ABSTRACT
This chapter develops the discussion by shifting the focus away from institutions and systems, back towards the digital and towards how students have been categorised in terms of their digital engagement. A series of influential positions in this area is reviewed, giving rise to questions about whether any kind of framework is fit for the job of describing student engagement or experience. Sharpe and Beetham go on to explain the logic of this. Positioning 'identity' as the highest layer is similarly problematic. These elements are constructed as sequential and hierarchical, each resting on another in what appears to be a causal configuration, as if each new layer is in some way the product or consequence of the preceding ones. The earlier digital literacy frameworks have proved influential, although the overall direction of travel has been to move away from simplistic, categorical classifications, towards increasing complexity and situatedness.
