Dynamic, Playful and Productive Literacies

Abstract

This paper reflects on recent projects in a variety of media forms, in both formal and informal educational settings, discussing ways of expanding our notions of literacy practices which reflect their place in the wider lived experience of digital culture. We have collected these reflections under three headings. The first of these, Dynamic Literacies, presents an overarching view of literacy as both ideological, following the 'new literacy studies', and dynamic, incorporating both semiotic and sociocultural versions of literacy in ways which reflect the changing nature of lived experience in the digital age. The second strand, Productive Literacies, constructs an argument around digital making practices with younger learners which views these as media crafting, critique and artistry. The third strand, Playful Literacies, explores recent projects which are located in games and game authoring practices as a specific example of connecting pedagogy to contemporary media forms and learner agency in formal and informal settings. Taken together, the three perspectives allow for common ground to be established between multimodal production practices, whilst providing suggestions for framing literacy pedagogy in response to the pervasive use of media and technology in contemporary digital culture.

Designing and assessing digital games in a classroom: an emerging culture of critique

“…In Kafai and Peppler's (2011) words, engagement in creative media production is the act of developing literacies in uni-and cross-directional ways, where digital literacy involves an assemblage and convergence of various participatory competencies developed in different practices. Recently, it has moreover been argued that materiality and lived experience are important aspects of literacy practices, practices that are dynamic and change with respect to time and space and to ways of consuming and producing media in particular contexts (Cannon, Potter, and Burn 2018;Potter and McDougall 2017). Similarly, participation in programming activities is as much about learning the production of code as it is about the social practices and cultural norms in which it is embedded (Kafai and Burke 2016).…”

“…In Extract 3, the game designers have coded a cheat, making it possible to win one thousand points in one keystroke. When deciding to code the cheats, the children draw upon their experiences of gaming and what makes a game fun to play (Buckingham and Burn 2007;Cannon, Potter, and Burn 2018). The original game was not possible to win, and the first thing that the children have coded is this possibility.…”

“…Perhaps it is thus not surprising that schools increasingly turn their attention to the design and programming of digital games to encourage children's interest in coding (e.g., Kafai and Peppler 2011;Peppler, Warschauer, and Diazgranados 2010). vision of 'literacy' to encompass several dimensions of literacy as flexible and suited to the 'hybrid and fast-changing ways in which meanings circulate in digital culture' (37; see also Cannon, Potter, and Burn 2018). In other words, and of particular relevance to our study, literacy concerns participation in a digital world, meaning that literacy is seen to include technological, cultural, and social skills and competencies in ways that embrace the lived, aesthetic, and emotional aspects of literacy (Kafai and Burke 2016;Aarsand and Melander Bowden 2019).…”

Untitled

“…In the current understanding of media literacy, besides the competencies of accessing, analyzing, evaluating, and creating media messages across a variety of contexts (Aufderheide & Firestone, 1993;Ofcom 2019aOfcom , 2019bPotter, 2016), the creative and playful forms of multimodal media content production are emphasized, as well as abilities to reflect on one's communication behavior, to act and participate in society (e.g., Cannon, Potter, & Burn, 2018;Hobbs, 2010;Rasi, Kangas, & Ruokamo, 2019;Tuominen & Kotilainen, 2012), and to promote one's digital well-being (Gui, Fasoli, & Carradore, 2017).…”

“…Effective instructional methods and pedagogy of media literacy may somewhat differ for children, adolescents, adults, and older people. Research literature on the pedagogies of media literacy for children and adolescents highlight the importance of collaborative, creative, playful, and multimodal media production practices as well as analytic, reflective, inquiry-and project-based learning practices (e.g., Cannon et al, 2018;Kupiainen, 2013;Martens & Hobbs, 2015;Song, 2017;Tuominen & Kotilainen, 2012). In addition, the importance of cross-curricular work, involving several teachers who work with students studying the same topic or phenomenon, has been discussed (see Rasi et al, 2019).…”