Taxonomy of Literacies

Purpose: Digital technologies have transformed what it means to be literate and to experience literacy. Various literacies have been coined to capture this transformation including established literacies like computer literacy, information literacy, digital literacy, media literacy and Internet literacy, to newer conceptions like transliteracy, metaliteracy and multimodal literacy. Assimilating the various conceptions of literacy and literacy types is becoming increasingly more complex. There is a need for a taxonomy of literacies that reflects more recent developments, one that more comprehensively captures the current literacy landscape and one that might have affordances in the future. Approach ‘Library and Information Science Abstracts’ (LISA), ‘Education Resources Information Center’ (ERIC) and ‘British Education Index’ were searched for documents relating to digital technologies and literacy. Relevant documents were retrieved and reviewed. This was followed by selective backward and forward citation searching and a further review of relevant documents. Findings Based on a review of the literature, two significant dimensions of literacy were identified. These dimensions were used to create a literacy framework to enable the classification of literacies and literacy types i.e. a taxonomy of literacies. This taxonomy was successfully applied to various prominent literacies and literacy types. Research limitations The literacy framework was only applied to those literacies and literacy types that are directly or indirectly related to digital technologies. Originality and value There have been a few attempts to classify some literacy types. When conceived, these classifications comprehensively captured some aspect of the literacy landscape. However, they are now dated and there is a need for a taxonomy of literacies that meets the needs identified above. This paper proposes a taxonomy that meets these criteria. Keywords: Literacies, literacy, digital, technologies, Internet, framewor

Information Literacy for the Workplace [Slides]

Slides from a presentation given on September 12, 2016 at the National Conference on Information Literacy at Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, China

Is there a place for Bildung in preparing Religious Education teachers to support and promote epistemic justice in their classrooms?

This article draws on an empirical research project in which we explore the roles and understandings of knowledge in Religious Education (RE). Plural understandings of knowledge in schools (and society) lead us to concerns about the relationships between knowledge and social justice. We define epistemic literacy as the capability to recognise, and critically use, different types of knowledge. We also clarify that one’s own relationship with knowledge(s) is significant and is, therefore, important for students and teachers to develop to respond to the epistemically plural RE curriculum and classroom. Drawing on literacy frameworks to identify the need for non-hierarchical conceptualisations of knowledge that include the expert and everyday (Hannam et al., 2020; Shaw, 2019, Vernon 2020), we acknowledge the need for a particular disposition when approaching knowledge about religion and worldviews. Building on the analysis of our empirical study and subsequent developments of epistemic literacy, we revisit the notion of epistemic justice (Fricker, 2007) and present a theoretical justification for the experiential preparation of teachers that draws on Biesta’s (2002) reformed Bildung of encounter and Rawls’ “veil of ignorance” (Rawls, 2005). What emerges from these reflections on the future of Bildung is, therefore, an image of a learning society conceived as a society in which the real encounters with who and what is other are a constant and continuous possibility. (Biesta, 2002, p. 350

Being fluent and keeping looking

The complexities of the many concepts and models around information literacy are considered, and some personal views given as to how they may best be clarified, both theoretically and practically. A slightly adapted idea of the concept of information fluency can serve as a main general purpose for the promotion of information literacy, expressed as a more specific meta-model for the prevailing technological environment, and as still more specific components for a particular context. The focus of this relatively stable general formulation is on understanding, rather than skills or competences. It can incorporate the need for education, advice and counseling, as well as information provision, and with domain-specific literacies, as well as supporting personal information literacy

Being fluent and keeping looking

The complexities of the many concepts and models around information literacy are considered, and some personal views given as to how they may best be clarified, both theoretically and practically. A slightly adapted idea of the concept of information fluency can serve as a main general purpose for the promotion of information literacy, expressed as a more specific meta-model for the prevailing technological environment, and as still more specific components for a particular context. The focus of this relatively stable general formulation is on understanding, rather than skills or competences. It can incorporate the need for education, advice and counseling, as well as information provision, and with domain-specific literacies, as well as supporting personal information literacy

Exploration of Learning Gained Through CoderDojo Coding Activities

In an increasingly digital world there is a considerable and growing divide between those who are considered to be digitally literate and those who are not. In addition, among those who are digitally literate, there is a divide between those capable of engaging with technology end products and applications as competent users and those capable of developing software themselves; between users and creators. As technology becomes more pervasive in our society it has impacts in most aspects of life, including education, health, culture and work. In terms of the workplace impact it is clear that the currently reported skills deficits, gaps and mismatches are generating significant demand for skilled information technology workers across many sectors and the ability to meet this demand can have substantial impact on economic development. Developing appropriate technological skills and competence among young people has been the focus of many government, industry-led and voluntary schemes and has given rise to a diverse set of initiatives around Europe. However, little has been published on the attainment of knowledge, skill, competence and evidence of learning outcomes through these initiatives. This research has focused on the efforts to support development of coding capability among young people through the CoderDojo voluntary initiative and sought to identify the skills which are potentially transferable in an education and workplace context. CoderDojo is a global movement of free, volunteer-led, community based programming clubs for young people between the ages of seven and seventeen. The movement was founded by James Whelton and Bill Liao, an entrepreneur and philanthropist. From the first Dojo founded in Cork in Ireland in 2011, the movement has grown significantly and by May 2015 there were over 675 verified Dojos in 57 countries globally [1]. Through a review of the extant literature and the development of a potential skills acquisition template, this research seeks to identify and evaluate the knowledge, skills and competence that may be developed by participants in the CoderDojo movement. Before seeking to identify the skills that might be attained through programming activities, consideration of the broad themes and language of digital skills attainment is presented. The actual skills that are attained are considered in relation to the context within which the learning takes place. A research instrument is developed in association with project collaborators in the CoderDojo volunteer coding movement. The findings from the research are analysed and some preliminary recommendations are considered

Building digital literacy through exploration and curation of emerging technologies: A networked learning collaborative.

People readily consume an ever-growing range of emerging technologies while largely unaware of their lack of control over the impact that such networking, devices, data, and processes have on their lives. Since college-educated people are huge consumers of digital products and are expected to participate in networked learning, it is critical to foster student development of an expanded understanding of digital literacy. To address this challenge, we have created instructional materials for instructor and student use of the internationally known repository, “Fabric” of Digital Life (https://fabricofdigitallife.com/). This research comes as the result of collaboration between the University of Minnesota’s Emerging Technology Research Collaboratory (ETRC, https://etrc.umn.edu/), a research group for investigating emerging technologies, and Fabric of Digital Life (https://fabricofdigitallife.com/) and its affiliated Decimal Research Lab at Ontario Tech University. Together, functioning as a collaborative in support of networked learning, we invite and facilitate research on building student digital literacy through examination, contribution, and/or curation of collections regarding emerging technologies. From Spring 2019 to the present, 13 instructors and associated students across nine institutions have developed and are using a set of instructional materials for student exploration and/or curation of collections in this repository. This paper documents initial instructor discussion and study of student development of digital literacy as a result of use and/or curation of Fabric collections on emerging technologies and the discourses surrounding them. We are beginning to study the abilities that students draw upon when exploring the collections and when determining which artifacts might be included in current collections as well as new collections that might be developed. Collaborative interaction with the editorial team at Ontario Tech University not only enhanced the repository content and development of instructional resources, it also further evolved the metadata for Fabric for external users and the public. At its core, this research examines the potential development of digital literacy through the act of exploring and curating collections on emerging technologies. Critical to this core is the networked learning collaborative in place to foster and support this work

Information literacy for the workplace: a review of the literature and research proposal

Information literacy research and standards were developed primarily for use in the academic disciplines. The concept, however, was born in the world of work, especially in science, technology, and medical fields. Workplaces and workforces are changing to due to the influence of globalization, use of information and communication technologies, and the reliance on teamwork. Information literacy research has examined the workplace and this paper presents the results of that work while posing possible new research avenues that might prosper with Chinese-American cooperation

Medijų ir informacinio raštingumo bei sisteminės funkcinės lingvistikos sąsajos

CC BY-NC-ND 4.0Media perform a fundamental role in contemporary society: being inter-mediaries between users and the real world, they replace physical experience, construct views and knowledge, and shape attitudes, beliefs, and opinions that lead to the specific decisions and actions of individuals and groups. This article gives an overview of developments in the composite concept of media and information literacy and the premises of systemic functional linguistics that are relevant under the conditions of the current infodemic. The authors of this paper propose an approach that combines functional and social-cognitive elements, aiming to explain how we become susceptible to mis- and disinformation and to raise awareness of how certain discursive practices become embedded in societal life. For media and information literacy to be a fully-fledged concept, it is vital to consider the ability to discern subjectivity and emotion in post-truth narratives. The notion of narrative as a cognitive structure is also fundamental because disinformation and misinformation spread as granular digital formations encompassing fragments of information from a multiplicity of fields

"An intensity around information": the changing face of chemical information literacy

The changing nature of chemical information literacy over 50 years is examined by a comparison of a number of guides to chemical literature and information. It is concluded that: an understanding of the world of information is the sole aspect to have remained important and essentially unchanged over time; that knowledge of sources, ability to access information and ability to organize information have been of importance throughout, but have changed their nature dramatically; and that evaluation of information has gained in importance since the advent of the World Wide Web. The link between chemical structure and corresponding substance information is the most significant threshold concept. Information literacy in chemistry is strongly subject-specific