At the center of both my need for a non-linear medium and my students’ need for alternate expression is New Literacies. The term new literacies has been used to refer to many practices. Leu, Kinzer, Corio, Castek, and Henry (2013) proposed a dual-level model of New Literacies research, stating that New Literacies (majuscule) refers to the theory as a whole while individuals may research several different new literacies (miniscule) that contribute to our understanding of New Literacies. For this study, I will use their distinction. Several researchers have proposed different major characteristics that define New Literacies. Outlined below, New Literacies:
· involve new and changing technologies
· are unbounded and valued for wide dispersion
· are dynamic and deictic
· are multimodal
· involve new, complex interactions with text
· are collaborative and participatory
· are specialized, personalized, and authentic
New Literacies involves new and changing technologies (Draper & Wimmer, 2015; Leu et al., 2013). While we know that New Literacies are not solely about the “technical stuff” and more about the “ethos stuff” (Lankshear & Knobel, 2006), it is certain that the ethos of New Literacies has come about both alongside and because of new technologies (Knobel & Lankshear, 2014; Leu et al., 2015; Sang & Park, 2017). Whether in the form of internet fora, websites, social media, apps, podcasts, or new graphics tools, technology has both transformed the way people communicate and adapted to the ways in which people demand new communication. This has changed the way we create and interpret meaning in dramatic ways, eliciting New Literacies studies.
New Literacies are unbounded and valued for wide dispersion (Coiro & Moore, 2012; Lankshear & Knobel, 2006; Simsek & Simsek, 2013). Instead of being confined in space with a physical form, in number with limited copies, or in time with no more updates after printing, New Literacies can be accessed nearly anywhere, anytime, by any number of people. This is not just a change in convenience but a change in ways of thinking about value. With printed books, information was valued for scarcity. Experts are valued because they are a small, elite group. With the internet, familiarity is more valued. The more people who see a piece of information or a product, the more valuable it is. Lankshear and Knobel (2006) summarized this by saying, in New Literacies, the value is placed on dispersion rather than scarcity.
New Literacies are dynamic and deictic, constantly changing depending on context (Coiro & Moore, 2012; Draper & Wimmer, 2015; Leu et al., 2013). As the dual-level theory of New Literacies (Leu et al., 2013) suggests, the various new literacies change rapidly, and new forms of communication are being invented every day. Different contexts for communication arise, and shifting from one context to another can shift meanings. While traditional literacies could be reliably consistent from year to year, digital texts may shift from day to day, whether it be an updated blog, edited Facebook status, or a deleted Tweet. No single text in a New Literacies context necessarily remains static.
New Literacies are multimodal (Karchmer-Klein & Shinas, 2012; Leu et al., 2013; Simsek & Simsek, 2013). As Karchmer-Klein and Shinas (2012) explain, as opposed to sending text off to be published, now, “we control image placement, sound, color, and font, directly affecting our readers’ comprehension” (p. 290). All of these factors contribute to meaning within New Literacies, not just print. Additionally, New Literacies require “transmedia navigation,” what Simsek and Simsek (2013) defined as “the ability to follow the flow of stories and information across multiple modalities” (p.130). New Literacies require not only reading more than just text, but also synthesizing across different media.
New Literacies involves new, complex interactions with text (Coiro & Moore, 2012; New London Group, 1996; Lankshear & Knobel, 2006; Simsek & Simsek, 2013). Because new technologies offer multimodal, unbounded, and dynamic content, readers have to create their own way of absorbing information. This may involve curating the right content in a vast amount of information (Simsek & Simsek, 2013) or “designing” a route through information (New London Group, 1996). The New London Group (1996) called reading a designing, productive activity, saying, “listening and reading is itself a production (a Designing) of texts (though texts-for-themselves, not texts-for-others) based on their own interests and life experiences. And their listening and reading in turn transforms the resources they have received in the form of Available Designs into The Redesigned” (p.76). This shows reading as an active, creative experience, especially in the world of New Literacies. The complexities of New Literacies means there are multiple approaches to each text or set of texts, requiring an individualized, active choice in approaches rather than one, linear method.
New Literacies are collaborative and participatory (Coiro & Moore, 2012; Kellinger, 2012; Lankshear & Knobel, 2006; Leu et al., 2013; Sang & Park, 2017; Simsek & Simsek, 2013). New technology “makes possible global discourse communities,” and “authentic audiences co-construct texts by dialoguing with original authors, expand texts by dialoguing with other consumers, and co-construct texts by collaborating with others” (Kellinger, 2012,p.526). New Literacies are always connected in a way that allows readers to interact with creators and each other and allows writers immediate access to collaboration in producing texts or eliciting audience feedback.
New Literacies are specialized, personalized, and authentic (Knobel & Lankshear, 2014; Lankshear & Knobel, 2006; Sang & Park, 2017; Simsek & Simsek, 2013). Lankshear and Knobel (2006) describe how New Literacies involve “efficacious learning… doing something that genuinely puts the learner on the right track toward becoming a competent participant in ‘the real thing’” (p.196). Because of the vast number of sources and topics available in the new media landscape and because of the participatory nature of New Literacies, individuals can find communities that matter to them and learn through practice and work with experts. Simsek and Simsek (2013) outline several of these qualities of New Literacies:
Play: The capacity to experiment with one’s surroundings as a form of problem-solving; Performance: The ability to adopt alternative identities for the purpose of improvisation and discovery; Simulation: The ability to interpret and construct dynamic models of real-world processes; … Collective intelligence: The ability to pool knowledge and compare notes with others toward a common goal; … Negotiation: The ability to travel across diverse communities, discerning and respecting multiple perspectives, and grasping and following alternative norms. (p.129)
These characteristics of New Literacies demonstrate how these spaces allow for “cognitive apprenticeship” forming learning communities collaboratively engaged in literacy (Lave & Wenger, 1991).
While research in individual new literacies continues to expand, the definition of New Literacies solidifies in key qualities but also leaves room for shifts in literacy practices. The key qualities of New Literacies listed above display a synthesis of current research and a mix of what prominent researchers define as New Literacies.
Line of Flight
For an overview of the connections between New Literacies and New Materialism, see the connections chart in Tables and Figures.