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Ecologies of New Literacies: Implications for Education

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Encyclopedia of Language and Education
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Introduction

From e‐mails and word processing to blogs, podcasting and wikis, the possibilities afforded by new technologies have transformed the way we work, learn and live. Such ‘new literacies’ have offered a fertile field for research in recent years, and much of this research draws out particular implications of such changes for education. This article outlines the major work in this field to date, and considers possible future developments.

Lankshear and Knobel ( 2003) distinguish between ‘paradigmatic’ and ‘ontological’ senses of the term ‘new literacies’. By paradigmatic, they are referring to the ‘New Literacy Studies’ as a new paradigm in the approach to literacy, an approach which focuses on literacy practices in particular social, cultural and economic contexts (Barton, 1994; Gee, 2000; Street, 1984). By ontological, they refer to ‘changes [that] have occurred in the character and substance of literacies associated with changes in technology, institutions, media, the...

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Tusting, K. (2008). Ecologies of New Literacies: Implications for Education. In: Hornberger, N.H. (eds) Encyclopedia of Language and Education. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-30424-3_240

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-30424-3_240

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

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