This thesis is the sole and original work of Douglas A.J. Belshaw.
The author wishes this thesis to be made available under the most permissive Creative Commons license available. This is currently CC0, which states:
Digital literacy has been an increasingly-debated and discussed topic since the publication of Paul Gilster’s seminal Digital Literacy in 1997. It is, however, a complex term predicated on previous work in new literacies such as information literacy and computer literacy. To make sense of this complexity and uncertainty I come up with a ‘continuum of ambiguity’ and employ a Pragmatic methodology. This thesis makes three main contributions to the research area. First, I argue that considering a plurality of digital literacies helps avoid some of the problems of endlessly-redefining ‘digital literacy’. Second, I abstract eight essential elements of digital literacies from the research literature which can lead to positive action. Finally, I argue that co-constructing a definition of digital literacies (using the eight essential elements as a guide) is at least as important as the outcome.
Table of Figures 7
Preface 8
Chapter 1: Introduction 13
Chapter 2: New forms of literacy worldwide 18
The European Union 20
The United Kingdom 24
Norway 28
Singapore 32
Australia 35
The USA 38
Summing up 43
Chapter 3: Problematising traditional (print) literacy 46
The problem of literacy 51
Literacy's relationship with knowledge 53
Literacy as a social process 56
Unitary and pluralist views of literacy 63
Requirements of a ‘literacy’ 66
Chapter 4: The history of ‘digital literacy’ 69
The role and status of information literacy 78
The evolution of digital literacy 82
Chapter 5: The ambiguities of digital literacy 92
Empson’s Seven Types of Ambiguity 93
Generative ambiguity 95
Creative ambiguity 101
Productive ambiguity 104
Summing up 108
Chapter 6: Methodology 112
Methodologies 114
Critical Theory 117
Post-Structuralism 120
Pragmatism 124
The Pragmatic approach 128
Pragmatism and digital literacies 145
Chapter 7: New Literacies 147
New Literacy Studies 148
Fragmentation of research 151
Example: JISC 161
Summing up 166
Chapter 8: What are (digital) literacies? 168
The evolution of communication 169
Evolution or revolution? 173
Digital Epicycles 193
Summing up 198
Chapter 9: A matrix of elements 199
The transience of digital literacies 200
The eight essential elements of digital literacies 205
Chapter 10: Conclusion 219
Appendix 1 224
Appendix 2 225
Bibliography 240
