While the word “literacy” alone generally stands for reading and writing skills, when we place the word “digital” before it, the concept goes way beyond this. Additionally, translating the English term “digital literacy” into other languages has also proven repeatedly problematic. If we decide to use plural, that is refer to “digital literacies”, then the situation becomes even more complicated but also far more interesting and, in the end –as we strongly believe– rewarding. So, “what are digital literacies?” and “where has it come from?”. The purpose of this module is to approach these questions, being fully aware that just one or even more definitions, theories and a few dates are not enough, since the concept of digital literacies is constantly evolving, following the accelerating rhythms and rapid changes of our digital era. Besides, the more successful answers are, in a way, the ones that create even more questions!

And as the notion of what constitutes literacy changes, so do the approaches to learning and teaching (digital) literacies to learners of all ages. Adopting new tools to teach literacy in the same way as before is not enough. And there are two more crucial questions that we will discuss: “how do we learn to learn?” and “how do we learn to teach digitally?”. This module will track basic changes in literacy pedagogy and the learning models that underpin it over the past 30 years as an opportunity for each educator and practitioner to also reflect on his/her dominant practices and consider how much his/her teaching methods have evolved to date.

During the training implementation (which will be detailed for both face-to-face and online teaching), we will explore some inspiring ideas and good practices in terms of integrating technology into the classrooms, and see “in action” the future of literacy teaching in a highly technology mediated society.

KEY WORDS

Digital literacies, learning, digital pedagogy

KEY MESSAGE

In the era of digital literacies, educators are no longer the “experts” but rather the co-creators of knowledge, along with the learners.