From online media portals to phone apps and twitter poetry, technology is transforming the written word. So how are creators and consumers navigating the digital frontiers and how will these changes affect the way we read and write into the next decade? Guests Marni Cordell Owner and publisher of the independent news website New Matilda...

This paper offers a snapshot of the current state of media literacy programs. Introduction In 2009 and 2010, people coming and going in a collection of public places in Ukraine saw an unusual set of electronic billboards. “The person who uncovers that which was hidden–that’s a real journalist,” read one, against an image of a...

This paper summarises the information derived from the 2011 Softlink Australian School Library Survey and explores the relationships between budgets, staffing and student literacy levels in school libraries. Principle findings from the 2011 Softlink Australian School Library Survey include: Where student numbers are the same, it is shown that primary school libraries receive significantly less...

In 2012-13 the Australian Government funded the Murdoch Childrens' Reserach Institute to implement a 12-month Let’s Read national early literacy campaign. Building on existing evidence-based programs, the Let’s Read campaign engaged families, professionals and communities to promote high quality early literacy environments for children from birth to 5 years. This literature review was conducted during...

This presentation highlights data on the links between ICT use and basic reading and text comprehension. It reports qualitative findings from a range of projects conducted in South Australia about Internet and mobile phone use among disadvantaged communities; these include Australians from lower income backgrounds, rural areas, young people with a disability, Aboriginal Australians, and...