10.00-16.30

Tuesday 16 May 2017

Sheffield Institute of Education, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield

This symposium, the fifth annual research day organised by UKLA and BERA, will explore how opportunities and challenges surrounding the use of digital literacies are playing out in educational contexts for learners and educators. In particular it aims to raise pressing questions about how literacy educators and researchers can respond to the changing opportunities and challenges generated by 21st century digital technologies and landscapes. Keynotes will be given by two leading academics working at the forefront of this field.

Jackie Marsh is Professor of Education at the University of Sheffield. She has led numerous research projects engaging children, teachers, parents and children’s media industry partners in research on young children’s play and digital literacy practices in homes and schools (e.g. the ESRC-funded project ‘Technology and Play’).

Dr Julia Gillen is Senior Lecturer in Digital Literacies at Lancaster University and author of Digital Literacies (Routledge). Her current projects focus on children’s digital practices outside school and the extent to which these are recognised, valued and influence practice inside primary schools (the NP3 project) and Citizen Humanities (the Edwardian Postcard Project).

Keynotes will be interspersed by two Digital Literacies Slams each featuring a series of short presentations representing the work of academics researching digital literacies in education in a variety of contexts and from multiple perspectives.

The event offers a unique opportunity to engage with the diversity and richness of contemporary research relating to digital literacies in education while stimulating debate about how literacy provision in educational settings should respond to the changing nature of literacies. The day will be of interest to practitioners, researchers, consultants, charities and other organisations working in the field of literacy and education.

This is a joint meeting with UKLA so all BERA Members will qualify for the Members rate.

Book online at www.ukla.org/conferences.