UKLA digital literacies symposium

There's going to be a fabulous symposium at this year's UKLA conference in Nottingham. The UKLA Digital Literacy SIG is presenting a symposium which outlines some of the interesting research that's taking place among the group members. A highlight!

Here's part of the abstract:

• This symposium will explore the early work of the Digital Literacies SIG which began in October 2005. The research day at UKLA 2005 showed just how significant the field of digital literacies has become and how far we are all influenced in our everyday literacy practices by digital cultures. For children, however, there is an increasing gap between the worlds they encounter in and out of the classroom. At home they segue seamlessly between media to make meaning and interact with others’ meanings; in school, all too often, the digital territory they inhabit at home is unwelcome or corralled into a clearly designated space with little impact on literacy practices.

Presenters will include Muriel Robinson, Rebekah Willett, Guy Merchant, Clare Dowdall and Julia Davies! All brilliant and engaging. These people are also members of the ESRC seminar series on play, creativity and digital cultures

My Happy iDog

Just back from Japan (more on that next time). I'm involved in an ESRC seminar series around play, creativity and digital cultures (next seminar is on the 5th July in Lincoln) and this little guy fits right in. He's the blue 'Happy Version' and I found him in Tokyo. He dances and demands attention and is generally very cute! I wanted one for xmas but it was worth the wait.

I also personalized my BlackBerry while I was there -- the lure of the racks and racks of phone decorations was too much to ignore! Also, one of the attractions of personal technologies is that we can personalize them. We add stickers, glitter, soft toys to mark them as unique and make them our own. It's an interesting phenomenon and one not to be ignored by researchers.

Christian - if you're reading this.....hello!