Article,
Literacy, digital literacy and epistemic practices: The co-evolution of hybrid minds and external memory systems
Nordic Journal of Digital Literacy, 7 (01): 5-19 (2012)
Abstract
The term literacy, allegedly, does not exist in most languages. Yet, the phenomenon is central to modern societies, and many academic disciplines, as diverse as neuroscience, social history and literature, consider issues of literacy to be a central part of their current research agenda. Traditionally, the term has been used to refer to the ability to read, write and use printed texts in various contexts, but owing to changes in the media ecology this particular focus on print technology is now seen as dated and too narrow by many (Kress, 2003). Some scholars argue that we should think in terms of literacies in the plural sense (Østerud, 2004), and others have suggested that a range of new terms rooted in the concept of literacy should be added to our vocabulary including media literacy, visual literacy, science literacy, information literacy, digital literacy, statistical literacy and multimedia literacy. Today, we even encounter expressions such as health literacy, art literacy and technological literacy. This proliferation of terms testifies to the role issues of literacy and, more generally, the ability to handle information has come to play in public and scholarly debates about media, schooling, work life, and contemporary society in general. As the concept expands, however, it becomes slippery and difficult to use for analytical purposes (and many would argue that it was never very clear in its more traditional and restricted definition, anyway). In many instances, the term literacy currently seems to be used as a synonym for expressions such as knowledge, competence and learning.
