Computer games, the Internet, and other new communications media are often seen to pose threats and dangers to young people, but they also provide new opportunities for creativity and self-determination. As we start to look beyond the immediate hopes and fears that new technologies often provoke, there is a growing need for in-depth empirical research. Digital Generations presents a range of exciting and challenging new work on children, young people, and new digital media. The book is organized around four key themes: Play and Gaming, The Internet, Identities and Communities Online, and Learning and Education. The book brings together researchers from a range of academic disciplines - including media and cultural studies, anthropology, sociology, psychology and education - and will be of interest to a wide readership of researchers, students, practitioners in digital media, and educators.
Contents: Preface. D. Buckingham, Is There a Digital Generation? Part I:Play and Gaming. H. Jenkins, The War Between Effects and Meanings: Rethinking the Video Game Violence Debate. M. Mackey, Digital Games and the Narrative Gap. M. Ito, Japanese Media Mixes and Amateur Cultural Exchange. M. Oliver, C. Pelletier, Activity Theory and Learning From Digital Games: Developing an Analytical Methodology. Part II: The Internet. S. Livingstone, M. Bober, Regulating the Internet at Home: Contrasting the Perspectives of Children and Parents. T. Olsson, Active and Calculated Media Use Among Young Citizens: Empirical Examples From a Swedish Study. K. Montgomery, B. Gottlieb-Robles, Youth as e-Citizens: The Internet's Contribution to Civic Engagement. J. Frechette, Cyber-Censorship or Cyber-Literacy? Envisioning Cyber-Learning Through Media Education. Part III: Identities and Online Communities.M. Polak, "It's a gURL Thing": Community Versus Commodity in Girl-Focused Netspace. L.A. Scheidt, Adolescent Diary Weblogs and the Unseen Audience. J. Davies, "Hello Newbie! **Big Welcome Hugs** Hope U Like It Here As Much As I Do!" An Exploration of Teenagers' Informal Online Learning. S. Driver, Virtually Queer Youth Communities of Girls and Birls: Dialogical Spaces of Identity Work and Desiring Exchanges. Part IV: Learning and Education. B. Holderness, Towards Bridging Digital Divides in Rural (South) Africa. A. Burn, J. Durran, Digital Anatomies: Analysis as Production in Media Education. L. de Block, I. Rydin, Digital Rapping in Media Productions: Intercultural Communication Through Youth Culture. C.C. Thompson, J. Putthoff, E. Figueroa, Hopeworks: Youth Identity, Youth Organization, and Technology.
