Digital Literacy & Play in MMOs & Virtual Worlds for Young Children
Computer Games and Virtual Worlds 2009-2010 Speaker Series
Monday, April 12, 2010 3:30 - 5:00 PM
6011 Donald Bren Hall
Presenter: Jackie Marsh, Professor of Education, University of Sheffield
Discussant: Heather Horst, UC Humanities Research Institute, UC Irvine
In the last five years, MMOs have become increasingly popular with young children. Currently over 200 MMOs/virtual worlds are aimed at the youth market (Virtual Worlds Management, 2009). The presentation will focus on studies of children's (ages 4 - 11) use of the MMOs/virtual world Club PenguinTM and Barbie GirlsTM. focused upon two key issues in the discussion of the data: play and digital literacies.
"Diasporas in the New Media Age"
Andoni Alonso and Pedro J. Oiarzabal's (eds)"Diasporas in the New Media Age" is now out and available from University of Nevada Press. In addition to my chapter on rooting and routing practices among the Jamaican diaspora, the list of contributors include: Adela Ros, Jennifer M. Brinkerhoff, Michel S. Laguerre, Andoni Alonso and Iñaki Arzoz, Tolu Odumosu and Ron Eglash, Gina Sanchez Gibau, Victoria Bernal, Heather H. Horst, Dwaine Plaza, Javier Bustamante, Jose Luis Benitez, Radhika Gajjala, Brenda Chan, Yu Zhou, Khalil Rinnawi, Yitzhak Shichor, Xabier Cid and Iolanda Ogando, and Pedro J. Oiarzabal. What is particularly exciting about this volume is its interdisciplinary perspective as well as the range of migration and new media practices represented in the book. A summary of the book is below:
The explosion of digital information and communication technologies has influenced almost every aspect of contemporary life. "Diasporas in the New Media Age" is the first book-length examination of the social use of these technologies by emigrants and diasporas around the world. The eighteen original essays in the book explore the personal, familial, and social impact of modern communication technology on populations of European, Asian, African, Caribbean, Middle Eastern, and Latin American emigrants. It also looks at the role and transformation of such concepts as identity, nation, culture, and community in the era of information technology and economic globalization. The contributors, who represent a number of disciplines and national origins, also take a range of approaches—empirical, theoretical, and rhetorical—and combine case studies with thoughtful analysis. Diasporas in the New Media Age is both a discussion of the use of communication technologies by various emigrant groups and an engaging account of the immigrant experience in the contemporary world. It offers important insights into the ways that dispersed populations are using digital media to maintain ties with their families and homeland, and to create new communities that preserve their culture and reinforce their sense of identity. In addition, the book is a significant contribution to our understanding of the impact of technology on society in general.
"Anthropology and the Individual"
I am very pleased to announce that my chapter "Aesthetics of the Self: Digital Mediations" is finally in press.
Abstract: From theories of the ‘network society’ to networked individualism, one of the fundamental questions in the era of digital age revolves around the extent to which new media and technology contributes to increasing connectedness, or to the fragmentation and atomization of society. On the one hand, new media and technology enhance the level and degree of communication, leading individuals to communicate in an increasing number of ways and with greater frequency using mediums that enable communication across time and space (Horst and Miller 2005, Ling 2008, Matsuda 2005, Miller and Slater 2000). Yet, these interactions may not fully compensate for a broader shift in society that is characterized by physical isolation and separation, as defined in relation to ‘traditional’ conceptions of communities, societies, neighborhoods and other notions of place-based belonging (Low 2003, Castells 2000, Putnam 2000, Wellman 2001). This chapter explores the relationship between individuals, networks and places through a detailed case study of Ann, an 18-year old high school student living in Silicon Valley, California, and her engagement with two popular social network sites, MySpace and Facebook. As with other social network sites, MySpace and Facebook enable account holders to establish personalized profiles with links to friends and interests and provide a forum, or space, within which ‘friends’ can interact and “hang out”. In this chapter I explore how youth construct a sense of order in and through these spaces and the interplay between these new media and their relationships with places, persons and objects. I further reveal the ways in which these media spaces suggest an act of self-construction that is highly social, but also constrained whereby individuality emerges through the ordering and configuring of space in relation to peers and parents. As in the other chapters in this volume, what is significant is not the degree of individualism Ann exhibits, but the ways in which individuals exist in alignment with highly socialized media of expression. This is perhaps even more evident with social network sites, which enable youth to make public the bedroom, a space often viewed as a highly privatized and personal domain.
I am especially excited to see my chapter included in this edited volume, Anthropology and the Individual: A Material Culture Perspective (Berg Publications, 2009). It is the third in a series of edited books which features work by current and former colleagues from the Anthropology Department at University College London who have also studied under Danny Miller. The volume also includes chapters by Anna Cristina Pertierra on women's struggles with consumption in Cuba, Gabrielle Hosein's work on religion and public life Trinidad, Magda Cracun's chapter on fake brands and a range of other topics involving the contemporary experience of living and analyzing individuals.
An Online Presence (finally)...
After years of best intentions and queries about my current work, I am finally launching my website. I'll post here as time and news permits. For more immediate news, I'll be on twitter #hahhh
Many thanks to The Creative Scribe for his role in realizing this website!
Digital Literacy & Play in MMOs & Virtual Worlds for Young Children
Computer Games and Virtual Worlds 2009-2010 Speaker Series
Monday, April 12, 2010 3:30 - 5:00 PM
6011 Donald Bren Hall
Presenter: Jackie Marsh, Professor of Education, University of Sheffield
Discussant: Heather Horst, UC Humanities Research Institute, UC Irvine
In the last five years, MMOs have become increasingly popular with young children. Currently over 200 MMOs/virtual worlds are aimed at the youth market (Virtual Worlds Management, 2009). The presentation will focus on studies of children's (ages 4 - 11) use of the MMOs/virtual world Club PenguinTM and Barbie GirlsTM. focused upon two key issues in the discussion of the data: play and digital literacies.
"Diasporas in the New Media Age"
Andoni Alonso and Pedro J. Oiarzabal's (eds)"Diasporas in the New Media Age" is now out and available from University of Nevada Press. In addition to my chapter on rooting and routing practices among the Jamaican diaspora, the list of contributors include: Adela Ros, Jennifer M. Brinkerhoff, Michel S. Laguerre, Andoni Alonso and Iñaki Arzoz, Tolu Odumosu and Ron Eglash, Gina Sanchez Gibau, Victoria Bernal, Heather H. Horst, Dwaine Plaza, Javier Bustamante, Jose Luis Benitez, Radhika Gajjala, Brenda Chan, Yu Zhou, Khalil Rinnawi, Yitzhak Shichor, Xabier Cid and Iolanda Ogando, and Pedro J. Oiarzabal. What is particularly exciting about this volume is its interdisciplinary perspective as well as the range of migration and new media practices represented in the book. A summary of the book is below:
The explosion of digital information and communication technologies has influenced almost every aspect of contemporary life. "Diasporas in the New Media Age" is the first book-length examination of the social use of these technologies by emigrants and diasporas around the world. The eighteen original essays in the book explore the personal, familial, and social impact of modern communication technology on populations of European, Asian, African, Caribbean, Middle Eastern, and Latin American emigrants. It also looks at the role and transformation of such concepts as identity, nation, culture, and community in the era of information technology and economic globalization. The contributors, who represent a number of disciplines and national origins, also take a range of approaches—empirical, theoretical, and rhetorical—and combine case studies with thoughtful analysis. Diasporas in the New Media Age is both a discussion of the use of communication technologies by various emigrant groups and an engaging account of the immigrant experience in the contemporary world. It offers important insights into the ways that dispersed populations are using digital media to maintain ties with their families and homeland, and to create new communities that preserve their culture and reinforce their sense of identity. In addition, the book is a significant contribution to our understanding of the impact of technology on society in general.
"Anthropology and the Individual"
I am very pleased to announce that my chapter "Aesthetics of the Self: Digital Mediations" is finally in press.
Abstract: From theories of the ‘network society’ to networked individualism, one of the fundamental questions in the era of digital age revolves around the extent to which new media and technology contributes to increasing connectedness, or to the fragmentation and atomization of society. On the one hand, new media and technology enhance the level and degree of communication, leading individuals to communicate in an increasing number of ways and with greater frequency using mediums that enable communication across time and space (Horst and Miller 2005, Ling 2008, Matsuda 2005, Miller and Slater 2000). Yet, these interactions may not fully compensate for a broader shift in society that is characterized by physical isolation and separation, as defined in relation to ‘traditional’ conceptions of communities, societies, neighborhoods and other notions of place-based belonging (Low 2003, Castells 2000, Putnam 2000, Wellman 2001). This chapter explores the relationship between individuals, networks and places through a detailed case study of Ann, an 18-year old high school student living in Silicon Valley, California, and her engagement with two popular social network sites, MySpace and Facebook. As with other social network sites, MySpace and Facebook enable account holders to establish personalized profiles with links to friends and interests and provide a forum, or space, within which ‘friends’ can interact and “hang out”. In this chapter I explore how youth construct a sense of order in and through these spaces and the interplay between these new media and their relationships with places, persons and objects. I further reveal the ways in which these media spaces suggest an act of self-construction that is highly social, but also constrained whereby individuality emerges through the ordering and configuring of space in relation to peers and parents. As in the other chapters in this volume, what is significant is not the degree of individualism Ann exhibits, but the ways in which individuals exist in alignment with highly socialized media of expression. This is perhaps even more evident with social network sites, which enable youth to make public the bedroom, a space often viewed as a highly privatized and personal domain.
I am especially excited to see my chapter included in this edited volume, Anthropology and the Individual: A Material Culture Perspective (Berg Publications, 2009). It is the third in a series of edited books which features work by current and former colleagues from the Anthropology Department at University College London who have also studied under Danny Miller. The volume also includes chapters by Anna Cristina Pertierra on women's struggles with consumption in Cuba, Gabrielle Hosein's work on religion and public life Trinidad, Magda Cracun's chapter on fake brands and a range of other topics involving the contemporary experience of living and analyzing individuals.
An Online Presence (finally)...
After years of best intentions and queries about my current work, I am finally launching my website. I'll post here as time and news permits. For more immediate news, I'll be on twitter #hahhh
Many thanks to The Creative Scribe for his role in realizing this website!