Education Commons^™

In this article, the author illustrates the blurring of lines of youth cultural production and participatory politics from the perspective of new media literacies. Drawing on design-based action research, the author discusses pedagogical considerations in the conceptualization of new media literacies in a semester-long course that culminated in inquiry-based social action projects created by university students in the urban Midwest. Noteworthy in the course was an emerging ethos developed through collaboration, participation, and distributed expertise leading to the production of video documentaries and interactive websites. New media literacies served as core cultural competencies and social skills in a new media …