Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Building Digital Literacy Through Exploration and Curation of Emerging Technologies: A Networked Learning Collaborative

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Conceptualizing and Innovating Education and Work with Networked Learning

Part of the book series: Research in Networked Learning ((RINL))

Abstract

This exploratory study examines instructor discussion, instructional development, and study of student building of digital literacy as a result of the use and/or curation of Fabric of Digital Life (https://fabricofdigitallife.com/) collections on emerging technologies. Over three phases (January 2019 through May 2020), instructors and students across multiple institutions developed an understanding of digital literacy, designing and using a set of instructional materials for student exploration and/or curation of collections in this repository as a means to build student digital literacy. Strong human/inter-personal relationships evolved from instructors’ joint inquiry, problem solving, development and deployment of instructional resources.

Critical to this work is the collaborative engagement in place to foster and support instructional development, pedagogical deployments, and associated research. This collaborative engagement, spearheaded by the Digital Life Institute at Ontario Tech University in Canada with research affiliates at the University of Minnesota and Texas Tech University in the United States, evolved as a networked learning collaborative to promote connections between people, sites, and contexts; to build a network in support of joint problem solving and knowledge creation; and to build a strong community for collective intention surrounding digital literacy understanding and student digital literacy development.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 109.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Breuch, L. K. (2002). Thinking critically about technological literacy. Technical Communication Quarterly, 11(3), 267–288.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brumberger, E. R., Lauer, C., & Northcut, K. (2013). Technological literacy in the visual communication classroom: Reconciling principles and practice for the “whole” communicator. Programmatic Perspectives, 5(2), 171–196.

    Google Scholar 

  • Building digital capability. (2021). Retrieved from https://www.jisc.ac.uk/rd/projects/building-digital-capability

  • Cargile Cook, K. (2002). Layered literacies: A theoretical frame for technical communication pedagogy. Technical Communication Quarterly, 11(1), 5–29.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chang, H., Ngunjiri, F., & Hernandez, K.-A. C. (2013). Collaborative autoethnography. Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cousin, G. (2006). An introduction to threshold concepts. Planet, 17. Retrieved from https://www.ee.ucl.ac.uk/~mflanaga/Cousin%20Planet%2017.pdf

  • Digital capability framework. (2020). Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC). Retrieved from https://www.jisc.ac.uk/rd/projects/building-digital-capability

  • Digital literacy impact study. (2017). EDUCAUSE: NMC Horizon Project, 3.5.

    Google Scholar 

  • Duin, A. H., & Tham, J. (2018). Cultivating code literacy: A case study of course redesign through advisory board engagement. Communication Design Quarterly, 6(3), 44–58.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Feerrar, J. (2019). Development of a framework for digital literacy. Reference Services Review, 47(2), 91–105.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goodyear, P., Banks, S., Hodgson, V., & McConnell, D. (Eds.). (2004). Advances in research on networked learning. Kluwer Academic Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goodyear, P., et al. (2020). Networked learning: Inviting redefinition. Postdigital Science and Education. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42438-020-00167-8

  • Hernandez, K., Chang, H., & Ngunjiri, F. (2017). Collaborative autoethnography as multivocal, relational, and democratic research: Opportunities, challenges, and aspirations. A/b: Auto/Biography Studies, 32(2), 251–254.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hodgson, V., De Laat, M., McConnell, D., & Ryberg, T. (2014a). Researching design, experience and practice of networked learning: An overview. In V. Hodgson, M. De Laat, D. McConnell, & T. Ryberg (Eds.), The design, experience and practice of networked learning (pp. 1–26). Springer International Publishing.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Hodgson, V., de Laat, M., McConnell, D., & Ryberg, T. (2014b). The design, experience and practice of networked learning. Springer.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Hovde, M. R., & Renguette, C. C. (2017). Technological literacy. Technical Communication Quarterly, 26(4), 395–411.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones, C., Ryberg, T., & De Laat, M. (2015). Networked learning. In M. Peters (Ed.), Encyclopedia of educational philosophy and theory. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-532-7_129-1

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Lapadat, J. C. (2017). Ethics in autoethnography and collaborative autoethnography. In 13th International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry. University of Illinois.

    Google Scholar 

  • Meyer, J., & Land, R. (2006). Threshold concepts and troublesome knowledge: Issues of liminality. In J. Meyer & R. Land (Eds.), Overcoming barriers to student understanding: Threshold concepts and troublesome knowledge (pp. 19–32). Routledge.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Miller, C. (1994). Opportunity, opportunism, and progress: Kairos in the rhetoric of technology. Argumentation, 8(1), 81–96.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Northcut, K. M., & Brumberger, E. R. (2010). Resisting the lure of technology-driven design: Pedagogical approaches to visual communication. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, 40(4), 459–471.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pedersen, I., & Aspevig, K. (2018). Being Jacob: Young children, automedial subjectivity, and child social media influencers. M/C A Journal of Media and Culture, 21(2).

    Google Scholar 

  • Perkins, D. (2006). Constructivism and troublesome knowledge. In J. Meyer & R. Land (Eds.), Overcoming barriers to student understanding: Threshold concepts and troublesome knowledge (pp. 33–47). Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Selber, S. (2004). Multiliteracies for a digital age. Southern Illinois University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stordy, P. (2013). Taxonomy of literacies. Journal of Documentation, 71(3), 456–476.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tham, J. C. K., Burnham, K. D., Hocutt, D. L., Ranade, N., Misak, J., Duin, A. H., Pedersen, I., & Campbell, J. L. (2021). Metaphors, mental models, and multiplicity: Understanding student perception of digital literacy. Computers and Composition, 59, 102628.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Traxler, J. (2018). Digital literacy. Research in Learning Technology, 26, 1–21.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Turnley, M. (2007). Integrating critical approaches to technology and service-learning projects. Technical Communication Quarterly, 16(1), 103–123.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This research was undertaken, in part, thanks to funding from the Council for Programs in Technical and Scientific Communication (CPTSC), and the Canada Research Chairs program.

We also thank all members of this networked learning collaborative throughout the three phases to date of this study. Their contributions and collective expertise are invaluable as we work to understand and build student digital literacy. We thank Kenyan Burnham, Sharon Caldwell, Jessica Campbell, Katlynne Davis, Stephen Fonash, Laura Gonzales, Daniel Hocutt, John Misak, Jack Narine, Nupoor Ranade, Danielle Stambler, Christopher Trotter, and Chakrika Veeramoothoo.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Writing Studies, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Ann Hill Duin

  2. Faculty of Social Science and Humanities, Ontario Tech University, Oshawa, ON, Canada

    Isabel Pedersen

  3. Department of English, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, USA

    Jason Tham

Authors
  1. Ann Hill Duin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Isabel Pedersen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Jason Tham
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ann Hill Duin .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Design and Communication, University of Southern Denmark, Kolding, Denmark

    Nina Bonderup Dohn

  2. Department of Design and Communication, University of Southern Denmark, Kolding, Denmark

    Jens Jørgen Hansen

  3. Department of Design and Communication, University of Southern Denmark, Kolding, Denmark

    Stig Børsen Hansen

  4. Department of Planning, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark

    Thomas Ryberg

  5. Centre for Change and Complexity in Learning, University of South Australia, South Australia, SA, Australia

    Maarten de Laat

Appendix: Collection Titles and Artifact Counts for the Three Phases

Appendix: Collection Titles and Artifact Counts for the Three Phases

Phase one collection titles and artifact count

Phase One Collection Titles

Artifact Count

New artifacts

Inclusion of previous Fabric artifacts

Emerging Technologies for Technical Communication

24

24

 

Wearables and Carryables for Everyday Communication

16

15

1

What Language Sounds Like: Wearable Devices in Translation Communication

18

18

 

Cultural Reality—A VR Experience

19

14

5

AR from Conception to Reality

23

20

3

Implanted and Embedded Medical Devices

13

12

1

Total

113

103

10

Phase two collection titles and artifact count

Phase Two Collection Titles

Artifact Count

New artifacts

Inclusion of previous Fabric artifacts

Non-Traditional Prosthetics

14

8

6

Biotechnology and Human Health: Harvesting the technology of plants and microbes to augment the human body

12

12

0

Surveillance, Sousveillance, and Security Technologies: A variety of wearable computing devices

24

19

5

VR as a Sales Tactic

12

12

0

The Embodied Classroom: Technologies Used in Secondary Composition Pedagogy

6

6

0

Emerging Technologies for Business Communication

8

8

0

Total

76

65

11

Phase three collection titles and artifact count

Phase Three Collection Titles

Artifact Count

New artifacts

Inclusion of previous Fabric artifacts

Digital health devices and strategies

18

16

2

Fostering a Culture of Transcreation for Improving Mistranslation and Miscommunication

20

15

5

Challenges with Improving Workplace Communication

14

9

5

Japanese Technologies

19

2

17

Using Technology to navigate foreign lands and cultures

22

13

9

Total

93

55

38

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2021 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Duin, A.H., Pedersen, I., Tham, J. (2021). Building Digital Literacy Through Exploration and Curation of Emerging Technologies: A Networked Learning Collaborative. In: Dohn, N.B., Hansen, J.J., Hansen, S.B., Ryberg, T., de Laat, M. (eds) Conceptualizing and Innovating Education and Work with Networked Learning. Research in Networked Learning. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-85241-2_6

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-85241-2_6

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-85240-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-85241-2

  • eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation