Abstract
Literacy is important when we live, learn and work in our society, viewed in this book through the lens of being a networked world. This chapter focusses on digital literacy as one important literacy domain required for this (cf. Chapter 1). Digital literacy is approached from three perspectives:
a cognitive perspective, which focusses on reading/writing strategies;
a genre pedagogical perspective, which focusses on the development of text-related skills for reading and writing; and
a situated perspective, which focusses on literacy as participation in a social practice.
Strictly speaking, only the latter perspective corresponds to the definition of literacy provided in Chapter 1. However, to retain consistency with the field of literacy research, I follow the literature on the first two perspectives in terming them views on literacy. The perspectives are characterised by having different objectives, content and methods, and are built on diverging teaching and learning theoretical approaches. This chapter will develop an understanding of these three approaches to literacy and will integrate them into a common framework. The framework provides an elaboration of the definition of literacy as “being able to participate in a given cultural practice, making use of the cultural resources, artefacts and technologies of the practice” presented in Chapter 1; supplementing with cognitive and genre perspectives on the skills involved in such ‘participating’ and ‘making use of resources etc.’. Furthermore, the chapter looks at how digitalisation contributes to developing new text formats and how the use of digital technologies in the process of reading challenges more traditional views on literacy. The chapter thus contributes to the theory development of literacy positions in the light of the new digitally mediated learning landscape. Its framework for understanding literacy informs the chapters reporting empirical research on the facilitation of others’ development of digital literacy skills (Chapters 13 and 14).
a cognitive perspective, which focusses on reading/writing strategies;
a genre pedagogical perspective, which focusses on the development of text-related skills for reading and writing; and
a situated perspective, which focusses on literacy as participation in a social practice.
Strictly speaking, only the latter perspective corresponds to the definition of literacy provided in Chapter 1. However, to retain consistency with the field of literacy research, I follow the literature on the first two perspectives in terming them views on literacy. The perspectives are characterised by having different objectives, content and methods, and are built on diverging teaching and learning theoretical approaches. This chapter will develop an understanding of these three approaches to literacy and will integrate them into a common framework. The framework provides an elaboration of the definition of literacy as “being able to participate in a given cultural practice, making use of the cultural resources, artefacts and technologies of the practice” presented in Chapter 1; supplementing with cognitive and genre perspectives on the skills involved in such ‘participating’ and ‘making use of resources etc.’. Furthermore, the chapter looks at how digitalisation contributes to developing new text formats and how the use of digital technologies in the process of reading challenges more traditional views on literacy. The chapter thus contributes to the theory development of literacy positions in the light of the new digitally mediated learning landscape. Its framework for understanding literacy informs the chapters reporting empirical research on the facilitation of others’ development of digital literacy skills (Chapters 13 and 14).
| Original language | English |
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| Title of host publication | Designing for Learning in a Networked World |
| Editors | Nina Bonderup Dohn |
| Place of Publication | London |
| Publisher | Routledge |
| Publication date | 2018 |
| Pages | 138-157 |
| Chapter | 8 |
| ISBN (Print) | 978-0-8153-7843-3 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 978-1-351-23235-7 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2018 |
| Series | Routledge Research in Education |
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