INTRODUCTION TO

DIGITAL LITERACY
Dr Alison Hramiak
Sheffield Hallam University
Overview
• Definitions of Digital Literacy
• Language and Literacy
• Digital literacy and the internet
• Key aspects
• The positives
• References and further reading
Learning Outcomes
• By the end of this session you should:
• Be able to define digital literacy.
• Be aware of the different definitions – broad and narrow –
that exist for it.
• Be able to explain why language is important in digital
literacy
• Be aware of how the internet can affect digital text and
how computers are pivotal to digital literacy
• Be able to integrate aspects of digital literacy into your
own practice
So What is Digital Literacy?
• Activity 1:
• Write down in a list or mind map or spider diagram just
what you think digital literacy means and encompasses in
your world.
According to some…
• More than just technical
skills
• The means by which we
achieve cultural
understanding of the
media tools used by young
people to engage with their
community
Not a Narrow Concept?
• Digital literacy is thinking of of literacy in terms of ICT.
• This can take many forms - with a whole range of
adjectives that can be applied, such as:
ICT literacy - using or programming computers
digital literacy - using digital information
multimedia literacy - moving between text, graphics and
sound
network literacy - accessing and creating and
interpreting web based documents.
• To name a few…are there more?
• A broader conceptualisation is needed.
Some more ideas on this…
• Various definitions of digital literacy exist: ‘digital literacy
defines those capabilities which fit an individual for living,
learning and working in a digital society’ (Beetham, 2010).
• A shift in focus through widespread use of Web 2.0
technologies means that any current definition should now
include participation in social networks as a pivotal part of
knowledge acquisition and transfer.
Cont…
• Eisenberg (2008, 39) defines information literacy as ‘a set
of skills and knowledge that allows us to find, evaluate,
and use the information we need, as well as to filter out
the information we don’t need’
Does this alter your view?
• Activity 2:
• In pairs, reflect on the definitions offered above in
conjunction with your own ideas from Activity 1.
• Discuss and then note any changes (or not) you have
made and present them to the class.
But what is common to all of this?
• Independent of the media you use, what is required by the
user?
• Activity 3:
• Take a few minutes to think about the answer to the
question above.
Language and literacy
• These are indifferent to the tools you use.
• A basic level of classic literary competence is required for
all the media described.
• You have to be able to read and write to use text
independent of the media in which you use it – don’t you?
• This basic literacy is developed through listening and
speaking.
• Are we losing the capacity to develop this?
Activity 4:
• Write a list of all the reasons you can think of as to why
you need a basic level of literacy for using things such as
text messaging, Facebook©, MySpace© and so on.
• Then, in your groups/pairs discuss how and why levels of
literacy might be affected by the increasing use of text.
Losing Language?
• If students prefer to
communicate online
through text, which in
itself is frequently not
written in a grammatically
correct way, rather than
through speaking and
listening, then they are
unlikely to further develop
their literacy skills beyond
that of the primary
classroom…aren’t they?
Activity 5:
• In terms of your own language development, what skills
do you feel you have developed most by speaking and
listening? Think about how you might have picked up a
foreign language while on holiday, for example?
• Construct a mind map of these skills.
• Now think about the language development of your
students and, working with a partner, superimpose the
skills you feel you have taught them during your time with
them, in terms of their language development.
• But what did they teach you – can you think of any new
skills or terms you have learnt from them?
The power of the internet

• When you create text on the internet it is accessible by

millions (if not billions) with the potential to influence them
all.
• Power indeed…? With a capacity to increase too.
• How many ‘friends’ do we admit to on Facebook© for
example? How many tweets do we follow and follow us?
• Such sharing is a crucial aspect of digital literacy and
largely dependent on your students’ ability to collaborate
within virtual spaces such as those above.
Key aspects to online literacy
• Computers offer learners the following advantages:
• It’s very easy to create and modify text digitally.
• Text is used across a wide range of media from a variety
of devices, so, communication is far easier than it used to
be providing a myriad of opportunities for engaging in
dialogue with others – socially or academically (for
learning).
• Support for digital text is much greater than it used to be –
software packages offer a high level of support for
grammar, spelling and so on. You can even teach it to
write while you speak!
But what of it…?
• Captured text – wherever it was created, blog, wiki, forum,
and so on, is thus available for you to engage with.
• You can discuss, evaluate, reflect on it, and do so
communally, collaboratively.
• Such activities can lead to processes associated with
higher order thinking, such as synthesis and evaluation –
something we want to encourage in our students…don’t
we?
• It’s not all bad then is it?
• There are positives, and if we engage with it as tutors in
teaching learning and assessment, we might actually
benefit from it.
Activity 6:
• In groups, discuss your own teaching practices, what you
teach and how you teach it. Then address the following
questions…
• How could you integrate aspects of digital literacy into
your own practice (be it through teaching, learning or
assessment) to improve it? Think about how you might
utilise the positive aspects of digital literacy to enhance
what you do.
• Create a short presentation to illustrate your ideas and
present back to group.
What we have looked at:
• Definitions of Digital Literacy – various views on this
narrow and wide
• Language and Literacy – what effects on language and
usage
• Digital literacy and the internet – where does it lead?
• Key aspects – what computers can do for us
• The positives – can we use it to our advantage?
• References and further reading
References and further reading
• Anderson, P. (2007). What is Web 2.0? Ideas, technologies and implications for education. TechWatch
Report. Retrieved from http://www.jisc.ac.uk/publications/publications/twweb2.aspx
• Beetham, H. (2010). Review and Scoping Study for a cross-JISC Learning and Digital Literacies Programme:
Sept 2010. Retrieved from
http://www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/programmes/elearning/DigitalLiteraciesReview.pdf
• Bennett, S., Maton, K., & Kervin, L. (2008). The Digital Natives debate: A critical review of the evidence.
British Journal of Educational Technology, 39(5), 775-786.
• Buckingham, D. (2007). Beyond Technology: Children's Learning in the Age of Digital Culture. London: Polity.
• Buckingham, D. (2008). Defining Digital Literacy: what do young people need to know about digital media? In
C. Lankshear & M. Knobel (Eds.), Digital Literacies: Concepts, Policies and Practices. New York: Peter Lang.
• Crystal, D. (2001). Language and the Internet. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Eisenberg, M. B. (2008). Information literacy: Essential skills for the information age. Journal of Library and
Information Technology, 28(2), 39-47.
• Lewis, C. (2007). New Literacies. In M. Knobel & C. Lankshear (Eds.), A New Literacies Sampler (pp. 229-
237). New York: Peter Lang.
• Mackey, M. (2007). Slippery Texts and Evolving Literacies. E-Learning, 4(3), 319-328.
• Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants. On the Horizon, 9(5), 1-6.
• Simpson, P., & Mayr, A. (2010). Language and Power A resource book for students. Abingdon, Oxford:
Routledge.
• Tapscott, D. (1998). Growing up digital: the rise of the Net generation. New York: McGraw-Hill.
• Wolverhampton. (2011). Digitally Enhanced Patchwork Text Assessment (DPTA) Retrieved June 21st 2011,
from http://www.wlv.ac.uk/default.aspx?page=24876
Any questions?