Associate Professor Ilana Snyder

Biography

After ten years teaching English in Australian secondary schools, my academic career began with a doctoral study which investigated the impact of word processors on students' writing. Building on that early study, my research has focused on identifying the changes to social and cultural practices when digital technologies are used in school and out-of-school settings. A particular interest is the connections between literacy, technology and disadvantage. My principal research goal has been to improve our understanding of how the use of information and communication technologies in a range of settings affects literacy, language and learning. I am currently writing up the findings of a three-year Australian Research Council Discovery project that investigated the digital literacy practices of young people in all the dimensions of their lives: at school, at home and in the community. The project comprised a national survey of fifteen-year-olds and case studies of young people as they engaged with new media. The central aim of the study is to provide a rich knowledge base to inform technology-mediated work in school literacy contexts.

An earlier ARC Large Grant project (2001-2003,) in collaboration with Prof Simon Marginson, University of Melbourne, examined the connections between the use of new technologies, teaching and learning, and organisational change in Australian higher education. The main finding was that the most effective use of new technologies in universities occurs when educational and organisational objectives are in harmony. Such an alignment was not always evident in the case studies. My most recent book The Literacy Wars (2008) examines the volatile public debates around literacy education. The main focus is the media coverage of the debates since 2004 but attention is also given to their historical background. The book explains the reasons for the often bitter disagreements and argues that the challenge is to find a balance between preserving the legacy of the past and preparing children for the literacy demands of the future.

In addition to a continuing research program located in Australia, projects with colleagues in other countries are high on my agenda. A cross-cultural comparative study with literacy educators in Greece, Brazil, South Africa and Canada is underway. Integral to my role at Monash is working closely with higher degree research students as they explore questions about literacy education, in particular, the relationships between the use of new technologies and literacy practices and the implications for theory, policy and practice.

Research Interests

Media debates about literacy

Literacy, technology and social inclusion

Language and literacy education

Literacy and technology studies

Critical literacy and the use of new technologies

Pedagogical practices and new technologies

Hypertext

Hypertext and contemporary literary theories

Professional Associations

• AERA
• NCTE
• AARE
• AATE
• VATE

Community Service

• e-press Advisory Committee, Monash University
• Board of Management, Monash University Foundation for Jewish Studies

Supervision

Hypertext: reading and writing practices

Historical literacy and hypertext

Plagiarism and cultural difference in TESOL education

Teaching and learning literacy with technology

Multimedia and learning

Investigating online conferencing in a networked ESL classroom

Strategy training for at-risk ESL learners

New technologies, new pedagogies

Editorial

Journal of Writing Research

Review of Educational Research

Language and Education: An International Journal

Computers and Composition: An International Journal for Teachers of Writing

E-Learning

International Journal of Educational Technology

Publications

Books

Snyder, I. (2008) The literacy wars: Why teaching children to read and write is a battleground in Australia. Sydney: Allen & Unwin.

Snyder, I. & Beavis, C. (eds) (2004) Doing literacy online: Teaching, learning and playing in an electronic world. New Jersey: Hampton Press.

Snyder, I. (ed) (2002) Silicon literacies: Communication, innovation and education in the electronic age. London: Routledge. Spanish edition published by Ediciones Aljibe, Malaga in 2004. Electronic rights bought by eBooks.com: the digital bookstore in 2003.

Lankshear, C. & Snyder, I. with Green, B. (2000) Teachers and technoliteracy: Managing literacy, learning and new technology in schools. Sydney: Allen & Unwin. Translated into Japanese, Kaibundo, Japan, in 2002, and distributed in India in 2006 by Viva Books.

Snyder, I. (1997) (ed) Page to screen: Taking literacy into the electronic era. Sydney: Allen & Unwin and London: Routledge. Electronic rights bought by eBooks.com: the digital bookstore in 2001.

Snyder, I. (1996) Hypertext: The electronic labyrinth. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press and New York University Press.

Feldman, S., Kamler, B. & Snyder, I. (eds) (1996) Something that happens to other people: Stories of women growing older. Sydney: Random.

Special Issue of a Journal

Snyder, I. & Prinsloo, M. (eds) (2007) The digital literacy practices of young people in marginal contexts. Special Issue of Language & Education: An International Journal 21, 3, 171-270.

Chapters

Snyder, I. & Bulfin, S. (2008) Using new media in the secondary English classroom. In J. Coiro, M. Knobel, C. Lankshear & D. Leu (eds) Handbook of Research on New Literacies. London & New York: Taylor & Francis Group.

Snyder, I. & Bulfin, S. (2007) Digital literacy: What it means for Arts education. In L. Bresler (ed) International Handbook of Research in Arts Education Part 2 (pp. 1297-1310). The Netherlands: Springer.

Snyder, I. (2007) New media and cultural form: Narrative versus database. In A. Adams & S. Brindley (eds), Teaching English with ICT. London: Open University Press & McGraw Hill.

Snyder, I. (2007) Research approaches to technology, language and literacy. In K. King & N. Hornberger (eds) Encyclopedia of Language and Education (pp. 299-308). New York: Springer.

Snyder, I. (2007) Critical literacy, learning and technology studies: Challenges and opportunities for higher education. In R. Andrews & C. Haythornthwaite (eds) The Handbook of e-Learning (pp. 394-415). London: Sage.

Snyder, I. (2005) Pattern recognition: Learning from the technoliteracy research. In B. Maloch, J.V. Hoffman, D.L. Schallert, C.M. Fairbanks & J. Worthy (eds) 54th yearbook of the National Reading Conference (pp. 51-62). Oak Creek, Wisconsin: National Reading Conference.

Snyder, I. (2004) Keywords: A vocabulary of literacy and new media. In E. Bearne, T. Grainger & H. Dombey (eds) Interactions in language, literacy and the classroom. London: Open University Press.

Snyder, I. (2001) 'Hybrid vigour': Reconciling the verbal and the visual in electronic communication. In A. Lovelace & V. Ellis (Eds). ICT, pedagogy and curriculum: Subject to change. London: Routledge.

McConaghy, C. & Snyder, I. (2000) Working the Web in postcolonial Australia. In G.E. Hawisher & C.L. Selfe (eds) Global literacies and the World Wide Web (pp. 74-92). London: Routledge.

Refereed Journal Articles

North, S., Snyder, I. & Bulfin, S. (in press) Digital tastes: Social class and young peoples technology use. Information, Communication & Society.

Snyder, I., Marginson, S. & Lewis, T. (2007) An alignment of the planets: Mapping the intersections between pedagogy, technology and management in Australian universities. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management 29, 2, 1-16.

Snyder, I. & Prinsloo, M. (2007) Young peoples engagement with digital literacies in marginal contexts in a globalised world. Language & Education: An International Journal 21, 3, 1-9.

Snyder, I. (2005)[Attuned to the truth. Special Issue on Gunther Kress.] Computers and Composition: An International Journal for Teachers of Writing 22, 39-47.

Angus, L., Snyder, I. & Sutherland-Smith, W. (2004) [ICT and educational (dis)advantage: families, computers, and contemporary social and educational inequalities.] British Journal of Sociology of Education 25, 1, 3-18.

Angus, L., Snyder, I. & Sutherland-Smith, W. (2003) Families, cultural resources and the digital divide: ICTs and educational (dis)advantage in the e-society.] Australian Journal of Education 47, 1, 18-39.

Snyder, I. (2002) Literacy education in the digital age: Reframing curriculum and pedagogy Pedagogisch Tijdschrift 27, 2/3, 145-157.

Snyder, I., Angus, L. & Sutherland-Smith, W. (2002) [Building equitable literate futures: Home and school computer-mediated literacy practices and disadvantage.] Cambridge Journal of Education 32, 3, 368-83.

Snyder, I. (2001) A new communication order: Researching literacy practices in the network society. [Language and Education: An International Journal] 15, 2 & 3, 117-131.

Snyder, I. (2000) [Literacy and Technology Studies: Past, Present and Future.] Australian Educational Researcher 27, 2, Aug 2000, 97-119.

Book Reviews

Snyder, I. (2007) Review of J. Mendelssohn's Which school? Beyond public vs private. Australian Book Review Sept p. 57.

Snyder, I. (2007) Donnelly at large. Review of K. Donnelly's Dumbing Down. Melbourne: Hardie Grant Books. Australian Book Review May p. 17.

Snyder, I. (2006) Is there a pattern? Review of R. Florida's The flight of the creative class. Sydney: Pluto Press. Australian Book Review May pp. 16-7.

Snyder, I. (2005) Too everything. Review of L. Bretts You gotta have balls. Melbourne: Pan Macmillan. Australian Book Review November p. 51.

Snyder, I. (2004) Dubious appeal. Review of K. Donnelley's Why Australias schools are failing. Melbourne: Duffy & Snellgrove. Australian Book Review June p. 54.

Snyder, I. (2004) Video games give us a lesson in learning. Review of J. Gee's What video games have to teach us about learning and literacy. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. The Age, February 16, p. 5.

Snyder, I. (2003) Degrees in inequality. Review of R. Teese and John Polesel's Undemocratic schooling: Equity and quality in mass secondary education in Australia. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press Australian Book Review May pp. 54-5.

Snyder, I. (2002) The Internet way. Review of Manuel Castells' (2001) The Internet Galaxy. New York: Oxford University Press Australian Book Review May pp. 29-30.