Digital Literacies in Education : Creative, Multimodal and Innovative Practices

Every educator will tell you about the importance of literacy. But what are the implications of digital literacy, participatory literacy and media literacy for teaching and learning? And can the use of technology be linked to social responsibility?
This volume, with a range of international contributors, offers stimulating reading about ‘rethinking education’ in the light of new multimedia tools and platforms and the emergence of social media. It calls for twenty-first-century learners to develop digital, entrepreneurial, collaborative and group work competencies, along with creative and critical thinking. The affordances of digital technologies can offer all students the chance to create their own multimedia representations and become creators within their own education. In addition, eLearning tools can support innovative pedagogical approaches and open the way for research on the nature of teaching and learning experiences, and on how dialogue might be transformed through the use of digital communication technologies. The essays in this volume provide relevant current examples for education practitioners interested in research in this growing academic field.

Yvonne Crotty is a lecturer in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at Dublin City University. She is particularly interested in promoting entrepreneurial learning, creativity and visual literacy in higher education and is conducting national-and EU-funded research into the use of digital media for students and teachers.
Margaret Farren is a lecturer in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at Dublin City University. Her research programme is focused on the educational opportunities for learning opened up by digital technologies. She is carrying out EU-funded research in inquiry-based science education and in the innovative use of eLearning tools and resources to support teacher professional development.