The uses of (digital) literacy

Abstract

This article shares research facilitated by a multinational technology provider, converging mobile networked technology (tablets) used across school and home, a technology enhanced community ‘third space’ providing workshops for students aged 6–9 with their parents/carers. The approach taken avoids the instrumental measurement of functional digital literacy competences, but instead seeks to negotiate a more nuanced and complex understanding of the ‘uses of literacy’ [from Hoggart, R. 1957. The Uses of Literacy. London: Pelican] in digital contexts and in a deeply situated, specific local setting. Working with our findings, we later put Amartya Sen’s concept of capability [Sen, A. K. 2005. “Human Rights and Capabilities.” Journal of Human Development 6 (2): 151–166; Sen, A. K. 2008. “Capability and Well-Being.” In The Philosophy of Economics, edited by D. M. Hausman, 3rd ed., 270–293. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press] to work on our data in order to provide a discussion on how the digital literacy community might distinguish digital competences as functionings from the ‘uses’ of such competences for a broader range of capabilities.