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Læring & Medier (LOM) – nr. 19 – 2018 ISSN: 1903-248X
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Digital literacy – a qualitative systematic review
Andreas L. Tamborg Ph.d.-stipendiatInstitut for Læreruddannelsen, Københavns Professionshøjskole/Institut for Læring og Filosofi, AAU
Jonas Dreyøe
Ph.d.-stipendiat Ledelse, Organisation og Forvaltning Københavns Professionshøjskole/Institut for Læring og Filosofi, AAU
Simon Skov FougtLektor, Ph.d.Institut for Læreruddannelsen, Københavns Professionshøjskole
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Abstract Thispaperisaqualitativesystematicliteraturereviewthatseekstoidentifydefinitionsandusagesoftheconceptofdigitalliteracyinrecentresearchwithinelementaryandprimaryeducation.Whereasitiswidelyacknowledgedthatdigitalliteracyisanambiguousterm,thispaperinvestigateshowandwhythisisthecase.Inthepaper,weidentifyninecategoriesofdefinitionsandusagesofthetermandarguethatthisdiversitycanbeexplainedastwotendencies:1)thelackofdefinitionsandexplanationsofhowthetermisused,and2)thefactthatdigitalliteracyisstudiedwithinawiderangeofdifferenttheoreticalperspectivesthateachshapetheconceptualizationoftheterm.Weconcludebyconceptualizingamodelofstandpointsinthedefinitionsofdigitalliteracywhichmayfunctionasatoolforfutureresearchofdigitalliteracy.
Introduction Theincreaseofdigitizationhashad,andislikelytocontinuetohave,tremendousimplicationsforteachingandlearninginschoolcontexts.ManyoftherecentlydevelopedinnovativedigitalapproachestoteachingsuchasMOOCSi,FlippedClassroom,andthepedagogicalapproachesdevelopedinrelationtoBYODiiorCYODiiiarecloselyinterwovenwiththeincreaseofreadilyavailabletechnologies.Theincreaseofdigitaltechnologiesaroundusisbynomeansanisolatedphenomenonthatonlytakesplaceineducationalcontexts;itisperhapsbetterunderstoodasareflectionofwhatisgoingonintheworldoutsideschool.Schoolsandeducationingeneralcouldbesaidtohaveadoubleroleintheirworkwithtechnology.Teachers,teachereducators,andeducationalresearchershaveanobligationtoinvestigateandexperimentwithhowtechnologymayenrichexistingapproachestoteachingorthedevelopmentofnewapproaches,becauseschoolsalsohavearesponsibilitytopreparestudentsforlivinginasocietycharacterizedbyever-changinganddevelopingdigitaltechnologies.Thelatterobligationisespeciallyreflectedininternationalpolicyprogramssuchas21stcenturyskills,aswellasininmanynationalcurriculumreforms(e.g.,www.p21.org;Kinzer,2010;Aesaert,Vanderlinde,Tondeur&vanBraak2013);effortsinmeasuringstudents’abilitiestousetechnologyhavealreadybeenmadein,forexample,ICILSiv.Thisresearchshowsthatitiscommonlythoughtthatyoungpeoplearedigitallynativebutthatthisbeliefneedstoberevised(e.g.,Bundsgaard,Pettersson&Puck,2014).Whetherthisisthecaseornot,thereisaneedtocarefullyreflectonwhatisrequiredtonavigatesafelyinatechnology-richsociety,whetherinsideoroutsideschoolcontexts.
Inrecentyears,severalconceptshavebeencoinedtoidentify,articulate,andaddressthesechallengesmoreprecisely.Theseconceptsinclude,amongothers,ICTliteracy,medialiteracy,computerliteracyanddigitalliteracy
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(Buckingham,2006).Withineducationresearch,digitalliteracyiswidelyused(Bawden,2009).ItwasoriginallydefinedbyGilster(1997)as:
“theabilitytounderstandanduseinformationinmultipleformatsfromawiderangeofsourceswhenitispresentedviacomputers.(...).Digitalliteracylikewiseextendstheboundariesofdefinition.Itiscognitionofwhatyouseeonthecomputerscreenwhenyouusethenetworkedmedium.”(p.1-2)
Thisdefinitionforegroundscognitionasakeyelementofdigitalliteracy.However,since1997manyresearchershaveaddeddefinitionsofdigitalliteracythatforegroundotherelementsofdigitalliteracy(forexample,Bawden(2009),Søby(2003),Martin&Grudziecki(2006)).Thisincreasednumberofdefinitionswithdifferentfocihaveledtoatermthatisoftenreferredtoasambiguous(Bawden,2009).
Thecomplexityofdigitalliteracypracticeshasfurtherincreasedsincethedomesticationoftheinternetandtheconstantflowofnewemergingdigitaltechnologies.Thisimpliesthatacomplexdefinitionofliteracyisneededtomaintainthemultiplepractices,contextsandtechnologiesrelatedtodigitalliteracy(Buckingham,2006;2015).However,thiscomplexityfostersambiguity,whichconstitutesaproblem.Theprimaryobjectiveofthisreviewisthereforetocontributetountanglethisambiguitybyidentifyinghowthetermisambiguousandtoinvestigatepossibleexplanationsofwhythisisthecase.Wedothisbyinvestigatingthevarietyofwaysinwhichdigitalliteracyisdefinedandusedinresearchinelementaryandprimaryeducation,andwhatthepotentialreasonsforthisvarietycouldbe,therebyaddressingthefollowingresearchquestion:
Howisdigitalliteracydefinedandusedintheresearchliteratureaboutprimaryandelementaryeducation,andwhatarethepotentialreasonsforthevarietyindefinitionsandusages?
Webeginthepaperbyexplainingourmethod,includinghowwesearchedandselectedthepapersandtheresourceswedevelopedandusedinthisprocess.Wethendescribethefindingsofthereview,whichweorganizeinthreesections.Thefirstsectiondescribesninetendenciesidentifiedinthepapersrelatedtodigitalliteracy.Inthesecondsection,weidentifymissingdefinitionsofdigitalliteracyandatendencytosubstitutedigitalliteracywithanothersimilarterm,andwesuggestthatthisisasignificantreasonfortheconfusionrelatedtotheterm.Inthethirdsection,weshowhowtheuseofestablisheddefinitionsofdigitalliteracyincombinationwithothertypesoftheoryconstitutesanothersignificantfactorinthevarietyofdefinitionsandusagesof
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digitalliteracy.Weconcludebypresentingaconceptualizationofstandpointsinthedefinitionsofdigitalliteracy,whichwearguecanpreservethecomplexityofdigitalliteracywhileallowinganaccumulationofresearchfindings.
Method Thisreviewisaqualitativesystematicreview(Grant&Booth,2009)withthepurposeofexploringandpossiblyexpandingourunderstandingofdigitalliteracy.Qualitativesystematicreviewsarecharacterizedbyanalyzingstudieswithafocusofexploringthemesandconstructsinand/oracrossliteraturewithinaspecificareaofresearch(Grant&Booth,2009).Thisreviewisthereforenotorientedtowardsaggregatingresearchresultsand/orhighlightinga“best-practice,”butisbettercharacterizedasaninterpretiveapproachaimingatdevelopinganoverarchingnarrativeofaresearchfieldorobject(Grant&Booth,2009).Qualitativesystematicreviewsareahighlyrelevantapproachinthiscontext,whichsupportsusinbroadeningtheunderstandingofdigitalliteracy.
SearchandselectionofpapersAsstatedabove,themainobjectiveofthispaperistoinvestigatehowdigitalliteracyisdefined,interpreted,andusedinEnglisheducationalresearchliteratureregardingelementary/primaryschools.Toidentifyrelevantpapersforthispurpose,weconductedasearchforpeer-reviewedpapersinfourdatabaseswithineducationalresearch,includingAcademicSearchPremier(110hits),ERIC(48hits),SCOPUS(68),andORIA(13hits),generatingatotalof239papers.Thesearchwasmadefromusingthefollowingstring:("digitallitera*")AND("elementaryschool"OR"elementaryeducation"OR"primaryschool"OR"primaryeducation").ThisisillustratedinFigure1.Oursearchwasnotrestrictedtoanytimespan,asthesearchprocessresultedinanumberofpapersthatweconsideredmanageable.
Figure1.Anillustrationofthesearchstringusedtosearchforpapers.
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Havingidentifiedthesepapers,weprocessedthembyfollowingtheguidelinesdescribedinHiggins,Green,&TheCochraneCollaboration(2017)toscreenandselectthepaperstoincludeinthisreview.Theseguidelinesincludemergingthesearchresults,examiningtitlesandabstracts,retrievingfulltexts,examiningfull-textreports,andmakingthefinaldecisionofinclusionbeforecontinuingtodataanalysis.Inthisprocess,weexcludedpaperswhichwithoutadoubtdidnotincludedigitalliteracyasaresearchobject,forexample,papersinwhichdigitalliteracyonlyappearedasaminorrelevantelementandwasnotstudiedassuchinthepaper.Inthisprocesswealsodiscardedpapersthatdidnotstudydigitalliteracyinprimaryandelementaryeducation,but,forexample,atuniversitiesorinotherhighereducationalcontexts.Afterhavingmergedthesearchresultsintoasingledocument,wecontinuedthisprocessbylookingforduplicatesinthesearchresultsfromthedifferentdatabases.Thisexcludedatotalof44papersthatappearedintwoormoreofthefouruseddatabases.Hereafter,weexaminedthetitlesandabstractsofeachpaperwiththeprimaryobjectiveofassessingwhetherthepaperwasaboutdigitalliteracyinthecontextofelementary/primaryeducation.Thisprocessexcludedanadditional156papersandleftuswithatotalof80peer-reviewedpapersaboutdigitalliteracyinthecontextofelementaryorprimaryeducation.
Wethenretrievedthe80potentiallyrelevantpapersandcodifiedthemtosystematizeouranalysis.Forthis,wedevelopedandusedacodificationtableconsistingoffieldsrepresentingtheinformationtoberetrievedfromthepapersforlateranalysis(seeFigure2).Thefieldswerechosentoretrievebasicinformationaboutthepaperandabouthowdigitalliteracywasdefinedandused.Further,thefieldsentitledmethods,geographicallocationofresearcher(s)/research,andschoollevelwerechosenfromahypothesisthattheremightbestabilitiesinthevariationofdefinitionsofdigitalliteracyaccordingtothesefieldsv.
Figure2.Thedevelopedcodificationtable.
Incodifyingthepapersaccordingtothesefields,atotalofyetanother25paperswaseliminatedbecausethey1)werewritteninanotherlanguagethanEnglish,2)didnotcontaintheworddigitalliteracy,or3)becausethestudywasnotrelatedtoelementary/primaryschool,but,forexample,highereducationorkindergarten,leavingusatotalof55papersthatare
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includedinthisreview.TheselectionprocessisrepresentedinFigure3below.
Figure3.Theprocessofscreeningpapers.
Afterhavingreadanddescribedeverypaperaccordingtoourscheme,webegancategorizingthedefinitionsofthetermdigitalliteracyinaspreadsheetvitoidentifythevariousdefinitionsoftheterm.
Findings Inthissection,wewillpresentthefindingsofourreview.Thesectionisorganizedintotwomainsubsections.Thefirstsubsectionaddressesthefirsthalfofourresearchquestion,namelyhowtheresearchliteraturerelatedtoelementaryandprimaryeducationdefinesandusesthetermdigitalliteracyandwhatdifferencesweidentify.Weapproachtheanswertothisquestionbydescribingeightdifferenttopicsinthepapers’definitionsandusagesofdigitalliteracy.Inthesecondsubsection,weinvestigateanddiscussthepotentialreasonswhydigitalliteracyisambiguousanddefinedandusedinmanydifferentways.Here,weidentifyalackofdefinitionsandimplicitmethodologicaloperationalizationsofdigitalliteracyasthefirstoftwosignificantreasonsfortheambiguityoftheterm.Thesecondreasonisthewiderangeoftheoreticalapproachestodefiningtheconcept.
VarietiesinthedefinitionsandusagesofdigitalliteracyAsdescribedinthemethodsection,wecategorizedhoweachofthepapersdefinedanduseddigitalliteracy.Theend-productofthisprocesswasaspreadsheetwithninenodesrepresentingthecategoriesthatappeared
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amongthepapers,wherepaperscouldappearinmorethanonegroup.Thesecategoriesarelistedbelow.
1. Readingandwritingwithdigitaltechnology
2. Communication
3. Accesstoandacquaintancewithdigitaltools
4. Attitudetowardtechnology
5. Digitalskillsandknowledge
6. Socialpracticeandclassroomculture
7. Ethics
8. Criticalthinking
9. Nodefinition/nousage
Inthefollowingsection,wewilldescribethesecategoriesindetailandprovideempiricalexamplesfromthepapers.Wewilladdresstheninthcategoryentitled“nodefinition/nousage”inaseparatesectionafterwards,asweidentifiedthiscategoryasapotentialexplanationforsomeofthevarietyinhowdigitalliteracywasdefinedandused.
ReadingandwritingwithdigitaltechnologyThiscategoryincludesstudiesthatprimarilyconsiderdigitalliteracyasrelatedtoprocessingorcommunicatingtextthrough,in,orwithdigitaltechnologies.Studieswithinthiscategorywereoftenbasedontheideathatnewdigitaltechnologiesimplynewtextmodalitiesthatredefinethepracticesofreadingandwriting(Gilster,1997)andfrequentlydefinedigitalliteracybyusingtheworkofNewLondonGroup(1996)orKnobelandLankshear(2006;2008).AnexampleofsuchstudiesisMacken-Horarik(2009),whoarguedthattheEnglishlanguageasacommunicationsystemischallengedbydigitalization,andthattheroleofgrammarisnolongerasufficienttooltohelpstudentsnavigatewebsitesandsocialnetworkingsitesproficiently.ThisisalineofthinkingwhichMerchant(2005)followedbystatingthatstudents’textualpracticesarebeingrecontextualizedfromthevarietyoftechnologytheyuseintheirdailylives,suchasmobilephonesandcomputers(Merchant,2005,p.52).Inhisstudyfrom2007,Merchantdefineddigitalliteracyas
“thestudyofwrittenorsymbolicrepresentationthatismediatedbynewtechnology.Itsprimeconcernwouldbetheproductionand
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consumptionoftheverbalandsymbolicaspectofscreen-basedtexts”(Merchant,2007,p.121)
Thoughsomeofthesestudiesacknowledgedigitalliteracytotranscendpracticesofreadingandwritingwithdigitaltechnology,theyareallcharacterizedbyforegroundingstudiesofcommunicationoftextasakeyelementofdigitalliteracy.
CommunicationThestudiesinthiscategoryemphasizethatdigitalliteracyinvolvescommunicationinabroadersensethanmerelyreadingandwriting.CaseyandBruce(2011)wereratherexplicitinthiswhenarguingthatdigitalliteracy
“extendsbeyondreadingandwritingasusuallyconceived.Literacyimpliesthecapacitytocommunicatemeaning–fromspeakertolistener,fromwritertoreader,fromcreatortoviewer”(Casey&Bruce,2011,p.77)
OtherstudiessuchasBrown(2016)didnotdefinedigitalliteracy,butmentionedthat
“theuseofe-readersorsimilardevicesofferedyoungstudentswaystodevelopand/orenhancetheirdigitalliteracies,whichareessentialforcommunicationinaglobalworld”(Brown,2016,p.44)
ThestudybyHagge(2017)isanotherexample,asdigitalliteracyherewasdefinedbroadlyas“relatedtoskillsassociatedwithcommunicationtechnologies(ICT)”(p.154-155)andKinzer(2010)whodefineditasmerely“theabilitytocommunicateandtofindandevaluateinformationcritically”(p.51).ThesestudiescontributeinexpandingdigitalliteracytoinvolvevariouskindsofinformationperhapsexpressedmostclearlybyCaseyandBruce(2011)asthecapacitytocommunicatemeaning.
AccesstoandacquaintancewithdigitaltoolsWhereasthetwocategoriesabovedefinedigitalliteracyastheabilitytodosomethingwithdigitaltechnology,paperswithinthiscategoryfocusontheprerequisitesofusingtechnology,namelyactors’accesstoandacquaintancewithtechnology.Thisincludesinvestigationsofmatterssuchasstudents’accesstocomputersandinternetconnectionandtheextentof
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theiracquaintancewithusingvarioussoftwareprograms.Withinthiscategory,wefindthestudyofPombo,CarlosandLoureiro(2015)whoinvestigatedteachers’levelofdigitalliteracythroughasurveyinwhichteacherswereaskedtowhatextenttheyuseICTintheirteaching(p.15).AnotherexampleisThorvaldsen,Egebjerg,PettersenandVavik(2011),whoinvestigatedstudents’digitalliteracybymeasuringtheirself-reportedabilitiestochatonMSN,useMicrosoftWord,andsearchinformationontheinternet.Falkner,VivianandFalkner(2014)isanexampleofanexplicitdefinitionofdigitalliteracyasrelatedtoacquaintancewithdigitaltools,namelyasstudents’“familiaritywiththetoolsandapproachestointeractwithtechnology”(p.3).Thoughnotdefiningdigitalliteracy,Ravasco,etal.(2014)andRavasco,Brigas,Reis,Fonseca,MateusandBolota(2015)alsofallswithinthiscategoryasthesestudiesbothinvestigateddigitalliteracyinasurveywhichincludeditemssuchas:“Haveyougotacomputer?Canyouuseacomputer?Doyouusethecomputer?”(Ravascoet.al.p,3-8).
AttitudetowardstechnologyThepapersinthiscategoryusethetermdigitalliteracytorefertostudents’,teachers’orotherrelevantactors’vieworstancetowardsdigitaltechnology,althoughnoneofthepaperswithinthiscategoryexplicitlydefineattitudetowardstechnologyasacomponentofdigitalliteracy.Threestudiesnonethelessaddressactors’attitudetowardsdigitaltechnologyasakeyelementofincreasingtheirdigitalliteracy,eitherbyinvestigatingitorseekingtochangeit.Thisis,forexample,thecaseofFernandez-Montalvoet.al.(2016),whodesignedaninterventionforstudentsspecificallyaimedatincreasingtheirdigitalliteracyunderstoodasto“becomemoreawareofhowtheyusetheinternet”(p.8).Inastudyofstudents’levelofdigitalliteracy,Thorvaldsen,Egeberg,PettersenandVavik(2011)screenedthestudentsfor“PCanxiety/poorattitudes”(p.313).
ThestudyofGruszczynska,MerchantandPountneyalsodealswithteacher-trainingstudents’attitudeasanindicatorofdigitalliteracy,inthatthisexplorativestudyinvestigatedstudents’viewsontheirusageoftechnologyforeducationalpractices(2013p.211).
DigitalskillsandknowledgeThiscategoryincludespapersthatdefineorusedigitalliteracytomeanasetofskillsoracertainknowledgeofdigitaltechnology.Thepapersdealingwithskillsoftenclusterskillsastheproceduralelementofdigitalliteracy,whereasknowledgeisreferredtoasaconceptualelement.Somepapersfurtherspecifytheskillsrelatedtodigitalliteracyassocialmediaskills(Morgan,2014),internetsafetyskills(Fernandez-Montalvo,Penalva,Irazabal&Lopez-Goni,2016;Lotherington&Ronda,2009)and
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instrumentalskillsinacademiccontext(Cohen&Tally,2004)orleisurecontexts(Vélez&Zuazua,2017).
Intermsofmediaskills,Morgan(2014)arguedthatsocialmediaskillsinparticularareanimportantaspectofdigitalliteracyasemployers“currentlyvaluedigitalliteracyandlooktohireemployeeswhoareskilledinsocialmedia”(Morgan,2014p.75).Thispaperdidnot,however,specifywhatsocialmediaskillsinvolve,butonlyarguesthatdigitalskillscanbedevelopedbyusingsocialmediasuchasTwitter.LotheringtonandRonda(2009)defineddigitalliteracyasinvolvingmediaskills,whichinthiscaserefersspecificallytotheabilitytomanipulatedigitalenvironments(p.19)whendesigningandbuildingcomputergames.Thislatterexampledemonstrateshowabroadtermsuchasmediaskillsmayrefertoaveryspecificsetofskillswhenitappearsinastudyinaparticularcontext.
ThefactthatcontextplaysaroleforhowdigitalliteracyisdefinedisalsoillustratedinthestudybyCohenandTally(2004).ThispaperstudiedtheroleoftechnologyinK-12standardsandarguesthattheintegrationoftechnologyinthecurriculumrequiresdigitally-literateteachers.Inthiscase,digitally-literateteachersisdefinedassomeonewithcontext-specificinstrumentalskillstoutilizeandevaluatesubject-specificapplications,suchassoftwarefordoingmathorreading(Cohen&Tally,2004,p.7).
ContextalsoplayedabigpartintheworkofVelézandZuazua,whicharguesthatICTrequiresdigitalliteracyinmanydifferentcontexts:“atrelationshiplevel,atcommunicationlevel,atlearninglevel,atcuriositysatisfactionlevel,atentertainmentandleisurelevel(Machargo,Luján,León,López&Martín,2003;Castellana,Sánchez,Graner&Beranuy,2007;Vélez&Zuazua,2017,p.110).Thisquoteillustratesthatdigitalliteracyinvolvescontext-specificskillsformanydifferentcontexts.
Thepapersinthereviewrefertodifferentkindsofknowledgethatareimportantforbeingdigitallyliterate,includingconceptualknowledge(vanDerMeij,2012),proceduralknowledge(Thorvaldsen,Egeberg,Pettersen&Vavik,2011),andknowledgeaboutinternetsafety(Vélez,Olivencia,&Zuazua,2017).Othersemphasizethatknowledgeisimportanttobedigitallyliteratewithoutspecifyingwhatisimportant.ThisisthecaseofAl-QallafandAl-Mutairi(2016),whoinvestigatedteachers’abilitytodeveloptheirstudents’digitalliteracythroughfocusgroupinterviewsthatevaluatedtheirknowledgeofandabilitytoidentifystudentproblemsthatcouldemergewhenusingblogsintheirteaching(Al-Qallaf&Al-Mutairi,2016,p.530).Similarly,TurculetandTurbule(2015)focusontheknowledgeneededamongteacherstobuildtheirstudents’digitalliteracy.Thispaperdefineddigitalliteracyas
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“theabilitytounderstandanduseinformationinmultipleformatsfromawiderangeofsourceswhenpresentedwithadigitaldevice”(Turculet&Turbule,2015,p.348)
andemphasizedthatteachersneedknowledgeaboutboththedigitaltechnologytheyuseintheirteachingandthespecificcontenttheyteachwiththistechnologytobuildthedigitalliteracyoftheirstudents(Turculet&Turbulure,2015).
Somepapersdefinedanduseddigitalliteracyasinvolvingbothskillsandknowledge.vanDerMeij(2012),forexample,arguedthatmanychildrenknowbasicdigitalskillsneededinmodernsociety,suchashowtousetextprocessorsandindependentlysearchandfindinformationontheinternet(vanDerMeij,2012,p.1104).Accordingtothisauthor,suchskillsaresuperficial,fragile,andfarfromsufficient.Instead,suchskillsneedtobecombinedwithconceptualknowledgeabouthowinformationontheinternethasgottenthere,andthatstudentsshouldbeabletoreviewthewebsitestheyvisit“withakeeneyeontheircredibility”(vanDerMeij,2012).
Thorvaldsen,Egeberg,PettersenandVavik(2011)alsoemphasizedthatbeingdigitallyliteraterequiresacombinationofskillsandknowledgeofproceduresindigitalprocesses.Thisstudyinvestigatedstudents’digitalliteracythroughpracticaltests,surveys,andinterviews.Thepracticaltestsinvestigatedthestudents’abilitiestousechatprogramsandothersoftwareprograms,whereastheinterviewsaddressedtheirlevelofknowledgeofhowtoperform“basic”tasksonacomputer,suchasdownloadingmusic,sendingemail,etc.Thisstudytherebybothmeasuredstudents’abilitytoperformtasksonacomputeraswellastheirknowledgeabouttheseoperationsandcapabilityofexplainingthem.
SocialpracticeandclassroomcultureThecategoryentitledsocialpracticeincludespapersthateitherdefineorusedigitalliteracytobroadlyrefertostudents’and/orteachers’practiceswithdigitaltechnologiesinsocialcontextsorfora.OneexampleofthisisMartyetal.(2013),apaperthatdidnotdefinedigitalliteracyexplicitly,butinvestigated
“whatdigitalliteracyskillsstudentsemployastheyengageinscientificinquiryactivitiesininformallearningenvironments”andhow“involvingstudentsasactiveparticipantsintheirownscienceeducationhelpsencouragetheuseofdigitalliteracyskills”(Martyetal.,2013,p.416).
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Focusingonstudents’inquiryactivitiesandhowstudentsparticipateintheireducation,thisstudytherebyinvestigateddigitalliteracyasasetofsocialpracticeswithineducation.ThestudybyVelézandZuazua(2017)isanotherstudywithoutadefinitionofdigitalliteracy,butthatnonethelessexamined3rd-6thgraders’socialbehaviorontheinternetandwiththeirmobilephonesasanindicationoftheirdigitalliteracy.Theseusagesofdigitalliteracytherebyemphasizethatitisrelatedtothepracticesofagroupofpeopleusingtechnology.
Somepaperswithinthiscategoryexplicitlydefinesocialpracticeasakeyelementofdigitalliteracy,e.g.,Tran(2016).Inthispaper,digitalliteracyinvolved“meaningmakingandparticipatinginsocialpracticesaroundvariouskindsofdigitaltexts”(Tran,2016,p.213).ThisisalsothecaseinthestudyofBhatt,DeRoockandAdams(2015)thatconceptualizeddigitalliteracyas
“ashiftinmind-setfromonewhichperceivesliteraciesassimplymore‘technologized’duetonewmedia,toonethatacknowledgesthemasradicallyre-shapingandre-organizingsocieties”(Bhatt,DeRoockandAdams,2015,p.480).
ThispointisalsofoundinUnderwood,ParkerandStone(2013)whoarguedthatinformallearningcontextsenabledstudentstolearn
“howtocoordinatetheirworkactivityinacomplementarymannerandhowtoincorporateeachother’sideasproductivelywithincreasingtactanddiplomacy”(Underwood,Parker&Stone,2013,p.490).
EthicsThiscategoryincludespaperswithadefinitionofdigitalliteracythatfocusesonethicalintegrity,responsibility,andprincipleswhenusingdigitaltechnology.Thisis,forexample,thecaseofFernandez-Montalvo,Penalva,Irazabal&Lopez-Goni(2016),forwhominformingstudentsaboutcyberbullyingandhowtodealwiththesekindsofsituationismentionedasanimportantpartofbuildingthedigitalliteracyofprimaryschoolstudents.AstudyofMerchant(2007)alsoemphasizedthatdigitalliteracyincludesto
“learnaboutthepower,responsibilitiesandethicalconsiderationsthatcomeintoplayincommunicativesettings.(...)examineandcritiquediscoursesthatrelatetowidersocialissues,power
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relationships,prejudicesorinequities”(Merchant,2007,p.123)
Anotheraspectthatappearedasanethicalelementofdigitalliteracywasinternetsafety.Oneofthestudiesstressedthateducationalsystemsholdaresponsibilitytotrainstudentsinhowtonavigatesafelyontheinternet(Ybarra,Mitchell,Wolak&Finkelhor,2006)andanotherpaperdefineddigitalliteracyasfirstandforemostrelatedtothis,namelyas“asafeandresponsibleuseoftheinternet”(Fernandez-Montalvo,Penalva,Irazabal&Lopez-Goni,2016,p.1).
CriticalthinkingThepapersinthiscategoryassociatedigitalliteracywiththeabilitytocritically,safely,and/orprofessionallynavigateinatechnology-richinformationsocietyinschoolcontexts.Definitionswithinthiscategoryofteninvolvesomeoftheskillsortheknowledgementionedabove(oracombinationthereof)buttendtoemphasizethatbeingdigitallyliterateistheabilitytoconvertandcombinetheminareflectiveandcriticalpractice.
OneexampleofpaperswithinthiscategoryisMartyet.al.(2013).Thispaper,buildingonHobbs(2011),defineddigitalliteracyasinvolvingtheabilitytoanalyze,evaluate,andcriticallyengagewithtechnologyinlearningenvironments(Martyet.al.,2013).AnotherexampleofthisviewisPianfetti(2001),whichsuggestedthatdigitalliteracyincludestheabilityto“processinformationfromavarietyofsourcesandformatssothatshemaybeabletodrawherownconclusionsandcreateherownknowledge”aswellascriticalknowledgeofhowtoassembleandproducedigitalproducts(Pianfetti,2001,p.256).ToscaandEjsing-Duun(2017)isalsoplacedinthiscategory.Theseauthorsdefineddigitalliteracytoincludetheabilitytoappropriatelyusedigitaltechnologiestoevaluate,synthesize,evaluate,andconstructnewknowledge,whileatthesametimebeingabletoreflectuponthisprocess(Tosca&Ejsing-Duun,2017,p.241-242).
Thesectionsaboveclearlyreflectsthealready-knownfactthatdigitalliteracyisusedanddefinedinnumberofdifferentways.Besidesreinforcingthisfact,thesectionhasillustratedthatthesedifferencescanbedescribedineightdifferentcategorieswithwhichdigitalliteracyisassociated.Asalreadymentioned,westressthatthecategoriesarenotmutuallyexclusive,butareanalyticaldistinctionsdevelopedtoseparatethecontentofthedefinitionsfromoneanother.Somepapersdoincludebothethicsandcommunicationorothercombinations.Aswewillarguelater,wesuggestconceptualizingthedifferencesamongthecategoriesinamoregeneralway.Theadvantageofthisapproachisthatsucha
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conceptualizationmakesroomformoreanddifferentcategoriesofdigitalliteracythantheoneswehaveidentifiedintheempiricalcorpusofthisreview.Beforethis,wewill,however,turntothesecondpartoftheresearchquestion:thereasonswhyweseesuchvarietyinthedefinitionsandusagesofdigitalliteracy.
Nodefinition/nousageInthesectionabove,wedistinguishedbetweenhowdigitalliteracywasdefinedandhowitwasused.Wemakethisdistinctionbecauseasubstantialnumberofthepaperseitheraddresseddigitalliteracywithoutdefiningitordefineddigitalliteracyinonewaybutuseditinanother.Usageofthetermdigitalliteracydothereforenotnecessarilyimplymadefinitionofit.Infact,in20ofthe55papersinthisreview,digitalliteracyappearedineitherthetitle,abstract,orkeywordswithoutbeingdefinedinthetext.Insomecases,thelackofadefinitioncouldbeduetothemarginalrolethattheconceptplayedinthestudy.ThiscouldbethecaseinOwston,Wideman,RondaandBrown(2009),whomeasuredwhethergamedevelopmentcouldimprovethemotivationandengagementofprimarystudents.Here,digitalliteracyappearedasafinding,astheauthorsstatethattheir“(...)projectclearlygavestudentsextendedopportunitiestodevelopdigitalliteracyskills”(Owston,Wideman,Ronda&Brown,2009,p.987)andtherebynotasakeyaspectoftheresearchobject.Suchcaseswereuncommon,however,andevenstudieswheredigitalliteracyplayedapivotalrolesometimesdidnotincludeadefinitionoftheterm.ThisisthecasewithHostoveckyandStubna(2012),whichdevelopedacourseforprimarystudentswiththeprimaryaimofdevelopingtheirdigitalliteracy.Inspiteofthisaim,thepaperdidnotincludeadefinitionofdigitalliteracyandthemethodologysectionmerelystatedthataquestionnaireconsistingof23questionsregardingphysicsandcomputersciencewasansweredbyteachers(Hostovecky&Stubna,2012).
Thislackofdefinitionscreatesawidearrayofusagesofdigitalliteracythatoftenhasnotheoreticalfoundation.Aswewillargueinthefollowingsection,wehaveidentifiedtwomainstrandsintheresearchpapersthatdonotdefinedigitalliteracy.Werefertotheseastacitreplacementsandtacitdefinitions.Thetermtacitreplacementreferstopapersinwhichthetermdigitalliteracyappearsinthetitle,abstract,asakeyword,orinitiallyinthebodytext,butsubsequentlyisreplacedwithanothersimilarterm(suchasICTliteracy).Thetermtacitdefinitionsrefertopapersthatdon’tdefinedigitalliteracy,butwheredigitalliteracynonethelessistransformedintoaresearchdesignthatstillinvestigatesormeasuresthedigitalliteracyofagroupofpeopleinaspecificway.Inthefollowingsection,wegive
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examplesofhowthesephenomenaappearinthereviewedpapersandelaborateontheissuesrelatedtothem.
TacitdefinitionsThoughdigitalliteracyisnotnecessarilydefined,somestudiesdidnonethelessspecifymethodologicalapproachestoinvestigatethedigitalliteracyofagivengroupofpeople.Werefertothisphenomenonastacitdefinitions,becausethechoicesandthereflectionsbehindtranslatingthetermdigitalliteracyintoaconcreteresearchdesignremainstacit.ThisisthecaseofastudybyCiampa(2017),whoinvestigatedthreeteachers’useoftechnologyintheirteachingfordevelopingtheirstudents’digitalliteracy(Ciampa,2017).Withoutdefiningdigitalliteracy,theauthorexplainedhowfieldnotesfromclassroomobservations,teachers’reflectionblogs,andstudentproductsampleswereusedtogeneratethefindingthatateacher
“providedherstudentsreal-worldpurposesforwritingevenastheydevelopedtheirwriting,digitalliteracy,andmathematicalreasoningskills”(Ciampa,2017,p.102)
Thelackofadefinitionofliteracymakesituncleartothereaderhowexactlytheconcernedteachermanagedtodevelopherstudents’digitalliteracy,andwhatthisinvolves.
AnotherexampleofthisphenomenonisfoundinastudybyLovinandLambeth(2014).Theirresearchinvestigatedtheimpactofanonlinelearningcoursewiththepurposesofimprovingthedigitalliteracypracticesofprimaryschoolstudents.Despitethispaperfocusexplicitlyondigitalliteracy,thetermisonlyvaguelydescribedinthefollowingway:
“Visualdigitalcommunicationisonefacetofdigitalliteracythatisparticularlyvaluableinart,asstudentsneedtheabilitytointerpretvisualimagesandapplythemtotheirartproducts.”(Lovin&Lambeth,2014,p.15)
Thisvaguedefinitionofdigitalliteracyisthenoperationalizedintospecificfociforclassroomobservationsofhowstudentslocateartresources,howtheydiscussinanonlineforum,andthelike(Lovin&Lambeth,2014,p.19).
Pombo,CarlosandLoureiro(2015)alsodidnotdefinedigitalliteracybutdevelopedaquestionnaireabouthowoftenteachersuseICTintheirpreparationsofclasses,whichisusedasameasureoftheteachers’levelofdigitalliteracy(Pombo,Carlos&Loureiro,2015,p.21-24).
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Oneoftheissuesemergingwhenresearchersareoperationalizingaconceptintoaresearchdesignwithouthavingdefinedthisconceptisthatthedefinitionofdigitalliteracyatbestremainsimplicitandcanonlyberetrievedfrominterpretingthemethodologicalinstruments.Tacitreflectionsofhowitisoperationalizedrepresentagreatthreatinbuildingsolid,research-basedknowledgeaboutdigitalliteracyanditsrelatedissues.
TacitreplacementsThesecondstrandofpapersthatdonotdefinedigitalliteracyarecharacterizedbyreplacingdigitalliteracywithanother,oftensimilar,term.Werefertothiscategoryastacitreplacementsbecausedigitalliteracyinthesecasesistacitlytranslatedintoanothertermwithoutexplanation.Thesetermsincludedigitalmedialiteracy(Machado-Casas,Sánchez&Ek,2014),digitalcompetencies(Perez-Escoda&Rodriguez-Conde,2015),21stcenturyskills(Price-Dennis,Holmes&Smith,2015),DigitalDivide(Machado-Casas,Sanchez&Ek,2014)andICTliteracy(Chang&Tsou,2006;Thorvaldsen,Egeberg,Pettersen&Vavik,2011).Inthesestudies,thetermdigitalliteracyappearedineitherthetitleofthepaper,theabstract,orasakeyword,butanotherconceptwasusedinthebodytext.
ThestudyofMachado-Casas,SanchezandEk(2014)is,forexample,entitled“TheDigitalLiteracyPracticesofLatina/oImmigrantParentsinanAfter-SchoolTechnologyPartnership,”butthetermdigitalliteracyonlyappearedinthetitlewhereasthestudyinvestigatedthedigitaldivideofLatinostudents.Similarly,inthestudyofChangandTsou(2006),theabstractstatedthattheprimaryaimofthepaperwasto“understandthecurrentstatusofthecharacterofdigitalliteracyinTaiwan”(Chang&Tsou,p.191),butdigitalliteracywasreplacedwithinformationliteracyintherestofthepaper.
Thephenomenadescribedaboveconstitutetwopotentialreasonswhydigitalliteracyisanambiguousterm,inthatstudiesofthiskindapplymoreorlessrandomdefinitionsorusagesofthetermthathappenstofitthecontextofthegivenstudy.Thesephenomenaareaprobleminthattheymakeitdifficulttoaccumulateknowledgeofdigitalliteracy,asitisunclearwhattheyreferto.Aswewilldescribeinthefollowingsection,thereisyetanotherpotentialreasonforthevarietyofdefinitionsandusagesofdigitalliteracy,namelyhowthetermisstudiedtheoretically.Inthefollowingsection,wewillillustratehowtheuseofdifferenttheoreticalresourcesimplysubstantialdifferencesinhowtheconceptisdefinedandused.
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Theoretical approaches for studying digital literacy practices Thewiderangeofdifferencesinthedefinitionandusageofdigitalliteracyisremarkableconsideringthatthevastmajorityofthepapersdefinethetermbyusingestablishedframeworks,mostfrequentlyLankshearandKnobel(2006;2008),NewLondonGroup(1996),orMartins(2008)(see,forexample,(Gruszczynska,Merchant&Poutney,2013;Burnett,2009;Merchant,2005)).Inthepapers,theseframeworksseldomstoodalone,butwereoftencombinedwiththeoriesoflearning,identitytheories,orsocializationtheories.Inthissection,weshowhowsuchcombinationsofframeworksmayimplythatestablisheddefinitionsofdigitalliteracycanbesubordinatedto,orre-framedwithin,othertheoreticalframeworks.Thistranslatesintoshiftsinhowdigitalliteracyisunderstoodandstudied,whichcontributestobroadeningthevarietyofhowdigitalliteracyisdefinedandusedevenfurther.
AnexampleofthisisastudybyBjørgenandEgstad(2015)thatdrewonLankshearandKnobel’s(2006;2008)definitionofdigitalliteracyasthe
“sociallyrecognizedwaysofgenerating,communicatingandnegotiatingmeaningfulcontentthroughthemediumofencodedtextswithincontextsofparticipation”(Lankshear&Knobel,2006,p.64in:Bjørg&Erstad,2015,p.115)
Intheirstudy,theauthorscombinedthisdefinitionwiththeoriesofidentitytheoryaspositional(Moje,Luke,Davies,&Street,2009)tofocuson“howstudents’conceptionsofdigitalliteraciesandtheirpositionalidentitiesaredefinedacrossschoolandhome”(Bjørgen&Erstad,2015,p.113).Consequently,thispapergaveparticularemphasistostudents’shiftingsenseofagencyindifferentcontexts(inthiscase,schoolandleisure)andviewedthesedifferentcontextsasopportunitiesforexperiencingdigitalliteracypractices(Bjørgen&Erstad,2015).Thisconceptualizingofdigitalliteracyfromacombinationofseveraltheoreticalsourcestherebyopenedtheopportunitytostudydigitalliteracyunderstoodasdifferencesamongstudents’perceptionsofusingtechnologyinanoutside-schoolsetting.Suchastudycanprovideimportantinsightsontherelationbetweenstudents’useoftechnologyindifferentcontexts,butitalsobroadenstheunderstandingofLanskhearandKnobel’s(2006)originaldefinitionofdigitalliteracy.
OtherexamplesarethestudiesbyShinandSeger(2016)aswellasUnderwood,ParkerandStone(2016).Thecommoncharacteristicofthesetwopapersisthattheycombinedtheoriesofdigitalliteracywith
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sociologicalperspectivesbasedontheworkofBourdieu(1990;1991).ThestudyofShinandSeger(2016)defineddigitalliteracybasedontheNewLondonGroup(1996)as“thesocialpracticeandfunctionalskillsrelatedtomakingmeaningsindigitalenvironments”(Shin&Seger,2016,p.313).UsingtheworkofBourdieu(1990;1991),ShinandSeger(2016)argued,however,thatdigitalliteracycannotbestudiedinisolationfromtheupbringingandsocialbackgroundoftheindividualstudent.Instead,digitalliteracymustbeconsideredaproductofcultural,social,political,andmaterialcapitalofthestudentandtheirparents(Shin&Seger,2016,311).Therefore,thisresearchisparticularlyinterestedinstudyinghowparentsofthestudentsparticipatedintheirchildren’slearningprocesses,inthiscasedigitalblogpostingsthatwereapartofthecourse.
AlsobuildingonBourdieu(1991),Underwood,ParkerandStonesuggestedthatdigitalliteracypracticesmustbestudiedas“digitalliteracyhabitus’’(Underwood,Parker&Stone,2013,p.483).Accordingtotheseresearchers,adigitalliteracyhabitusbothinvolvedinstrumentalskillsinvolvingvarioustechnologies,suchastheabilityto
“carryoutinternetresearch–howtolocateandgleanrelevantinformationandhowtointerprettheinformationtheyhadcollectedandaccommodateitfortheirownproject”(Underwood,Parker&Stone,2013,p.490)
andtheabilitytocollaborateandnegotiatewithpeersindigitalenvironments(Underwood,Parker&Stone,2013).BuildingonBourdieu(1991),suchahabitusisconsideredcrucialforstudents’futureopportunitiesofperformingwellinacademiccontexts.Theseauthorsalsoarguedthatschoolshaveanimportantroleinequalizinganotherwiseunevendistributionoftheskillsofusingandcollaboratingwithtechnologies,whichtheyconsiderarequirementtoperformwellintheeducationalsystem(Underwood,Parker&Stone,2013).
AnotherexampleofhowdigitalliteracyisframedwithinaspecifictheoreticalframeworkisastudyofCaseyandBruce(2011).Thispapersoughttodevelopapedagogythatsituatesdigitalliteracyasanintegralpartofanotherpedagogybasedonpragmaticeducationalphilosophy(Dewey,1991;1997)entitled“TheInquiryCycle”(Casey&Bruce,2011).ThisstudyinvestigatedthepracticesandwaysofparticipatinginlessonsthatareenabledwhenanapproachcalledInquiryCycleisimplementedinatechnology-richclassroom(Casey&Bruce,2011).ThispaperdrewexplicitlyonbothLankshearandKnobel(2008)andNewLondonGroup’s(1996)definitionofdigitalliteracyas
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“activities[that]occurinsocial,culturalandtechnologicalcontexts,andarecreatedandsustainedbycontextualfactors–literacyisasocialproductand,likelanguageitself,isinteractiveanddynamic”(NewLondonGroup,1996in:Casey&Bruce,2011,p.77)
CaseyandBruce(2011)howeverarguedthatthe“InquiryCircle”pedagogyisbasedonprinciplesthatrequireanunderstandingofdigitalliteracywithinpragmaticphilosophy.Therefore,theauthorsdefineddigitalliteracyinthefollowingway:
“Literacyisbestunderstoodthroughtheconceptofparticipation.Literacyenablesparticipation,andnewtechnologiesgiverisetonewformsofparticipation,andhencenewliteracies”(Casey&Bruce,2011,p.78)
Andfurther:
“Digitalliteracyinprimaryschoolsinvolvespupilsandteachersusingdigitaltechnologytoenable,sustainandenrichallaspectsoftheinquirycycleoflearningas:ask,investigate,create,discussandreflect”(Caseyetal.,2009,p.7)
Thisexampleillustrateshowawidely-accepteddefinitionofdigitalliteracycaneasilybeshapedandshiftmeaningwhencombinedwiththeoretically-rootedpedagogicalaims.
Alloftheexamplesabovearewell-suitedtodemonstratethecomplexityoftheresearchliteratureaboutdigitalliteracy.Theyalsohelptoidentifythatthecomplexityregardingthetermdigitalliteracyisnotonlyduetothevarietyofdefinitionsoftheterm.Thecomplexityisalso,andperhapsmoreimplicitly,relatedtothetheoreticalresourceswithwhichestablisheddefinitionsofdigitalliteracyarecombined.
Towards a conceptualization of standpoints in definitions of digital literacy Inthefindingssectionabovewehaveidentifiedabroadvarietyinhowdigitalliteracyisdefinedandusedintheresearchliteratureinthecontextofelementaryandprimaryeducation.Thisfindingisnotneworsurprising,asthetermisoftenexplicitlyreferredtoasambiguousandbroad(Stepic,2013;Aesaert,Vanderlinde,Tondeur&vanBraak,2013;Hagge,2017;Underwood,Parker&Stone,2013;Merchant,2009).Unlikethedominant
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perspectiveintheliteratureaboutdigitalliteracy,wedonot,however,thinkthebroadnessandmultiplemeaningsofdigitalliteracyisaproblemthatneedstobeovercome.Onthecontrary,theremightalsobeadvantagesofmakingeffortsinmaintainingandperhapscontinuingtobroadenourperspectivesondigitalliteracy.
Sofar,wehaveidentifiedthreepotentialsourcesofthesevarieties:Thevarioustopicsthatdigitalliteracyisrelatedto,thefactthatdigitalliteracyisoftennotdefinedorsubstitutedwithanothersimilarterm,andthatestablisheddefinitionsofdigitalliteracyarecombinedwiththeoriesfromotherfields.Studiesthatdidnotexplicitlydefinedigitalliteracyrepresentagenuinethreattobuildingaresearch-basedfoundationofknowledgeaboutdigitalliteracy,asitisunclearexactlywhatthetermcovers.Explicitvariationsinhowthetermisdefinedandused,however,enablesresearchtocapturethecomplexityofdigitalliteracyandthemanyactorsandcontextsthatcanberelevanttoincludeinstudiesofthisphenomenon.Suchavarietyindefinitionscontributestostudyingdigitalliteracyfromdifferentanglesusingdifferenttheoreticalresourcesandcanbroadenourknowledgeofwhat,who,andwheredigitalliteracypracticesareperformed.Inordertoinformthechoiceofdefinitionsandusagesofdigitalliteracyforresearch,we,however,believethataconceptualizationoftheopportunitiesathandwouldbebeneficial.Suchaconceptualizationcouldhelpsystematizetheaccumulationofknowledgeandresearchfindingsrelatedtodigitalliteracy.Basedonthevarietyofdefinitionsandusagesoftheterm,wewillthereforeintroduceamodelthatillustrateshowthedefinitionsrelatetooneanother.Thoughthismodelfirstandforemostisbasedonempiricalfindings,itisourhopethatitwillconstitutearoadmapthatcansupportdefinitionsofdigitalliteracyprospectively.
Figure4illustratesamodelconsistingoftwoaxeswithtwopoles.Werefertothesedimensionsasinterpersonal/intrapersonalandtechno-centric/human-centric.Thepurposeofstructuringourfindingsaccordingtothismodelisthatitallowsustomapthedefinitionsandusagesofdigitalliteracyanddescribehowtheyrelatetoeachother.
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Figure4.Amodelillustratingtheeightcategoriesplacedinfourquadrantsontheaxesintrapersonal/interpersonalandhuman-centric/techno-centric.
Inthefollowingsection,wewillexplaintheaxesandtheirempiricalfoundationinmoredetail.
Theverticalaxis:thetechno-centric/human-centricdimensionThetechno-centricendoftheverticalaxisrepresentspapersthatinferadefinitionofdigitalliteracyfromwhatnewtechnologyrequiresofaproficientuser.AnexampleofthistypeofdefinitionisfoundintheworkofMerchant(2007)onhowweshouldunderstanddigitalliteracyinrelationtowriting.Inthispaper,hedefineddigitalliteracyas
“writtenorsymbolicrepresentationthatismediatedbynewtechnology.Furthermore,thespecificaffordancesofdigitalliteracycouldbeconceptualizedasaproductofthetechnologicalmeansofitsproductionandconsumption”(Merchant,2007,p.121)
Thelattersentenceespeciallyillustratesthekeyroleofthetechnologyindigitalliteracyandtheunderlyingconceptionthattechnologybringsrelativelypredictablenewchangestowhichwemustadapt.
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Thetopendoftheverticalaxisrepresentsahuman-centricperspectiveondigitalliteracy.Thisperspectivedefinesdigitalliteracyasthehumancapacitiesandvaluesweshouldstrivetomaintaininatechnology-richsociety.Thisincludesdefinitionsandusagesofdigitalliteracythatarecloselyconnectedtohowtocommunicateproperlyusingtechnology,howtoavoidcyberbullying,orotherwisemaintainethicallycorrectbehaviorwhenusingdigitaltechnology.AnexampleofsuchadefinitionisfoundintheworkofVélez,OlivenciaandZuazua(2017),whodefineddigitalliteracyandindividual’sabilityto
“buildadigitalidentityinthenetasanindependent,cultivatedanddemocraticcitizen.Digitalliteracyshouldalsotakeintoaccounteveryrelationalprocesslinkedtoconvivialitythattakesplaceinthedigitalworld”(Vélez,Olivencia&Zuazua,2017,p.616)
Thisdefinitionforegroundstheabilitytobuildanidentityinacontextofdigitaltechnologyconviviality,therebyemphasizingthepracticeswithdigitaltechnologyratherthanthetechnologyitself.AnotherdefinitionthatclearlyfallswithinthiscategoryisfoundintheworkofShinandSeger(2016),whodefineddigitalliteracyas“discursivepracticesthatareshapedbyone’ssocial,cultural,andpoliticalaccess(p.311)”.
Thehorizontalaxis:theintrapersonalandinterpersonaldimensionTheintrapersonaldimensionrepresentsdefinitionsandusagesofdigitalliteracyasintrinsiccapabilitiesofindividualsoragroupofindividualsinrelationtodigitaltechnology.Thedefinitionsatthisendoftheaxisoftentendtomeasureorevaluatethelevelofdigitalliteracyagainstapre-definitionofdigitalliteracy(eitherqualitativelyorquantitatively,e.g.,Sun,Wang&Liu,2017;Perez-Escoda,Castro-Zubizarreta&FandosIgado,2016;Pombo,Carlos&Loureiro,2015;Fernandez-Montalvo,Penalva,Irazabal&Lopez-Goni,2016,Thorvaldsen,Egeberg,Pettersen&Vavik,2011;Bjørgen&Erstad,2015).AtypicalexampleofsuchausageofdigitalliteracyisthestudybyMeneses,Fabregues,Rodrıguez-GomezandIon(2012),whoinvestigatedteachers’digitalliteracyfromtheir
“self-reportedcompetenceinsixInternetpractices(i.e.,usingabrowser,downloadingafile,sendinganemail,usinginstantmessagingapplications,publishingontheInternet,andbuildingawebpage”(Meneses,Fàbregues,Rodríguez-Gómez&Ion,2012,p.918)
Inthisway,digitalliteracyismeasuredasaninherentcapabilityoftheindividualteacher.
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Theinterpersonalendofthehorizontalaxisdefinesorusesdigitalliteracyasactors’abilitiestoapplytheircapacitiesinaspecificcontextandinrelationtootherpeople.Theinterpersonaldimensiondoesthereforeoftenincludeintrapersonalcapacities,butalwayssubordinatesthesetoaninterpersonalabilityorcontext.Unliketheintrapersonalperspective,paperswithinthisendofthehorizontalaxistendtoexplorativelyinvestigatedigitalliteracypractices,oftenbyusingqualitativemethodssuchasobservationsorotherethnographicapproaches(seee.g.Casey&Bruce,2011;Bhatt,deRoock&Adams2015;Merchant,2009).
Ways forward Themodelaffordsseveraldifferentusages.Beforeaddressingtheusages,wemustmakethepointofdepartureclear.Theaxesareempiricallygenerateddichotomiesthatrepresentpolesandnotacontinuum.Itispossibletochallengethisinfutureresearchandisinbynomeansmeanttobecomprehensive.Besidesdepictingandplacingtheempiricallygenerateddefinitionsandusagesofdigitalliteracy,themodelalsoshowshowdefinitionsarebasedondifferentassumptions,thusmakingitclearthatitisnotatrivialtaskofcomparingtwodigitalliteracyconceptionsbasedondifferentassumptions.Anotherpotentialusageofthemodelisthatitcanassistinidentifyingandarticulatingwhatismeantbythetermdigitalliteracy.Inthisway,themodelallowsresearchfindingsaboutdigitalliteracytoaccumulatewithoutde-legitimizingsomedefinitionsorusagesofthetermoverothers.
AswehaveillustratedinFigure4,themodelleavesuswithfourquadrantsthatrepresentcombinationsofpositionsbetweentheverticalandhorizontalaxes.Themodeltherebyallowsustoplacethepapersinthemodelaccordingtowhichoftheninecategoriestheirdefinitionand/orusageofdigitalliteracyrelatesto,whichwehavealreadydoneinFigure4.
Conclusion Thepurposeofthispaperhasbeentoinvestigatehowdigitalliteracyisdefinedandusedintheresearchliteratureinthecontextofprimaryeducation,andtoidentifyreasonsforthevarietyofdefinitionsandusages.Wehavedescribedthedifferentdefinitionsandusagesofthetermthrougheightcategories.Further,wehaveidentifiedtwomainreasonsforthissubstantialvarietyofusagesanddefinitions,namelyawidespreadtendencyforpaperstonotincludeadefinitionofthetermandthatdigitalliteracyisstudiedfrommanytheoreticalstandpoints.Contrarytotheviewofmanyresearchers,wedonot,however,considerthevarietyofdefinitionsandusagesofthetermtobeanunconditionalproblem.Onthe
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contrary,thebroadnessofthecategoriesrelatedtodigitalliteracyillustratethecomplexityofthetermandthemultiplecontextsinwhichitmayappear.Ifthecomplexityremainsimplicit,however,itrepresentsathreattoaccumulatingknowledgeaboutdigitalliteracy.Topreservethecomplexitywithoutsimultaneouslylegitimizingsomedefinitionsoverothers,thispaperpresentsamodelthatcanservethediscussionofwhichaspectsofdigitalliteracyagivenstudycouldbenefitfromfocusingon.Itisourhopethatthismodelcanhelpresearchersandpractitionersinaccumulatingknowledgeaboutdigitalliteracybasedonexplicitandcoherentdefinitionsandusagesoftheterm.
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iMassiveOpenOnlineCoursesiiBringYourOwnDeviceiiiChooseYourOwnDeviceivInternationalComputerandInformationLiteracyStudy,http://www.iea.nl/icilsvThecompletedtableisaccessibleathttps://www.researchgate.net/publication/327395670_Analysis_sheet_of_genbeskrivelser_in_digital_literacyviThisspreadsheetisalsoaccessibleathttps://www.researchgate.net/publication/327395498_Beskrivelser_af_papers
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