional and rural residents in the context of the implementation of high speed internet. It seeks to identify new ways for enabling residents to develop their digital confidence and skills both at home and in the community. This two-day symposium will bring together researchers and practitioners from diverse backgrounds to discuss design practices in social living labs that aim to foster digital inclusion and participation. Day one will consist of practitioner and research reports, while day two will provide an opportunity for participants to imagine and design future digital participation strategies. Academic participants will also have an opportunity to contribute to a refereed edited volume by Chandos Publishing (an imprint of Elsevier)

Connectivity and digital inclusion in Far North Queensland's agricultural communities: policy-focused report

Internet connectivity is essential for prosperity and development in all societies. This policy-focused report is the culmination of a qualitative study of digital connectivity and telecommunications in rural Far North Queensland (FNQ). In particular, the research investigated the lived experience of digital inclusion – a combination of internet access, affordability of technology, and digital ability - in agricultural households and communities the Northern Gulf region. The Australian Digital Inclusion Index (ADII) shows that North West Queensland (which takes in the Gulf Savannah) is one of Australia's least digitally included regions. The ADII further suggests that farmers and farm managers tend to score more poorly in the Index than others in comparable circumstances, particularly on the digital ability sub-index. This research aimed to unpack how these quantitative insights 'play out' in the context of rural FNQ, thereby shedding light on the nuanced and context-specific factors that impact digital participation of farming households and communities. In 2018, with funding from the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN), James Cook University partnered with Northern Gulf Resource Management Group to complete three week-long data fieldtrips to towns and properties across the Gulf Savannah. The lead researcher, Dr Amber Marshall, attended and presented at rural events, undertook interviews and focus groups, and conducted three case studies of cattle properties. These activities provided real world context for the policy analysis undertaken in this report. This cross-level, cross-sector policy analysis was undertaken to determine the laws and strategies that impact rural and remote internet access, reliability and affordability, along with digital ability and capacity building frameworks. The findings (11 in total) address issues ranging from barriers to connection (such as lack of continuity in the telecommunications network); social factors impacting digital resource allocation and consumption (such as intergenerational and gender-related circumstances); threats to agricultural industry (such as the need to preserve product integrity and to attract/train workers); and consumer-level insights (such as population heterogeneity and expectations of fairness). These comprehensive findings give rise to several recommendations for federal, state and local governments in partnership with community and industry organisations. These include: 1. Improve basic infrastructure and services at local scales, including diversifying service plans to meet specific needs 2. Embrace alternative connectivity infrastructure, whereby state and federal government partners with the regions to collaboratively fill infrastructure and service gaps 3. Redefine affordability at the federal level, to ensure the true cost of being connected in the bush is realised and accommodated 4. Deliver targeted digital capability building programs to address many farmers' thirst for digital skills 5. Develop digital mentors, support brokers and upskill remote workers, to help ensure digital skills programs are relevant and rolled out in situ 6. Empower rural local governments and community organisations to plan and deliver through strategic linkages with the broader national digital inclusion ecosystem 7. Adopt principles for a holistic approach to digital inclusion policy that recognises the critical role of digital capacity building to social and economic development in rural and agricultural Australia. This final recommendation essentially underpins achievement of the preceding recommendations