Digital Literacy and Multiliteracies

The concept of literacy has undergone a massive transformation in recent decades as society has become increasingly “digitized and technified”.  Some scholars have likened this transformation to that of the historical shift from a literacy bound by the oral tradition to the revolutionary print based literacy that has predominated the modern era (Ventimiglia & Pullman, 2016). Today, society is experiencing the transition from traditional print-based literacy to a contemporary digital literacy.  With this transformation comes the generalized globalized, societal expectation that people be digitally literate in order to be informed, engaged citizens and future employees in the 21st century (Pangrazio, 2016). While the definition of digital literacy is in constant flux, a commonly accepted understanding is that digital literacy is “the ability to use information and communication technologies to find, evaluate, create, and communicate information, requiring both cognitive and technical skills” (Heitin, 2016, para. 4).

From an educational perspective, digital literacy is increasingly gaining prominence and importance in educational curriculum and as an identified goal for student competencies. In British Columbia for example, the Ministry of Education has identified that “digital literacy is an important skill to have in today’s technology based world” and as such has recently developed a comprehensive K-12 Digital Literacy Framework designed to ensure that students are acquiring the digital skills to meet the demands of increasingly technology based society (Province of British Columbia Ministry of Education, 2017). The Ministry of Education defines digital literacy as “the interest, attitude and ability of individuals to appropriately use digital technology and communication tools to access, manage, integrate, analyze and evaluate information, construct new knowledge, create and communicate with others”. It’s interesting to compare this definition to Heitin’s (2016). The Ministry has added additional attributes that focus on an individual’s state of mind. This seems to be in place to ensure that a digitally literate person not only has the skills needed to be considered digitally literate, but also the desire to use them. It’s no surprise that the Ministry has expanded the definition of digital literacy. As students increasingly access the internet for research, demand for critical digital literacy increases. Adding a focus on the state of mind of students towards digital literacy helps embrace the idea of creating lifelong learners.

The theoretical overview put forth by the New London Group’s salient article “A Pedagogy of Multiliteracies: Designing Social Futures” appears to be a guiding epistemological framework for many online digital literacy resources such as www.commonsensemedia.org or http://mediasmarts.ca/digital-media-literacy​. The reality that literacy pedagogy is no longer defined by “teaching and learning to read and write in page-bound, official, standard forms of the national language” justifies why “literacy pedagogy has to change if it is to be relevant to the new demands of working life, if it is to provide all students with access to fulfilling employment” (The New London Group, 1996, pp. 60-61,66). Today, educational scholars and teachers alike understand that multiliteracies and digital literacies are essential in today’s digital society. In fact, it is argued by Ventimiglia & Pullman (2016) that students will be more successful if they are digitally literate and understand the nuances associated with a digital society given that technologies have appeared and transformed virtually every discipline and career. Creating digitally literate individuals in schools will take their entire educational career and it will be vitally important to foster a mindset that promotes the continued development of these skills throughout their adult lives.

References

Heitin, l. (2016, November 8). Digital literacy: An evolving definition. Retrieved from https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2016/11/09/what-is-digital-literacy.html

Pangrazio, L. (2016). Reconceptualising critical digital literacy. Discourse 37(2), 163–174. https://doi.org/10.1080/01596306.2014.942836

Province of British Columbia Ministry of Education (2017). Digital literacy. Retrieved from https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/education-training/k-12/teach/teaching-tools/digital-literacy

The New London Group (1996, April). A Pedagogy of Multiliteracies: Designing Social Futures. Harvard Educational Review, 66(1), 60-93.

Ventimiglia, P., & Pullman, G. (2016). From written to digital: The new literacy. EDUCAUSE Review, 51(2), 38-43.