From social networking sites to game design, from blogs to game play, and from fan fiction to commercial web sites, Girl Wide Web 2.0 offers a complex portrait of millennial girls online. Grounded in an understanding of the ongoing evolution in computer and internet technology and in the ways in which girls themselves use that technology, the book privileges studies of girls as active producers of computer/Internet content, and incorporates an international/intercultural perspective so as to extend our understanding of girls, the Internet, and the negotiation of identity.

Given the rapidly growing presence of girls online, serious academic inquiry into the relationship between girls and the Internet is imperative. Girl Wide Web is an innovative collection of cutting-edge research exploring a wide sweep of issues related to the ways adolescent girls interact with the Internet. Employing a range of methodologies and theoretical perspectives primarily within cultural studies, the authors examine a variety of topics - from instant messaging and web-diaries to online fan communities and Internet advertising that targets young girls. Taken together, these essays provide a rich portrait of the complex relationship among girls, the Internet, and the negotiation of identity.

eGirls, eCitizens is a landmark work that explores the many forces that shape girls’ and young women’s experiences of privacy, identity, and equality in our digitally networked society. Drawing on the multi-disciplinary expertise of a remarkable team of leading Canadian and international scholars, as well as Canada’s foremost digital literacy organization, MediaSmarts, this collection presents the complex realities of digitized communications for girls and young women as revealed through the findings of The eGirls Project (www.egirlsproject.ca) and other important research initiatives. Aimed at moving dialogues on scholarship and policy around girls and technology away from established binaries of good vs bad, or risk vs opportunity, these seminal contributions explore the interplay of factors that shape online environments characterized by a gendered gaze and too often punctuated by sexualized violence. Perhaps most importantly, this collection offers first-hand perspectives collected from girls and young women themselves, providing a unique window on what it is to be a girl in today’s digitized society.

How are girls represented in written and graphic texts, and how do these representations inform our understanding of girlhood? In this volume, contributors examine the girl in the text in order to explore a range of perspectives on girlhood across borders and in relation to their positionality. In literary and transactional texts, girls are presented as heroes who empower themselves and others with lasting effect, as figures of liberating pedagogical practice and educational activism, and as catalysts for discussions of the relationship between desire and ethics. In these varied chapters, a new notion of transnationalism emerges, one rooted not only in the process through which borders between nation-states become more porous, but through which cultural and ethnic imperatives become permeable.

The roles that media play in the lives of children and adolescents, as well as their potential implications for their cognitive, emotional, social and behavioral development, have attracted growing research attention in a variety of disciplines. The Routledge International Handbook of Children, Adolescents and Media analyses a broad range of complementary areas of study, including children as media consumers, children as active participants in media making, and representations of children in the media. The handbook presents a collection that spans a variety of disciplines including developmental psychology, media studies, public health, education, feminist studies and the sociology of childhood. Essays provide a unique intellectual mapping of current knowledge, exploring the relationship of children and media in local, national, and global contexts. Divided into five parts, each with an introduction explaining the themes and topics covered, the handbook features 57 new contributions from 71 leading academics from 38 countries. Chapters consider vital questions by analyzing texts, audience, and institutions, including: the role of policy and parenting in regulating media for children the relationships between children’s’ on-line and off-line social networks children’s strategies of resistance to persuasive messages in advertising media and the construction of gender and ethnic identities The Handbook’s interdisciplinary approach and comprehensive, international scope make it an authoritative, state of the art guide to the nascent field of Children’s Media Studies. It will be indispensable for media scholars and professionals, policy makers, educators, and parents.

How do American girls compose and amend their identities? In this text, prominent scholars in their respective fields examine the complex social and cultural constructions that shape girls’ lives both in and out of school. The book looks at matters ranging from embedded issues of class, race, ethnicity, immigrant status, and sexuality to popular culture and personal histories. Exploring the scholarly literature on gender and education, the successes and failures of feminist pedagogy, and girls’ practices with both traditional and non-traditional texts, as well as the primary sources of a material culture, the authors expose the myriad forces that script girls’ gender, identity, and literacy. The distinctive contribution of this book is to open up new discussions of girls in American classrooms today and to critically examine their experiences as they navigate preconceived notions of who they are while forming their personal and public identities, thereby helping teachers to better understand and create classroom experiences that make girls visible to themselves and to others.

The evolution of digital media has enhanced global perspectives in all facets of communication, greatly increasing the range, scope, and accessibility of shared information. Due to the tremendously broad-reaching influence of digital media, its impact on learning, behavior, and social interaction has become a widely discussed topic of study, synthesizing the research of academic scholars, community educators, and developers of civic programs. The Handbook of Research on the Societal Impact of Digital Media is an authoritative reference source for recent developments in the dynamic field of digital media. This timely publication provides an overview of technological developments in digital media and their myriad applications to literacy, education, and social settings. With its extensive coverage of issues related to digital media use, this handbook is an essential aid for students, instructors, school administrators, and education policymakers who hope to increase and optimize classroom incorporation of digital media. This innovative publication features current empirical studies and theoretical frameworks addressing a variety of topics including chapters on instant messaging, podcasts, video sharing, cell phone and tablet applications, e-discussion lists, e-zines, e-books, e-textiles, virtual worlds, social networking, cyberbullying, and the ethical issues associated with these new technologies.