Digital Literacy commonly defined simply as the knowledge and ability to use a variety of networking digital devices such as smartphones, tablets and laptops. However, the term of Digital Literacy has been defined differently throughout the literature. Lankshear and Knobel (2008) state the importance of using the plural term Digital Literacies, primarily because of the amount of Digital Literacy there are and the numerous definitions. Moreover, Gilster (1997) defines Digital Literacy as ‘mastering ideas, not keystrokes’ meaning that the transformation of the digital world is more than the use of technology and technical capabilities. Lankshear and Knobel (2012) further state that Digital Literacies involves the ability to adapt skills to use these new mediums successfully.

After taking all these definitions into account, for this Digital Artefact I will be referring to the term Digital literacy as the ability to interpret and create communication across a range of digital media. However, it is important to note that communicating through the different types of media is not always used in a positive way, but this will be explored further throughout the blog in regards to cyberbullying.

References:

Gilster, P. (1997) Digital Literacy. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

Lankshear, C. and Knobel, M. (2008) Digital literacies: Concepts, policies and practices. Edited by Colin Lankshear and Michele Knobel. New York, NY: Peter Lang Publishing.

Lankshear, C. and Knobel, M. (2012) ‘Digital Literacy and Digital Literacies: Policy, Pedagogy and Research Considerations for Education’, digital kompetanse, 1(2006), pp. 12–24.