Magic or Mayhem? New Texts and New Literacies in Technological Times
The title of this session comes from a 1999 computer game, Magic and Mayhem. A highly literary fantasy/problem solving game drawing on myth and narratives ranging from Classical Greek to Arthurian. Initially a perfect choice for a curriculum designed around fantasy and popular culture, the game examplifies what it might means for literacy to be shifting in the direction of design (Kress and van Leeuin 1996. Kress 1995, New London group 1996 et al.). Yet, also characteristically, despite the enthusiasm of teachers workingin the project with which this paper is concerned, the game was ultimatly rejected as a textual choice because of age ratings and attendant fears. violence, panics, and community apprehensions about the anti-social and anti-literacy nature of games. ‘Magic and Mayhem’ speaks both to the possibilities and to the disruptiveness of linking literacy and curriculum with computer games.
Mobiles, Movement, and Meaning-Making: A Model of Mobile Literacy
Drawing on ethnographic research conducted with adolescents at a rural Australian high school, this chapter constructs a theoretical model for “mobile literacy.” Mobile technologies, and their increasing technological capabilities, present emerging challenges for definitions and understandings of what precisely constitutes “literate practice,” challenges which have not been wholly resolved though more disparate discussions of “electronically mediated communication.” Such an understanding is important in order to develop approaches that effectively integrate mobile technologies into formal educational contexts. The model constructed in this chapter draws on different theoretical traditions where literacy is concerned, combining these with a sociological model developed by Pierre Bourdieu, to draw out the importance of the social dimension in mobile technology use. The ethnographic methodology results in findings that reveal the structuring impact of economic, social, cultural, and symbolic resources associated with these devices. Far from revealing that mobiles free us from a consideration of “place,” this research demonstrates that to be “mobile literate” is to be even more finely attuned to the contextual factors for any mobile technology use.
New records of Grania (Clitellata, Enchytraeidae) in the Northeast Atlantic (from Tromsø to the Canary Islands), with descriptions of seven new species
Previous northeast Atlantic records of Grania have been mainly from Germany, southern Scandinavia, and the Atlantic shores of France, Spain and Ireland. They were referred to eight species, with one, G. atlantica, reported from the continental slope. We have examined various unpublished collections from sources spanning from the Canary Islands to the Norwegian Arctic. Apart from new information on morphology, taxonomy, and distribution of known species, we describe seven new taxa (G. canaria, G. fortunata, G. mauretanica, G. aquitana, G. vikinga, G. torosa, and G. papillinasus). The collection of G. papillinasus from 2630-2885 m represents a new depth record for Enchytraeidae. Twenty-five of the now 57 Grania species occur in the North Atlantic. The North Atlantic drift moderates sea temperatures along the northeast Atlantic coasts, probably facilitating the wide latitudinal range of some taxa, as well as actual dispersal within the region. A "chaetal index" (chaetal length : chaetal foot length) is proposed to differentiate L-shaped chaetae at the species level. Complex relationships within the "type 6 group" of Grania suggest that groupings established using certain combinations of penial, chaetal and spermathecal patterns may not be monophyletic. For a better phylogenetic resolution, additional morphological details of these and other characters are needed.