New Media Literacies
Design Thinking: New Directions for the One Direction Fandom
May 3, 2013
In exploring the fandom of a young boyband called One Direction (1D), I am often struck by the serious forethought and complexity woven into the lighthearted artifacts produced by the band’s fans. The fan artifacts they make include fanfiction stories, book covers, song remixes, and gifs.
Read More...#hashtagging and #learning in boyband fanfiction
November 15, 2012
The One Direction Chronicles
“Louis saw it, and he retweeted it, adding hashtags like #brilliant and #mynewbff and before I knew it, he was following it. Our friendship was meant to be.”
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Alt_Pub: Getting the Research Out
October 19, 2012
I recently traveled to Athens, Greece and experienced the cab ride from the airport into the city centre as a trip through an alien landscape. This was partly due to the general lack of sleep and fresh air that accompanies trans-Atlantic travel, but was wholly amplified by the view out the car window. Every roadside billboard we passed—and there were many—was either sun bleached to the point of unintelligibility or completely empty. And not the hopeful empty symbolized by a crisp, white surface awaiting an eager advertiser but the sad emptiness of one left ragged and stripped by the crash.
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Why Critical Design Literacy is Needed Now More Than Ever
May 1, 2012
One thing is clear in our work at Texas City High School (TCHS) this year: students like to create their own media. Students at TCHS create their own YouTube channels, compose original music, comics, games, Tumblr pages, art work, and fashion designs. As young people’s use of social and digital media applications continues to evolve they are developing what I call a “design disposition.” This is a reference to a distinct generational view that they expect to not o
Read More...What Schools are Really Blocking When They Block Social Media
February 2, 2012
The debates about schools and social media are a subject of great public and policy interests. In reality, the debate has been shaped by one key fact: the almost universal decision by school administrators to block social media. Because social media is such a big part of many students social lives, cultural identities, and informal learning networks schools actually find themselves grappling with social media everyday but often from a defensive posture—reacting to student disputes that play out over social media or policing rather than engaging student’s social media behaviors.
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