tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52941022012-01-31T14:11:50.480-06:00Everyday LiteraciesExplores and comments on everyday practices of producing and consuming texts of whatever kind in meatspace and cyberspace.Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.comBlogger4351100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-57931722212961661472012-01-31T14:11:00.000-06:002012-01-31T14:11:50.487-06:00New book out: Erik Jacobson's Adult Basic Education in the Age of New Literacies!Here's to the latest book to appear in our New Literacies and Digital Epistemologies series with Peter Lang: Erik Jacobson's Adult Basic Education in the Age of New Literacies.
Accoriding to the back cover blurb:
This volume addresses the ways that the field of adult basic education has already been impacted by Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-22463098652301278252012-01-17T19:27:00.000-06:002012-01-17T19:27:11.197-06:00Moneyballing knowledge: Or, Walmart epistemology
I want to make three disclosures at the outset. First, I buy a LOT of stuff from Walmart (call me a backslider, I know the issues, I just can't resist good stuff at those prices). Second, I love Wired magazine, and am a serious fan of Chris Anderson, even when I might disagree. Third, I like Brangelina and really enjoyed Moneyball – I knew I'd Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-34595444303130537862012-01-09T21:55:00.001-06:002012-01-09T21:57:05.662-06:00Call for papers: Themed Issue on 'New Literacies'
Alan Amtzis, academic editor of "The Educational Forum", advises:
The Educational Forum, Kappa Delta Pi’s premier educational research journal, is seeking articles for its upcoming Fall 2012 theme issue on “New Literacies” and its relationship to teaching, learning and other major educational dimensions. The Educational Forum is an internationalColin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-57258194554732531262011-12-26T19:16:00.001-06:002011-12-26T19:17:57.537-06:00Reflections on "the last time"
It's 10 days since we spoke in Comillas and, as luck would have it, the whole thing was absolutely memorable. It was simply a fabulous experience on all dimensions: academic life at its best, and we came away feeling privileged to have been there.
Partly, but only partly, this was because we were happy with the way our presentations went. While it was doubtless Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-42247530008753865222011-12-15T03:07:00.010-06:002011-12-16T10:51:23.217-06:00Meeting in ComillasWe have arrived in Comillas to participate in a two day working conference hosted by the Fundacion Comillas. The opening plenary, by Franciso (Paco) Yus of the University of Alicante has just begun. It's 3am in Mexico City right now, which seems like a good time to be trying to attune our ears to Spanish spanish. Paco is working his way through a comparative analysis of writtenColin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-13908701496779501312011-12-10T20:47:00.002-06:002011-12-10T20:47:54.086-06:00Last tango in Comillas
On Tuesday we fly to Spain to give a keynote and participate in a round table at a working conference funded by the Comillas Foundation. This will almost certainly be the last talk I give, and certainly the last keynote.
It seems like a long time – not least, because it is a (very) long time – since the day when I received my first invitation to do a keynote. For a young Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-26927350557448926112011-12-08T12:48:00.000-06:002011-12-08T12:48:58.590-06:00On being secure: extremes within a short time
After getting back to Mexico City from Newfoundland I had to go to a consulate to get some information for an application I was making -- just a few hours after having had my latest full airport scans and spending the usual time in lines.
I got to the consulate and handed in my ID while the gate was unlocked, and then had to complete the same kinds Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-69770203631185670302011-11-11T09:44:00.002-06:002011-11-11T09:44:07.886-06:00Loving my Samsung Chromebook -- for all the wrong reasons
Before the summer I was excited by the possibility of getting a Chromebook whilst in the US before coming up to Newfoundland. I was thinking that during the two weeks of perpetual internet access during our teaching sessions I would get a good chance to start finding my way around it. That, however, was not to be. There was the inevitable Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-82638453487952031692011-11-07T14:25:00.003-06:002011-11-08T18:41:42.416-06:00Convivial space: The Lark Harbour Public Library
Among the things I love most about our getaway place in Newfoundland is its relatively unmediated state: there's no landline, no cable, no internet and, best of all, there is no mobile phone access within 20 kilometers. It is like a small liberation to be able to get out and about without seeing people everywhere with their heads buried in a phone Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-33489430595332572332011-10-26T19:54:00.001-05:002011-10-26T21:21:38.708-05:00Kindling: Amazon.com axes the paper back version of NewLits3
A sign of the times, no doubt, but one I feel a bit disappointed about.
We are huge fans of amazon.com. As we've often commented, it bailed us out so many times after we moved to Mexico and needed a way to get books and other items we had trouble getting locally. And we have loved having our books available on Amazon. We've often been Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-18137309426851867242011-10-25T07:33:00.001-05:002011-10-25T07:42:34.161-05:00Historical images and mapsLooking for an interesting way to explore or write about history in your local area? History Pin might fit the bill--this service lets you post photos, videos and audio clips (I really like the potential of the latter feature for doing some local oral history collection!).
Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-30755183962796680292011-10-23T16:08:00.000-05:002011-10-23T16:08:12.122-05:00job opening in literacy and special education in Michele's departmentMontclair State University currently has a position open for a literacy-special education specialist (no minimum rank has been attached to the opening) within the Department of Early childhood, Elementary, and Literacy Education (Michele's department, actually). The position is a:
Tenure-track position in a vibrant teacher Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-82041276839954919972011-10-12T22:59:00.003-05:002011-10-12T23:05:39.551-05:00Airport literacy and the language of scan
So, I was in a large international airport recently, en route to a smaller regional airport. I had flown in the day before and had to overnight to get a connection. Michele was flying in and we were booked on the same flight to the regional city. I got to the airport after checking out of the hotel, a few hours before Michele was due to arrive.
At Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-72638566266233391132011-10-08T22:11:00.005-05:002011-12-04T08:16:14.476-06:00The Men at Work plagiarism sick outcome: Screw Larrikin and screw the court
So, yesterday the Oz band Men at Work lost their final opportunity for appeal against the claim by the inappropriately-named Larrikin music publisher that the band had plagiarized a riff from a 1930s classic folk song called "Kookaburra". Larrikin acquired the rights to the song in 2000 and had no notion of any possible Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-18216121633500998202011-10-05T09:50:00.001-05:002011-10-13T09:20:39.311-05:00If you're in Mexico City on Thursday, 13 October....Then come along to the panel session "De la lengua escrita a las tecnologías de información y comunicación (TIC)" (From written language to information and communciation technologies). There are four panelists, as follows:
For more details, click here (pdf download)
The panel session is open to the public and starts at 17:00 in the main Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-71799420674513213472011-09-27T10:34:00.000-05:002011-09-27T10:34:02.946-05:00Old timey social networking with Maritimes charm
We've just got back from a few days on Prince Edward Island, and quite by coincidence this story about social networking by bottle and snail mail shows up. It's yet another token for why we enjoy that part of the world, from New Brunswick to Newfoundland, so much.Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-68294957596096886952011-09-05T17:06:00.000-05:002011-09-05T17:06:34.111-05:00Nice to catch up with our new "New Literacies"
We've arrived back to the summer's accumulated mail, right ahead of the new semester, and the postal delivery man has just dropped off the authors' copies of the new edition of New Literacies: Everyday Practices and Social Learning.
We are thrilled with the way it looks and love the cover designer's wee insider joke with us about the two child Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-62925957948977367202011-08-15T13:22:00.001-05:002011-08-15T13:28:38.168-05:00Fox oralcy: A new 'whispering frontier'
The other day I heard Michele talking to a young fox, but by the time I got to the window of the barn he had run off. But Michele insisted he was listening.
This morning I looked out the window an on the deck I saw what I immediately thought was the same critter Michele had been talking to the other day. I called Michele through and with our respective Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-90506474776760298762011-08-11T19:15:00.003-05:002011-08-15T12:24:11.584-05:00A Labrador literacy education and a tale of an astronaut
So, this morning began slowly, with a bit of reading as there was a bit of rain. The reading got punctuated by a visit from our friend Dennis, who lives up the road. We set ourselves up with coffee and settled back for a chat. After a short time the conversation turned to fishing and Dennis mentioned how he had done his first serious Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-3267170761787277842011-07-26T17:32:00.002-05:002011-07-26T17:35:14.583-05:00Some first "Do it Together" digital media creations from our Summer Course in Newfoundland
The past few weeks we have been working with the summer cohort in the Masters program we contribute to in Canada. This is the "unpedagogy" course we describe in chapters in our recent "Literacies" book and in the new edition of "New Literacies" (due out any day now).
In the first face to face weeks the Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-60535615800088955202011-07-21T11:29:00.000-05:002011-07-21T11:29:47.769-05:00Point of View: World Wide Web vs Wild Wild West
The stakes are raised.
Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-48745919244202661012011-07-19T08:19:00.003-05:002011-07-19T08:23:46.162-05:00Murdoch, she wrote: May the tables keep turning
It's not often these days I find much in the establishment media to take some joy from, but it certainly gives a bit of a lift to be able to share in the sentiment of statements like Joe Nocera's op ed piece in the New York Times about the tables turning on Rupert Murdoch
Is it too much to hope that there is yet more seedy stuff down there to find Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-48778616836807460052011-07-07T11:55:00.000-05:002011-07-07T11:55:40.152-05:00Looking for a job? iCivics is looking for a literacy specialist with instructional design trainingUnder a grant from the Next Generation Learning Challenges, iCivics is developing interactive, game-like tools that will help middle school students connect evidence, claims, and reasoning to produce well-structured and reasoned arguments. They’re looking for someone with experience in instructional Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-56071801892357127442011-06-27T11:07:00.000-05:002011-06-27T11:07:02.495-05:00New book for our series: "The Work of Play" by Aaron Chia Yuan Hung
Congratulations to Aaron on the publication of his book, The Work of Play: Meaning Making in Videogames!
According to the back cover:
Some educational researchers claim that videogames can energize learning in both traditional and non-traditional contexts; cultivate skills more useful to a changing economy; and present Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-25217398474099512932011-06-13T21:20:00.000-05:002011-06-13T21:20:48.692-05:00A literacy to die for
You have to lulz this
Funny clever stuff. A wonderful sense of proportion.Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-27545360549699632412011-05-14T09:39:00.003-05:002011-05-14T09:46:46.830-05:00Waiting for the Chromebook
Spent much of yesterday chasing the buzz around the imminent release of the Google Chromebook neatly hyped up here.
I've been looking to upgrade my almost obsolete android tablet and, naturally, had my eyes set on a Motorola Xoom, with a thinly disguised hankering to lift one over summer whilst north of the Rio Grande. At the same time, I've been broken-recording Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-87620352768685243872011-05-07T17:39:00.004-05:002011-05-07T17:46:30.444-05:00Bikers: Mexico DF Style
I've had my 73 Triumph Daytona over here in Mexico since we first arrived, but it's always been a struggle to keep it street legal. During recent years, however, importing vehicles has become more common, and latterly the challenge has been more one of time than of law. Time, mercifully, is sorting itself out. The missing link was a connection, and thanks to this year's Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-59278895798280214482011-05-06T11:51:00.000-05:002011-05-06T11:51:10.393-05:00Call for chapter proposals--Critical Digital Literacies as Social Praxis: Intersections and challenges
This is a call being placed by JuliAnna Avila and Jessica Zacher Pandya for chapter proposals for an edited book for submission our New Literacies Series with Peter Lang. We're lending them a hand here with getting the word out--so contact the dircetly (see below) rather than us if you're Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-87468716715575706382011-04-18T23:33:00.001-05:002011-04-20T11:07:59.641-05:00The joys of José's ways: Campesino complexity at 8
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There is no doubt that on some days I moan too much -- in a way you might otherwise associate with a spoiled brat. But, no question, on some days I count myself among one of the most fortunate people on earth, and today was one of them.
We've been moving rock fill from one area to another for building paths, as Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-8529503038534824362011-04-15T20:57:00.002-05:002011-04-15T21:09:15.404-05:00Refurbishing the well: design and execution
When we bought our coffee land, the real estate man, Gabriel, from whom we bought it, had dug a "well" on the common land shared by the three lots. He'd simply dug a hole on the line of a spring and it filled with water -- enough for watering plants, mixing concrete, etc. However, the walls would cave in from time to time, and the well would silt up. ItColin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-27776400383658065392011-04-03T20:39:00.003-05:002011-04-03T20:55:20.922-05:00A memorable weekend in the wonderful Annapolis Valley
This was our second weekend of work in the Annapolis Valley in Nova Scotia. But this time there was no blizzard, and there was also more free time on account of a Sunday off between gigs. So we got to spend 4 days here, with Saturday afternoon and all day Sunday free. And we got to be able to drive and hang out. The visit has been "an Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-49693883774988192412011-03-18T18:25:00.000-06:002011-03-18T18:25:48.134-06:00Times a'changing in Mexican roofing
I'm not sure if it's Mexicans coming back to Mexico (from Arizona and such places) and bringing some money with them, or whether the local economy is better than I thought it was, or what. But whatever the reason there is an incredible amount of "home improvement" going on in Coatepec. There is a bit of brand new house building, but the most obvious thing that Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-28352296168747301062011-02-23T05:08:00.000-06:002011-02-23T05:08:52.046-06:00Very Good IdeosBeing of a rather un-social (the uncharitable might say anti-social) disposition, I've never been into mobile phones. Well. I've had them, done a bit of urgent texting, made the occasional call to people (though rarely have let the number out), and in recent times mainly used them for taking photos and capturing a few random video clips on the run -- usually when the digital Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-51736937869923840762011-02-05T18:57:00.000-06:002011-02-05T18:57:21.197-06:00Job opening at New York University: Primary/ElementaryTenured Associate or Full Professor
New York Uni has just issued a call for job applications as follows:
The Department of Teaching and Learning at New York University invites applications for a tenured Associate or Full Professor in Childhood Education (i.e., U.S. elementary grades 1-6). We seek a dynamic scholar and leader who is looking Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-27947947681734035602011-01-31T10:04:00.000-06:002011-01-31T10:04:16.875-06:00
The Nordic Journal of Digial Literacy is calling for papers for general issues of the journal.
From the journal's website:
The Nordic Journal of Digital Literacy is an academic and pedagogical forum for the use of information and communication technology (IT) in teaching and education.
The journal seeks to stimulate academic and pedagogical innovation in the use of IT within primary educationColin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-72076792048496540962011-01-31T09:45:00.000-06:002011-01-31T09:45:04.188-06:00Second International Conference on Popular Culture and Education This conference is being hosted by the Centre for Popular Culture and Education, Hong Kong Institute of Education, and will run from 7 to 10 December, 2011
From the organisers:
You are invited to join us at the Second International Conference on Popular Culture and Education, organised by the Centre for Popular Culture and Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-27620110965145743472011-01-27T15:28:00.000-06:002011-01-27T15:28:32.273-06:00Getting to the seminar
It was fine and sunny at around 25 or 26 degrees in Mexico City yesterday, but up in Nova Scotia things were a little different.
I took this checking into accommodation ahead of a seminar tomorrow.
Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-23236371110380494382011-01-26T13:11:00.002-06:002011-01-26T13:11:53.362-06:00Call for entries for the 2nd Annual Social Issue Media Festival From Lalitha Vasudevan: Dear friends and colleagues,
I'm excited to share with you news of our extended call for entries for the 2nd Annual Social Issue Media Festival -- now due February 14th! Last year, we featured ten films produced by educators, graduate students, and researchers from the Columbia University community (Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-1710884341933894012011-01-17T12:48:00.001-06:002011-01-17T12:50:17.979-06:00Downstream industry from school bans on phones
Just when you think how rough it is that many schools ban students from taking their phones to school you find yet another cyber cloud with a cyber silver lining. This one involves renting outside-the-school-gates mobile phone space during drudge time.
Cute the way it's seen as dependence-driven, though ...Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-69223597577867000172011-01-12T12:10:00.002-06:002011-01-12T12:12:55.176-06:00New Literacies: Got a good book idea?Colin Lankshear and I (Michele Knobel) edit the book series, “New Literacies” for Peter Lang Publishing in New York. The series has currently published more than 40 titles on topics related to new literacies, digital literacies, new media, social media, popular cultural practices involving new technologies, social learning, read/write web, video gaming and Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-26541464966066189302011-01-10T20:30:00.000-06:002011-01-10T20:30:23.812-06:00Birds of a feather
It really wouldn't take much to morph these two would it?
I wonder why.Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-65349662499938509862011-01-05T10:14:00.003-06:002011-01-05T11:31:21.432-06:00A sign of the times? Paying journals to publish your work...We just received an intersting email from Sage journals, announcing the launch of SAGE Open, "a new open access publication from SAGE. It will publish peer-reviewed, original research and review articles in an interactive, open access format. Articles may span the full spectrum of the social and behavioral sciences and the humanities."
Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-76098484527902572492011-01-04T10:33:00.000-06:002011-01-04T10:33:35.631-06:00New Book in our series out! Digital Content Creation: Perception, Practices and PerspectivesCongratulations to Kristen Drotner and Kim Christian Schrøder for their edited collection, Digital Content Creation: Perception, Practices and Perspectives! From the back cover:
The formative role played by digital communication in knowledge-based societies is widely acknowledged. Not least, young peoplesColin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-29821787934045894192011-01-04T10:05:00.000-06:002011-01-04T10:05:38.424-06:00Nordic Journal of Digital Literacy
Just in case you didn't know, the Nordic Journal of Digital Literacy, which publishes articles in English and Norwegian (with the bulk in English) is now online and open access. From the journal's description (courtesy of Google Translate):
NJDL is a professional and educational forum that examines the use of information and communication technology (ICT) in Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-63376487895650550402011-01-01T19:48:00.009-06:002011-01-03T17:06:11.270-06:00New Year in Coatepec: El Viejo Goes Off
One of the things I most love about everyday life in Mexico is what you can do without anyone blinking an eye. New Year's Eve would be so much less without crazy pyrotechnics of the home grown kind -- not the "official" sanitised, authority-controlled versions that were stifling the lifeworld by the 90s.
So, after midnight, when dinner was over, we went Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-72553852754650226252010-12-30T22:08:00.000-06:002010-12-30T22:08:12.955-06:00The price of coffee in hard timesUntil we started producing our own coffee on a big enough scale to be self sufficient we always got our coffee from a factory down the road, called La Mata. It's always excellent coffee, and as much as I enjoy drinking our own I do miss the flavour that a century of production history brings to the art.
This year there is a serious shortage of coffee in this partColin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-83660782331342321442010-12-24T20:44:00.006-06:002010-12-24T20:50:00.515-06:00Minnesota Meme-Missers: Tron Guy Locked out of Tron Legacy
This has got to be the biggest snow job for the week in Minnesota--and they say it's been a BIG week for snow there.
Looks like The Tron Guy got up in his full gear to go watch the Tron Legacy and they wouldn't let him in to see the show.
Next thing Gary Brolsma won't get a visa to visit Romania.Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-12133266127927685442010-12-19T13:29:00.003-06:002011-01-03T17:12:41.399-06:00Tracing history in the texts we writeThe Google Books service is one we use a lot, especially when we're on the road. It's like having 24/7 access to a massive library of surprisingly complete-enough works. Recently, a consortium of researchers at Google, Harvard Uni, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Encyclopedia Britannica have unveiled a searchable "database of two billion words Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-12815541286235620392010-12-18T21:55:00.001-06:002010-12-18T21:59:31.186-06:00A truly eipic animation--using just Google Docs!This has to be seen to be believed! We've long been fans of stop motion aimation as an excellent storytelling medium, and Google Docs have long been part of our teaching "kit." But never in a million years would we have thought to bring the two together like Tu+ Uthaisri, Nam Doan and Arthur Metcalfe--the creators of this animation--have!
Thanks Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-80334390524639407372010-12-17T19:03:00.000-06:002010-12-17T19:03:23.002-06:00Insight Outpost: A new space for sharing writingA friend of ours has just launched a new social writing space online called Insight Outpost. The aim of the site is to provide a space for people to post their writing--or any kind, although humorous writing is especially encouraged--and obtain feedback in the form of upvotes and downvotes from readers. I like the idea of this space because there Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-31237222154875558442010-12-15T22:57:00.000-06:002010-12-15T22:57:23.431-06:00Cuba's online encyclopediaI've just been over to have a look at EcuRed, Cuba's online encyclopedia, which just launched today.
There's a good story on the BBC's site, which informs us that EcuRed is an initiative of the Youth Computer Club of Cuba.
EcuRed has opened with close to 20,000 articles. It'll be interesting to track its growth over the next while.Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-57719283782305445422010-12-10T18:27:00.001-06:002010-12-10T18:28:54.216-06:00Legislation and culpability: Another angle on Pike River
It is good to see the New Zealand Herald picking up the issue about how legislation motivated by cutting expenses to the government's revenue purse may have something to answer for at Pike River. Today's story of how a well-respected West Coast mining inspector had warned about the risk of a deadly explosion after politicians dismantled theColin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-51334948315576982642010-12-06T22:32:00.000-06:002010-12-06T22:32:55.543-06:00A time for reflection: 500 mirrors
Blimey, 500 mirrors (already).
Is that when you say "Game On"?
Or, maybe, a time for some reflection?Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-894304953579878402010-12-04T18:27:00.000-06:002010-12-04T18:27:36.274-06:00The politics of reading disasters: Raising the spectre of culpability at Pike River
As an expat New Zealander, born within a hundred miles of so of Pike River, I found the time away from New Zealand and the distance between here and there did little to ease the pain as we followed the harrowing narrative of the Pike River mining tragedy.
All the while, like many others, we had reservations aboutColin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-91006942251430497522010-11-26T13:14:00.000-06:002010-11-26T13:14:38.930-06:00Iceland's interesting approach to writing a new constitution
It looks like Iceland is taking an interesting approach to writing a new constitution in the wake of fallout from its spectacular economic meltdown.
Not quite as radical, perhaps, as doing it by way of a wiki. But something of a step in that direction.
Mind you, I guess that a wiki approach would require some kind of closure to Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-38038671748017326302010-11-24T15:41:00.000-06:002010-11-24T15:41:07.567-06:00Distributed, collaborative writing... with Tim Burton!Tim Burton is the director of truly fantastic--in all senses of the word--movies (e.g., Edward Scissor Hands, Sleepy Hollow, Big Fish, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory remake, Alice in Wonderland remake). Right now he's inviting all of us to collaborate with him on writing a narrative about one of his recurring characters, Stain Boy (see forColin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-15143630650554932872010-11-23T21:31:00.002-06:002010-11-23T21:39:17.551-06:00Discourses and Identities in Contexts of Educational Change: Book Launch in Mexico City
Last night we teamed up with our friend and colleague, Judy Kalman, to launch the Spanish language edition of the book “Discourses and Identities in Contexts of Educational Change”, edited by Guadalupe López Bonilla and Carmen Pérez Fragoso.
Judy has just recently had a book, co-edited with Brian Street, Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-47733387105444939852010-11-22T11:12:00.000-06:002010-11-22T11:12:37.088-06:00Calling all early childhood literacy researchers--here's a special journal issue you might want to be part of
CALL FOR PAPERS
Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood
www.wwwords.co.uk/CIEC
SPECIAL ISSUE Early Literacy in Contested Spaces
Guest Editors: TAMARA GLUPCZYNSKI SPENCER, Montclair State University & MARÍA PAULA GHISO, Teachers College, Columbia University
Early childhood contexts acrossColin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-26615503705450784292010-11-17T20:38:00.000-06:002010-11-17T20:38:16.696-06:00Some online housekeeping tipsWe're currently thinking and writing about social network practices and we came acros this interesting article today by Jacqui Cheng titled, "What Google knows about you and how to tweak it. Cheng has lots of good advice in her article--including to log-on to your Google Dashboard every now and then (at least once a year) and check on what you've signed up for and Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-55988475324993263752010-11-16T18:39:00.000-06:002010-11-16T18:39:55.463-06:00Steampunk Town: Yesterday's future todayWe've been a fan of steampunk--as both a literary genre and a mechanical practice--for quite a while now. Basically, steampunk
[blockquote]involves an era or world where steam power is still widely used—usually the 19th century and often Victorian era Britain—that incorporates prominent elements of either science fiction or fantasy. Works of steampunk oftenColin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-86087054958898856682010-11-13T10:49:00.002-06:002010-11-13T10:52:06.450-06:00A better way to academic success?Many years ago, as an undergraduate student, I voted in a referendum about whether or not to introduce serious on course assessment into the degree program. At the time we had an arrangement called "terms", where you had to hand in certain papers and sit tests, but the results basically counted for squat. You had to hand them in to be allowed to sit the exam, but Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-62551986305812683402010-11-13T10:05:00.000-06:002010-11-13T10:05:41.896-06:00Project Project
Wow, I hear Project Titan is really coming on Monday.
Yawn.
I'll stick with Project Runway.Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-15905021852952883612010-11-04T12:15:00.003-06:002010-11-04T12:22:02.772-06:00Day of the Dead in Coyoacan's Historic PlazaHere are some more photos of the public face of the Day of the Dead celebration we took on Sunday in the old plaza in the heart of Coyoacan. It was a lovely warm sunny day and the plaza and immediate surrounds were packed. The colour and vitality of the scene belied the grim realities in so many other parts of this magical land.We are posting more pix Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-42080006231815282942010-10-31T21:10:00.007-06:002010-10-31T21:25:33.469-06:00Everyday Day of the DeadThis year's Day of the Dead tableaux in the plaza in the heart of Coyoacan, here in Mexico City, were as fantastic as ever.But one in particular caught the eye, reminding us that for many young people the Day of the Dead comes on many days.Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-87615151054501071172010-10-05T12:53:00.017-05:002010-10-05T22:05:56.484-05:00Last tango in CordobaWe've just finished doing a 2 day seminar in Cordoba, Argentina's second city, tucked away in the mid northern interior of the country. It's a great town, that does justice to Saturday night and seems blessed with an abundance of warm and generous people. It's been among the funnest 'sing for our supper' trips yet. We arrived a day ahead of an annual Cordoba holiday, and onlyColin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-57846941100942304102010-08-21T00:09:00.002-05:002010-08-21T00:12:31.836-05:00Mexican night soundsIf you listen carefully here you may hear the unmistakable mix of Michele playing Aquaria to a mariachi band serenading party guests in an apartment in the next building over.Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-48498991353319717742010-08-09T21:44:00.004-05:002010-08-09T22:45:04.224-05:00After the conference: Back in Mexico CityThe conference in Aguascalientes was one of the "best feel" conferences we have ever attended. It was as though everyone there had a mind to celebrate their shared interests and to actively seek to build in constructive and expansive ways on what was being presented. There was an excellent diversity of papers and the setting was excellent. The Universidad Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-87961038203678748952010-08-07T17:42:00.002-05:002010-08-07T17:45:36.195-05:00A disturbing new literacy: reading the wrinkles. AKA the shirtless Iggy PopThis is not the best recovery option after a wonderful lunch following our second keynote. Sometimes it pays not to open your email in the airport whilst waiting for the flight.Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-81526326870924910972010-08-06T16:39:00.003-05:002010-08-06T16:57:35.167-05:00Survived the first oneIt really is a case of "one down and one to go". It's been a long time since we presented in Spanish and our fragile command of functionality has slipped a notch or two -- which is tricky when you're starting out from fragile. Even though the theme, "Digital literacy practices of networked youth", is one we are reasonably at home with, it was hard work negotiating the Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-42234226784474527362010-08-05T16:11:00.020-05:002010-08-05T18:02:39.849-05:00Waiting for Daniel's Keynote at the II International Seminar on Writing in the UniversityWe've got to the auditorium in good time for the opening keynote of the conference, by Daniel Cassany, from the Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona. Daniel is Catalan, which gives us a nice point of connection since some of our work has been translated into Catalan.Unlike us, Daniel is an expert on writing, Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-87823074446365504082010-08-04T15:03:00.004-05:002010-08-04T15:38:57.213-05:002nd International Seminar on Reading in the University in AguascalientesWe have just arrived in Aguascalientes from Mexico City (all of 50 minutes in a plane), where we will be presenting a couple of keynotes related to reading in the university and catching up with some old friends, as well as making some new ones.It's been a blur since we left Cape Breton within 5 minutes of completing a week'sColin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-11955036128352414582010-07-17T09:24:00.002-05:002010-07-17T09:30:08.888-05:00My Kiwi Top 10 -- Part IIIt's true, there is a bit more to my appreciation of the NZ music scene during the years I was there than was indicated in my previous post. Like the wonderful Main Street and Zwines years – too few and too fast a-passing – that contrived to delay my PhD completion by some not inconsiderable time. There was music most nights, some of it so good that I recall its sound Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-35397482698181787142010-07-13T09:46:00.005-05:002010-07-13T12:21:18.753-05:00My Kiwi Top Ten -- to the time of leaving the countryI'm afraid to say that Split Enz just never did it for me. But plenty of other Kiwi born bands did, although by the time I was old enough to see them legally most had fled for more lucrative pastures -- especially to Australia.Not all of my favourites can be sourced online, but a fair number can, and certainly enough to get a set that i'd be Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-50814645810094931972010-06-27T19:17:00.004-05:002010-06-27T19:32:33.430-05:00Mustang Utility VehicleI was working away building some cupboard space in the barn up here at Bottle Cove this morning when I suddenly realised that getting the large sheets of plywood for bracing the walls on the small addition we are currently making to the cottage was not the only challenge to be resolved, so far as transporting the building materials from the city is concerned. The thing is Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-47490145396874358352010-06-21T19:23:00.002-05:002010-06-21T19:28:44.661-05:00Cove cuisineAbout the last thing I did before heading north for summer was finish reading a very fun book called “What would Keith Richards Do?, by Jessica Pallington West. As the author describes it, the book is a kind of unofficial or unauthorised Keith Richards tao. It's a great read. Keith's Commandments are screamingly brilliant. Reading the book was, of course, just an appetizer ahead of Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-16513843882738917122010-05-28T08:54:00.006-05:002010-05-28T09:11:09.176-05:00Packing the DahonOne of the big questions arising as "departure for summer" day draws nigh is whether there will be enough room in the Mustang to fit my bike -- along with the suitcases, technostuff, 4 books (small), two kitset bedside tables, a food preserving kit, and whatever Budweiser and Pepsi remains in the fridge at leaving time.A short empirical test, featuring a piece of standard Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-10834586819579531562010-05-18T14:33:00.009-05:002010-05-18T15:33:40.386-05:00Zen + Tweakers: Creatively ElegantSometimes it's a challenge to find ways to pass time on planes, but I have to confess that on numerous occasions I have been saved by locating a current copy of the Skymall catalogue. On several occasions this has resulted in making a purchase and, as the saying goes, so far so good.On a recent trip I saw some tiny red "boom" speakers in the catalogue, but forgotColin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-90104821368079244982010-05-01T16:10:00.018-05:002010-05-01T17:27:42.876-05:00Mainstreaming the WebWe're now in the final symposium session of ROFLcon. In front of us are:Jaime WilkinsonGreg RutterKenyatta CheeseBen Huhmoot (click on this link at your own caution! Seriously)Tim HwangChristina XuTim Hwang opens the panel with "Oh shit! The internet is here!" Christina asks the first question of the panel to describe their favourite meme that's gone mainstream. Kenyatta Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-76025346252233558622010-05-01T14:37:00.008-05:002010-05-01T15:27:15.998-05:00ROFLing the NewsIt's 2:30pm on Saturday and we're now listening to a panel talk about poking fun at news reporting.Mark Hale and Ken Lowry are taking their FakeAPStylebook which is a parody of the news reporting service, Associated Press, and their writing style book. They talk about how the original AP style guide seems to have lightened up a lot since the launch of their Twitter feed.We've justColin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-22050172162537391792010-05-01T11:05:00.009-05:002010-05-01T12:58:55.103-05:00Jonah Peretti on "Mormons, Mullets and Maniacs"Still at ROFLcon and having a ball! There are sooo many super-smart people here!! Speaking of super-smart people, We're listening now to Jonah Peretti -- we've long been a fan of Jonah's and have written about his Nike Shoe meme and his Black People Love Us meme in a bunch of places. Jonah is talking how things get taken up on online and become Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-60625660277693336362010-04-30T12:49:00.011-05:002010-04-30T14:35:01.525-05:00The importance of LOLing with, rather than LOLing atWe're at ROFLcon II and already loving it. Just listened to the wonderful Ethan Zuckerman speak about the importance of sharing memes--and laughter--across geopolitical regions and borders. I wish everyone could here this presentation--it was fast-paced and covered such an enormous amount of terrain. Basically, the heart of his talk was: Weird Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-87033278046917404872010-04-11T14:20:00.007-05:002010-04-11T14:41:47.949-05:00 New book! Adolescents' Online LiteraciesEnormous congrats to Donna Alvermann (editrix) and contributing authors for Adolescents' Online Literacies: Connecting Classrooms, & Popular Culture! From the back cover:[This book] is a compilation of new work that makes concrete connections between what the research literature portrays and what teachers, school librarians, and media specialists know to Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-77206540429381082602010-04-08T22:03:00.003-05:002010-04-08T22:20:29.275-05:00Vale Malcolm McLarenIt's wrecked my day, which was otherwise pretty good, to read of Malcolm McLaren's death. I've enjoyed his maverick ways for so long it's sad to think there'll be no more. For sure I'll never forget the night, long ago, when the NZ television show Radio with Pictures aired the rump of the Pistols performing "No one is innocent" in Rio, with Ronnie Biggs doing a pretty fair (byColin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-52660536098119055022010-04-07T22:57:00.002-05:002010-04-07T23:17:48.149-05:00Reliving some old techWe are currently working on a book comprising a selection of our essays and chapters from 1985 to 2010. Some of the early stuff does not exist in electronic form and so it needs scanning. But our only copies of some of the early stuff are in Coatepec, Mexico, and the only scanner we have ever set up here is a Primax 98. It is hooked up to a 1999 model e-Machine running Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-48988600970590585692010-03-27T08:29:00.004-06:002010-03-27T08:35:06.216-06:00Murdoch publishing accuracy goes from strength to strengthWhen I start paying for online content from Rupe's empire it will surely be for entertainment value rather than on the basis of any epistemological consideration.You gotta love it. Ronnie turns on to eyeliner and is letting Johnny Depp document him. Right.Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-78769991977676832482010-02-20T10:31:00.005-06:002010-02-20T10:47:26.761-06:00New book out: DIY MediaWe're very happy to announce we have a new edited book that's just come out. It's called DIY Media: Creating, Sharing and Learning with New Technologies, and aims at being a really hands-on, practical text for anyone interested in tinkering and mucking around with a range of new literacy practices.From the back cover:Schools remain notorious for co-opting digital Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-7863813246157584782010-02-16T12:53:00.009-06:002010-02-16T15:10:49.118-06:00New report: Social Media and Young AdultsThe Pew Internet and American Life Project recently released a new report titled, Social Media and Young Adults. The study surveyed and young adults (in this case, those aged 18 to 29 years, nd which they refer to as the "Millennial Generation") about their social media use (e.g., Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, etc. as well as their use of mobile wireless Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-3157210975463955952010-02-13T18:34:00.003-06:002010-02-13T19:17:05.241-06:00MixedInk: A collaborative online writing spaceHere's another collaborative writing space that might interest folk: MixedInk. This one seems to be much "public" than spaces like Google Docs, and enable complete and utter strangers to work collaboratively on producing texts, much in the vein of James Surowiecki's claims about the "wisdom of crowds" and the positive effects of pooled, divergent Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-5621690834206287512010-02-10T14:01:00.012-06:002010-03-06T16:28:16.460-06:00Books to reviewWe have a stack of books in from publishers. If you'd like to review (and then keep) one--or more--of these books for the journal, e-Learning, email Michele (knobelm@mail.montclair.edu) and specify which book(s) and your mailing address, and she'll get back to you with review guidelines and a copy of the book(s). O’Dowd, R. (Ed.). (2007). Online intercultural exchange: An Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-50767457828629111992010-02-10T13:21:00.006-06:002010-02-10T13:51:29.026-06:00Two new books in our series!We're both very happy to announce the publication of two new books in our Peter Lang series!Shaheen Shariff and Andrew H. Churchill are the editors of Truths and Myths about Cyber-bullying: International Perspectives on Stakeholder Responsibility and Children's Safety. This book usefully presents a range of international perspectives on what constitutes "cyber-bullyingColin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-13469009371972818262010-02-04T18:01:00.004-06:002010-02-04T18:47:08.028-06:00Untirement ex-pattingI reckon I could get used to this "untirement" thing. Having some significant discretionary time is something I had long lost contact with.So, yesterday was the day for celebrating "Waitangi Day" (New Zealand's national day) over in this part of the world, and the NZ ambassador hosted the annual event in Mexico City. In recent years I have been toiling in Oz at this time and Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-33658068683076321062010-01-25T15:22:00.002-06:002010-01-25T15:42:08.311-06:00Generation M2: Media in the Lives of 8- to 18-Year-OldsThe Kaiser Family Foundation has just released a new report on the media uses of children and young people aged 8 to 18 years within the U.S. The report-- Generation M2: Media in the Lives of 8- to 18-Year-Olds--surveyed a national sample of over 2,000 children and youth, and took into account young people's tendency to multitask with mediaColin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-25389672297991267582010-01-25T15:14:00.002-06:002010-01-25T15:22:00.112-06:00Texting is good for kids!Clare Woods, of Coventry University, has been conducting a number of studies of texting practices among 8 to 12 year olds, and is finding a strong correlation between texting and kids' phonological awareness and literacy development. This is a nice fly in the ointment for those educators who insist that textisms--those abbreviations, phonically-spelled, and iconic symbolsColin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-71952825158368487972010-01-23T20:39:00.004-06:002010-01-24T19:32:38.660-06:00A long time between postsFor anyone who happens still to stumble in here, it's been an unconscionable time between posts. There are no good reasons, although there are plenty of excuses. The page proofs from hell. Finishing up all but the minimum of paid work and happily entering "untirement". A bout of good strong Mexican flu. The coffee harvest. Too many overdue pieces of contracted writing Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-77251424072689946162009-11-23T16:19:00.004-06:002009-11-23T16:46:06.772-06:00New book in our series!Enormous congrats to Margaret Hagood for her new edited collection, New Literacies Practices: Designing Literacy Learning. According to the back blurb:New literacies have been researched with various age groups in a variety of settings, illustrating how text uses differ across contexts and highlighting stark divides between schooled and out-of-school literacies. Not Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-39503495609568956422009-11-03T19:30:00.007-06:002010-01-23T21:51:44.888-06:00Birmingham Small ArmsThe tale of the Birmingham Small Arms company is an interesting one, indeed, and throws a certain light on the perennial fascination that so many hard core bikers--especially those of the gang affinity group affiliation type--have with small (and not so small) arms.For me, the interest has ever only been in the bikes. In the fun years between my Masters and PhD struggles I Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-81553946698996681792009-10-26T21:22:00.002-06:002009-10-26T21:36:17.548-06:00Farewell to GeoCitiesBack in the mid 90s GeoCities provided a truly welcome free website hosting service for people like ourselves who wanted a basic web presence without having to get involved in complicated a, and often costly, web hosting arrangements. For almost 15 years we maintained our website (at www.coatepec.net) courtesy of GeoCities' beneficence-- which, to be sure, was heavily Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-76355078698469704962009-10-13T19:47:00.009-05:002009-10-20T22:09:45.105-05:00Books available for reviewingWe have a brand new batch of books in from publishers. If you'd like to review one--or more--of these books for the journal, e-Learning, email Michele (knobelm@mail.montclair.edu) and specify which book(s) and your mailing address, and she'll get back to you with review guidelines and a copy of the book(s). Bermejo, F. (2007). The internet audience: Constitution and Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-3202231519750222942009-10-05T18:44:00.004-05:002009-10-05T18:54:21.274-05:00Talk of next-generation messagingRecent buzz on the internet is Google's Wave project, which promises to change the way we communicate with others using text as the primary (but not the sole) medium. As Ryan Paul of ars technica explains:It brings together elements of instant messaging, e-mail, collaborative rich document editing, and generic support for third-party Web services in a single Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294102.post-33169928700188508742009-09-18T13:00:00.006-05:002009-09-18T13:13:21.332-05:00Make your own point-and-click games!Not a computer programmer, but really keen to muck around and make your own games online? The Fableforge.org is for you! We haven't had a chance to tinker with it yet, but it looks absolutely fabulous. Basically, it's a game engine accessed online that you can use to create your own point-and-click games (i.e., your mouse cursor is the control device, and you Colin and/or Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07672356531075609779noreply@blogger.com1