Even though the use of social media in education is a now widely-studied topic, there still does not seem to be a consensus for what social media may afford students or how best to use them in the classroom. In this critical review of current literature, I discuss some of the most prominent qualitative studies that explore the use of social media…

This article describes the thinking behind the development of "Scholar," a "social knowledge" technology developed as part of a series of research and development projects at the University of Illinois. Seven pedagogical openings are identified in this article, possibilities for the creation of innovative learning environments…

Analyzing the contradictory relation between a media-theoretical and a media-pedagogical point of view, some basic problems regarding a new learning culture using Web 2.0 online tools are discussed. Against this background, data and findings from an empirical investigation (evaluation of an in-service teacher training e-learning project…

This article examines the language and literacy practices of middle-school children as they worked toward constructing their own computer games using "Gamestar Mechanic," a game intended to teach them key ways of thinking and communicating germane to the discourse of game designers. It examines the changes that took place in what previous work…

This article addresses practices of textual appropriation in computer games made by young people. By focusing on how young people's production work makes reference to popular media texts, it examines the basis on which such work claims to be legible as a game text: how it claims to be literate in the context of an after-school game-making club.…

Schooled in an earlier time, educators are laboring to find meaningful purchase in new media environments, unable to match the fluency and sophistication of their "digital native" students. Yet is Marc Prensky's portrayal of teachers as "digital immigrants" really an accurate rendering of the today's situation? Drawing on phenomenological and…

The partnerships, especially university-community partnerships, that sustain globally networked learning environments often face challenges in mobilizing research to empower local communities to effect change. This article examines these challenges by describing a university-community partnership involving researchers and graduate students in…