What is Digital Literacy?

As part of an Education Week special report, The Changing Face of Literacy, Liana Heitin talks about the definition of digital literacy and the kind of reading that uniquely occurs in an online environment. While some things are read in a similar way to traditional textual reading, what she calls “online reading” can also contain hyperlinks, videos, audio clips, images interactive graphics, share buttons or comments. Those complexities force readers to stop and make decisions rather than reading a piece of text from top to bottom. “The text is designed so that no two readers experience it in the same way” says Troy Hicks, a specialist in literacy and technology. Image credit