Ilana Snyder

From the University Website: Ilana Snyder was a high school English teacher before she took up an academic position at Monash University. Her research has focused on the changes to social and cultural practices when digital technologies are used in school and out-of-school settings. A particular interest has been the connections between literacy, technology and disadvantage. Major funded studies include a project which examined the connections between the use of new technologies, teaching and learning, and organisational change in Australian higher education and another which explored the digital literacy practices of young people in all the dimensions of their lives, at school, at home and in the community. Her recent projects include a collaboration with colleagues in Marketing that focuses on children's critical engagement with marketing activities when they use online social networking media and another which is investigating the use of mobile phones to deliver literacy, numeracy and health outcomes to Indigenous children in remote communities. Her most recent book is Closing the Gap in Education?, co-edited with John Nieuwenhuysen (2010), which is a collection of the papers from a conference held at Monash's Johannesburg campus in which leading scholars and public figures from Australia, South Africa and New Zealand participated. The Literacy Wars (2008) examines the volatile public debates around literacy education. The book offers an explanation of the often bitter disagreements, arguing 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. Ilana is a member of a number of editorial boards and a reviewer for several national and international funding bodies.