Children’s Virtual Play Worlds Culture, Learning, and Participation

Anne Burke is an Associate Professor in Literacy Education and Early Learning at Memorial University. She has a PhD from the University of Toronto. She is a multiple Canadian SSHRC grant scholar and maintains a strong research presence in Canadian schools researching new literacies and the role of social media in children’s lives. She has authored and co-edited a number of books in the areas of children’s literate play lives, new literacies studies, and popular culture. Recent book titles include Play to Learn (2010) and Assessing New Literacies: Perspectives from the Classroom (2009). Jackie Marsh (BA, PGCE, MEd, PhD) is Professor of Education at the University of Sheffield, UK. Recent publications include Changing Play: Play, Media and Commercial Culture from the 1950s to the Present Day (with Bishop, in press), Handbook of Early Childhood Literacy, 2nd edition (co-edited with Larson, 2012), and Virtual Literacies: Interactive Spaces for Children and Young People (co-edited with Merchant, Gillen and Davies, 2012). She is an editor of the Journal of Early Childhood Literacy.