Rebekah Willett

Dr Rebekah Willett is is a lecturer in media, ICT and cultural studies in the London Knowledge Lab department at the University of London's Institute of Education. She is also a researcher at the Centre for the Study of Children, Youth and Media.

Activities

Willett’s research interests include media cultures, literacy and gender. Projects she has worked on include 'Shared Spaces: Informal Learning and Digital Cultures' and a European media education project focusing on the internet. She has published work on new media pedagogies, Pokemon, internet risk, children's story writing, chatrooms and teenage girls and the internet. She has worked as a primary school teacher as well as a researcher.

Publications

• 2005 ‘Baddies’ in the classroom

• Willett, R. (2006) 'Poofy Dresses and Big Guns: A poststructuralist analysis of gendered positioning through talk amongst friends', Discourse: studies in the cultural politics of education 27(4), 441-445.
• Willett, R. (2007) 'Consuming Fashion and Producing Meaning through Online Paper Dolls' In S. Weber and S. Dixon (eds), Growing up online: Children and technology. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
• Willett, R. (2007) 'Technology, Pedagogy and Digital Production: A Case Study of Children Learning New Media Skills', Learning Media and Technology 32(2), 167-181.
• Willett, R., Robinson, M. and Marsh, J. (eds) (2008) Play, Creativity and Digital Cultures. London: Routledge.
• Willett, R. (2008) 'Consumer Citizens Online: Structure, agency and gender in online participation' In D. Buckingham (ed.), Youth, Identity and Digital Media. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
• Willett, R. (2008) What you wear tells a lot about you': Girls dress up online', Gender and Education 20(5), 421-434.
• Buckingham, D. and Willett, R. (eds) (2009) Video Cultures: Media Technology and Amateur Creativity. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
• Buckingham, D., Willett, R. and Pini, M. (forthcoming) Home Truths? Video Production and Domestic Life. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.
• Willett, R. (forthcoming) 'As soon as you get on Bebo you just go mad: Young consumers and the discursive construction of teenagers online', Young Consumers: Insight and Ideas for Responsible Marketers

Postgraduate Research

Includes: • Naomi Hamer 'Contemporary children's literature, trans-media franchises and the literacy cultures of preadolescent girls' • Maria Lambriandidou 'The effects of television advertisements on the construction of children's consumer identities' • Daniel Cuzner 'The Hidden History of Amateur Film and Video Making in the UK' • Jo Henderson 'Documents of Ordinariness: the Video Nation project'

Affiliations

Willet's consultancy work has included evaluating projects and co-authoring reports for the Office of Communications, MediaSmart, and the Cambridge Film Consortium.

Member of United Kingdom Literacy Association (Digital Literacy’s SIG); Media, Communications and Cultural Studies Association; British Educational Research Association. Member of the editorial board for the Girlhood Studies: an interdisciplinary Journal.

Dr Willett is a suitable candidate as a lead expert with media smart due to her extensive knowledge in media, education and working with young individuals. Consulting work with Ofcom provides her with up to the minute details within the British media.

Contact

Address: London Knowledge Lab,
Institute of Education,
University of London,
23-29 Emerald Street,
London,
WC1N 3QS
Phone:+44 020 7763 2186
Email: r.willett@ioe.ac.uk

www.ioe.ac.uk/study/LKLB_56.html