Reframing Digital Literacies:
Beyond Flashy, Flimsy and Faddish Models

This interactive Knowledge Factory argues that discussions about digital literacies in the context of shaping the future of learning would benefit from a type of double vision—utopia and dystopia. In framing the discussion we explore: what is being said about digital literacy? Who is shaping the digital literacy agenda and for what purpose? What is missing in the discourse? There are no easy answers to these questions as the digital literacy movement is far more complex than simple dichotomies of good or bad. The key point is that there are competing drivers and languages of persuasion entangled in interwoven and contradictory perspectives. Through a critical analysis of existing models and frameworks the session invites participants to consider the hidden curriculum and go off the rails when engaging in debates about the nature of digital skills, literacies or capabilities. The objective is to raise greater critical awareness of the risks and dangers of promoting specific definitions of digital literacies which often fail to reflect the deeper role of education in developing active citizenry for an uncertain future.

Moderator

Mark Brown

Director and Professor of Digital Learning, Dublin City University, Ireland

Mark Brown is Ireland’s first Professor of Digital Learning and Director of the National Institute for Digital Learning (NIDL) at Dublin City University (DCU). He is a Fellow and Executive Committee member of the European Distance and E-learning Network (EDEN) and serves on the Supervisory Board of the European Association of Distance Teaching Universities (EADTU). Mark is also Chair of the Teaching and Learning Steering Committee for the European Consortium of Innovative Universities (ECIU). He has played key leadership roles in the university-wide implementation of new models of teaching and learning and has published extensively in the fields of Blended, On-line and Digital (BOLD) education. In 2017, the Commonwealth of Learning (CoL) recognised Mark as a world leader in Open and Distance Learning and he is Chair of the ICDE World Conference on Online Learning which will be held in Dublin in November 2019.

Links

http://dcu.ie/nidl/people/director.shtml

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