Rethinking Digital Literacy

Applying novel theoretical perspectives to key current topics, this book aims to rethink and redefine our understanding of digital literacy. Guy Merchant underscores the pressing need to look critically at the impacts and complexities of new aspects of digital communication as it has become increasingly significant in modern life. In this cutting-edge book, Merchant explores how digital literacy has become an integral part of everyday work and leisure, used for official, unofficial, formal and non-formal purposes. The book raises issues that are central to the development of digital literacy in policy and practice, and emphasises its position as a distinct orientation in research and scholarship. Chapters consider a variety of established and emerging communicative practices, including the work of computational agents such as algorithms, AI and chatbots. In this critical contribution to the literature, Merchant evaluates the social and material dimensions of digital literacy and includes illustrative examples of digital communication in context, presenting a sociomaterial account of new literacy practices. Rethinking Digital Literacy is a crucial resource for students and academics in education and education policy, as well as in literacy studies and communication studies. Its forward-thinking insights into educational technology will also benefit policymakers, practitioners and researchers.