ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that technological change in the form of multimedia, combined with the social uses of computers amongst young people, will begin to shift the form and content of contemporary media education toward a distinctly “post-modern” multimedia curriculum. It considers the role of computer games and other media in the formation of “moral panics,” and the history and practice of media education in Britain as part of the changing response to such concerns. The chapter outlines the theoretical basis of such an educational program, raising key issues in media education research and detailing accounts of research into the social uses of computer games and developments in domestic multimedia technology. It focuses on the nature of “media literacy” in an era of digital culture. One significant feature of the recent development of media education has been the growth of classroom research.
