*CFP* “DATA LITERACY AND EDUCATION”, SPECIAL ISSUE, JOURNAL OF MEDIA LITERACY EDUCATION

Proposals are invited for articles for a special issue of the Journal of Media Literacy Education on the theme of Data Literacy and Education. This special issue will focus on the role of data and data literacy competencies in the context of education.

Data can be seen as the currency of the 21st century. It is omnipresent and interwoven in the fabrics of today’s societies. Data provides many opportunities, including personalized services and environmental monitoring, but it also entails risks to privacy, data breaches and other potential harms. But we still know little about how people acquire the knowledge and skills needed to create, use, analyze, interpret and apply data.

Across the multidisciplinary and global media literacy community, discussion is emerging around the competencies needed to understand the role of data in the context of everyday life, including civic life and work life, with increased exploration of data mining, data communication, data analytics, data visualization, and data-driven decision making. Among educators, artificial intelligence, dashboard platforms, algorithms, analytics, user interface metrics, and embedded assessment are becoming increasing familiar concepts.

Because media literacy has proven its relevance and importance in the past, we believe it may continue to adapt to accommodate and encompass the many different aspects of a datafied society. Data clearly moves beyond the borders of the domain of education, communications, media and technology, incorporating the fields of computer science, statistics, public health and epidemiology, the learning sciences, and more. Data touches upon every aspect of our everyday life (school, health, work, civic life, etc.). How can data literacy be integrated into existing theories of media literacy? What concepts could be more useful for teachers and learners to incorporate data literacy into the curriculum? What are the potential consequences of increasing people’s data literacy?

The Journal of Media Literacy Education provides a forum for established and emerging scholars, media professionals, and educational practitioners in and outside schools. For this special issue, we welcome contributions focusing on different dimensions of data literacy and education.

Some questions of special interest include:

• What does the concept data literacy mean? And how does it relate to media literacy?
• What kind of new competencies does it entail?
• What are the promising and emerging best practices in data literacy initiatives and programs?
• How do we integrate data literacy in school curricula?
• How is it taught to adult learners across the lifespan, and targeted to working professionals who are positioned to use and promote data, especially within the context of influencing social and public policy? 
• What technical skills and tools are required? What are the strengths and limitations of these tools? What are the implications and requirements for policy making related to the topic?

To Potential Authors

Please submit a 500-word abstract by email to Guest Editor Leo Van Audenhove (leo.van.audenhove@vub.be) before September 31, 2019 to be considered for publication. Please include "Special Issue: JMLE" in the subject title. Abstracts should make clear the conceptual or theoretical perspective, data sources (if empirical), and contributions of the submission.

Abstracts will be reviewed by the guest editors and selected authors will be invited to submit a full paper by November 1, 2019. Full papers will be expected on February 1, 2020, and must be uploaded to the JMLE website. Full papers undergo a standard blind peer review process according to JMLE policies. Accepted papers will be published in issue 12.2 in August, 2020.