Abstract:
The technological, informational and sociopolitical developments of the last decade have led to a changed landscape for language teaching and learning. New educational possibilities have opened up, but new demands are also being made of education. As teachers, we are called on to help our students deal with a social and educational context of digital disarray, characterised by digital distraction (due to competing attentional demands), digital disorder (due to the proliferation of misinformation, disinformation and fake news), and digital disconnection from the self and others (due to superficial and antagonistic interactions with otherness).
This seminar charts the kinds of changes that have taken place, examines the ways in which digital literacies can help to deal with these changes, and suggests that improving digital literacy skills can be a way of beginning to promote digital wellness for both teachers and students.
Drawing on the Framework of Digital Literacies, first proposed by Gavin Dudeney, Nicky Hockly and Mark Pegrum in 2013, now used in a range of language learning initiatives in Europe and elsewhere, and subsequently revised in 2018 and 2022, we will look at a series of key literacies of major relevance to language teaching and learning, including information literacy, intercultural literacy, ethical literacy, attentional literacy and critical literacy.
The time has come for language teachers to promote digital literacies – and digital wellness – alongside the teaching of language itself.
Bio:
Associate Professor Mark Pegrum is a Lecturer in Digital Learning in the Graduate School of Education at The University of Western Australia in Perth, where he is also the Deputy Head of School (International). In his courses, he specialises in digital technologies in education, with a particular focus on mobile learning. He is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and his teaching has been recognised through Faculty and University Excellence in Teaching Awards, as well as a 2010 national Australian Learning & Teaching Council (ALTC) Excellence in Teaching Award. His current research focuses on digital literacies and especially attentional literacy; mobile and emerging technologies, including extended reality (XR); and the forms digital learning takes in diverse contexts across the Global North and South. His books include: Brave New Classrooms: Democratic Education and the Internet (co-edited with Joe Lockard, 2007); From Blogs to Bombs: The Future of Digital Technologies in Education (2009); Digital Literacies (co-authored with Gavin Dudeney & Nicky Hockly, 2013); Mobile Learning: Languages, Literacies and Cultures (2014); Mobile Lenses on Learning: Languages and Literacies on the Move (2019); and Digital Literacies (2nd ed.; co-authored with Gavin Dudeney & Nicky Hockly, 2022). Further details can be found on his website at https://markpegrum.com/about-mark-pegrum/biodata/.
