Profile

Professor Catherine Beavis

Professor Catherine Beavis believes that the skilful use of good digital games can enable their powerful capacities to be used to complement and extend young children’s learning. As Chief Investigator in the Healthy and Educated programs, Catherine’s work focusses on how making and playing digital games can support literacy and learning in homes and schools; the nature of games as text and young children’s literary reading of them; and the use of digital games and social media in cultural institutions. Through her work with the Centre, Catherine hopes young children will be active, agential and critically literate in their use of digital technologies.

Catherine brings to the Centre leadership experience on two major ARC Linkage projects focussed on digital games in the classroom, including how young people’s out-of-school experience of games could be used to support literacy, creativity and disciplinary learning through the use of both commercial and educational games. She has published eight edited books, and more than 70 chapters and papers. Catherine is an Honorary Life Member of the Australian and Victorian Associations for the Teaching of English.

Earliest digital memory
A highly regarded reading specialist introduced Macs to our workplace. I was initially puzzled by these giant yellow boxes, but quickly saw the literacy opportunities and possibilities.



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The Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child acknowledges the First Australian owners of the lands on where we gather and pay our respects to the Elders, lores, customs and creation spirits of this country.

The Centre recognises that the examples we set in diversity and inclusion will support young children to respect and celebrate differences in all people. We embed diversity, inclusivity and equality into all aspects of the Centre’s activities and welcome all people regardless of race, ethnicity, social background, religion, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation and national origin.