New Literacies Overview

Principles

Definition

New literacies is a research concept and academic field investigating the evolving nature of literacy in response to digital technologies and networked communication environments. It examines the skills, practices, and social contexts involved in reading, writing, and communicating across diverse digital platforms and multimodal formats, characterized by a focus on multimodality, interactivity, networked participation, and the critical evaluation of information. Its significance lies in understanding contemporary learning, communication, and social engagement in the digital age.

Ontological type

Theoretical Frameworks

Core Competencies

Educational Applications

Key developments

Key Figures

Multimodal Situated Literacies era

Elizabeth Birr Moje [1] was a prominent scholar at the University of Michigan [3] during the Multimodal Situated Literacies era (1998-2006). Her 2004 paper, "Working toward third space in content area literacy: An examination of everyday funds of knowledge and Discourse" [6], highlighted how funds of knowledge and everyday discourse mediate literacy across in-school and out-of-school contexts, providing a foundation for context-sensitive, culturally responsive multimodal pedagogy. Colín Lankshear [2] was associated with McGill University [4] and James Cook University [5] during this era. His 2003 paper, "New Literacies: changing knowledge and classroom learning" [7], reframed literacy as dynamic and multimodal, arguing for integrating out-of-school literacies into classroom learning and shaping multimodal, situated pedagogy.

Digital Disciplinary Multiliteracies era

Bill Cope [1], a scholar active in the Digital Disciplinary Multiliteracies era, is affiliated with the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign [3] and the University of Stirling [4]. His key contribution in this era centers on the paper Multiliterages: New Literacies, New Learning [6], which articulates a framework for multimodal, genre-aware pedagogy that connects digital literacies to disciplinary learning. Mary Kalantzis [2] is likewise linked to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign [3] and the University of Illinois System [5], reflecting a collaborative leadership within this era's institutional landscape. Her contribution centers on the same paper Multiliteracies: New Literacies, New Learning [6], providing a joint theoretical and pedagogical framework that underpins embedding digital storytelling, blogs, and other multimodal practices for disciplinary learning, a critical pivot for literacy education in this era.

Sociomaterial and Data Literacies era

Michael W. Apple [1], affiliated with University of Wisconsin–Madison [3] and Beijing Normal University [4], anchors Official knowledge: democratic education in a conservative age [7] (2014). In Official knowledge [7], Apple [1] argues that democratic education must resist conservative gatekeeping by reframing literacy as distributed across classrooms, policy, and material infrastructures, a move central to sociomaterial literacies in this era. Julie Coiro [2], affiliated with University of Helsinki [5] and University of Jyväskylä [6], contributes New Literacies: A Dual-Level Theory of the Changing Nature of Literacy, Instruction, and Assessment [8] (2017). In New Literacies [8], Julie Coiro [2], affiliated with University of Helsinki [5] and University of Jyväskylä [6], advances a dual-level framework for how instruction, assessment, and data-focused practices reconfigure literacy in schools and digital ecosystems, a perspective that foregrounds distributed, data-informed literacies essential for the 2014–2023 era.