This book provides an evaluation and appreciation of the learning, teaching and instruction that can occur in digital environments. Mass media accounts of digital culture are invariably predicated on a technologically determinist vision, on the one hand promoting a utopian view of the future while on the other fueling moral panic by emphasizing views of alienation and danger in life online. In this book, children, young people and those who work with them are revealed as active agents with possibilities to navigate new paths.

Introduction Part I: Exploring Virtuality 1. From Virtual Histories to Virtual Literacies Julia Gillen and Guy Merchant 2. A Sociocultural Approach to Exploring Virtual Worlds Rebecca W. Black and Stephanie M. Reich 3. Barbies and Chimps: Text and Childhoods in Virtual Worlds Victoria Carrington Part II: Virtual Literacies in Everyday Life 4. Multiliteracies in the Wild: Learning from Computer Games Catherine Beavis 5. Countering Chaos in Club Penguin: Young Children's Literacy Practices in a Virtual World Jackie Marsh 6. Telling Stories Out of School: Young Male Gamers Talk About Literacies Alex Kendall and Julian McDougall Part III: School Innovations 7. 'What is the MFC?' Making and Shaping Meaning in Alternate Reality Games Angela Colvert 8. More Than Tweets: Developing the 'New' and 'Old' Through Online Social Networking Martin Waller 9. Children as Game Designers: New Narrative Opportunities Cathrin Howells and Judy Robertson 10. "I Oversee What the Children Are Doing": Challenging Literacy Pedagogy in Virtual Worlds Guy Merchant Part IV: Aspects of Participation 11. Scientific Literacy in a Social Networking Application Christine Greenhow 12. Seeking Planning Permission to Build a Gothic Cathedral on a Virtual Island Julia Gillen, Rebecca Ferguson, Anna Peachey and Peter Twining 13. Learning from Adventure Rock Lizzie Jackson 14. Playing Together Separately: Mapping Out Literacy and Social Synchronicity Crystle Martin, Caroline C. Williams, Amanda Ochsner, Shannon Harris, Elizabeth King, Gabriella Anton, Jonathon Elmergreen and Constance Steinkuehler. Virtual Literacies and Beyond: Some Concluding Comments