Donna E. Alvermann, Ph.D
- The Omer Clyde and Elizabeth Parr Aderhold Professor in Education and Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus
Department of Language and Literacy Education
Biography
Donna Alvermann is a University of Georgia Appointed Distinguished Research Professor of Language and Literacy Education Emeritus. She is also The Omer Clyde and Elizabeth Parr Aderhold Professor in Education Emeritus. Formerly a classroom teacher in Texas and New York, her research focuses on young people’s digital literacies and use of popular media. Author of numerous articles, she has several books to her credit: Adolescents and Literacies in a Digital World; Reconceptualizing the Literacies in Adolescents’ Lives (3rd ed.); Adolescents’ Online Literacies: Connecting Classrooms, Digital Media, and Popular Culture; and Bring It to Class: Unpacking Pop Culture in Literacy Learning. Most recently, she helped in designing an interactive website to learn how a community of researchers and researched objects can push boundaries associated with creating and disseminating “original” work and remixes online using a Creative Commons license. Come join her at http://www.becoming3lectric.com
Areas of Expertise
- adolescent literacy
- popular culture
- digital literacies
- multimodal literacies
- written argumentation
- media education
Interests
- adolescents' literacies
- written communication
- critical media literacy
- social media sites
- youth media literacies
- democratization of online text production
- actor-network theory
- new materialisms
- Foucault's genealogical approach to analyzing historical literacy events
Concentrations
Education
- PhD in Reading and Language Arts, 1980
Syracuse University - MLS in Information Studies, 1980
Syracuse University - MA in Education/History, 1968
University of Texas at Austin - BS in Education/History, 1965
University of Texas at Austin
Contact
Research Summary
My primary research interests lie in adolescents’ digital literacies. I study middle-grades through high school students’ approaches to multimodal comprehension and production in digital environments (including social media). A particular interest is in understanding how online learning tools mediate young people’s motivation and engagement in both informational and literary texts. Most recently, I have begun a study of blog posts and remixes uploaded to an interactive website that I helped to design (http://www.becoming3lectric.com). Come join me there.
Publications
- Beach, C.L., Alvermann, D.E., Loomis, S., Wright, W., & Hutcherson Price, L. (2023).
- Digital Culture & Education, 14(4), 92-108. https://www.digitalcultureandeducation.com/volume-14-4 (Open Access).
Awards and Accolades
University of Georgia, 2018
University of Georgia, 2013
International Reading Association, 2012
American Educational Research Association, 2012
Compact for Faculty Diversity, Southern Regional Education Board, 2010
International Reading Association, 2006
Long Island University, 2005
Reading Hall of Fame, 1999
U.S. Department of Education (housed in COE/UGA), 1992
Literacy Research Association (formerly NRC), 1997