ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the impact of digital technologies on notions of literacy and critically explore literacy as normally understood by school curricula in relation to 'new literacies'. Participation in the digital age means more than being able to access 'serious' online information and culture; it also means the ability to participate in social and recreational activities online. In addition to economic barriers, youth encounter institutional, social, and cultural constraints to online participation. The chapter explores related cultural practices of learners in everyday life and their relationship to school-based learning. One important publication in the field of traditional literacy is the US National Early Literacy Panel report, which uses the term 'conventional literacy' in relation to skills such as decoding, oral reading fluency, reading comprehension, writing and spelling. In the process, the concept of 'literacy' - initially applied to writing - is being extended to other modes of communication.
