ABSTRACT
The growth of interest and participation in virtual worlds and other online spaces raises important issues for literacy research and practice. Literacy is in a state of flux. New ways of producing and distributing texts, as well as new kinds of texts, co-exist with familiar genres and practices. Topics associated with the ‘new’ or ‘digital’ literacies are widely debated in both public and academic circles. And, as increasing numbers of children and young people are drawn into digital environments, both in their everyday lives and as part of their formal schooling, these new literacies have also become a key concern for educators, policy-makers, and practitioners. In this edited volume we draw together some influential current research in this area, and in so doing, provide an important resource for scholars, students, and teachers, as well as others with an interest in the role of digital literacies in the lives of young people.
