The term “new literacies” refers to the growing way in which we as people communicate, by sending and/or receiving information to ourselves and between one another. “New literacies” do not have to involve the use of digital media, though as the world advances technologically, our definition of “new literacies’ expands, and at this point in time, digital media is the main way in which we are defining our current “new literacies”. We must understand that technology is not here to take over traditional ways of learning, such as pen and paper, but rather to enhance our learning. Knobel (2006), states that there are two main mindsets of “new literacies”, that one sees the world as much the same as before, though technology has increased, but he also introduces the second mindset that the world is very different from before, largely as a result of technology.
Knobel, M. & Lankshear, C. (2006), Discussing New Literacies. Language Arts 84(1), 78-86
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