Digital literacy: The quest of an inclusive definition
Reading & Writing
| Field | Value | |
| Title | Digital literacy: The quest of an inclusive definition | |
| Creator | Njenga, James K. | |
| Description | Forces of globalisation and economic competition enhanced by, among others, the digital technologies, are radically transforming the social context. Digital technologies are characterised by a powerful and pervasive Internet as well as the related information and communication technologies. Globalisation is facilitated by the universally accessible, reliable and inexpensive communication assisted by these digital technologies. However, there is growing and valid scepticism regarding the digitally influenced socio-economic emancipation. This scepticism is mainly driven by a lack of understanding of digital literacy as a holistic process of creating the necessary social, economic and political changes within a given context. The understanding of digital literacy therefore needs to join a number of seemingly divergent views of digital technology when dealing with these technologies’ benefits in socio-economic emancipation. This understanding of digital literacy should therefore be shaped and focused more on understanding how digital literacy impacts the poor and marginalised, especially in looking at the socio-economic welfare of these marginalised sections of the society. This article discusses digital literacy by firstly looking at the shortcomings of the available definitions and approaches and then recommends a socio-economic development-orientated definition. The article brings to the fore the most critical digital literacy issues for socio-economic development. These issues are important; they ensure that digital literacy is not viewed in isolation, but rather in terms of its outcomes and consequences, especially with regard to socio-economic development. | |
| Publisher | AOSIS Publishing | |
| Date | 2018-08-30 | |
| Identifier | 10.4102/rw.v9i1.183 | |
| Source | Reading & Writing; Vol 9, No 1 (2018); 7 pages 2308-1422 2079-8245 | |
| Language | eng | |
| Relation |
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:
https://rw.org.za/index.php/rw/article/view/183/429
https://rw.org.za/index.php/rw/article/view/183/428
https://rw.org.za/index.php/rw/article/view/183/430
https://rw.org.za/index.php/rw/article/view/183/424
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