New Literacies: A Dual-Level Theory of the Changing Nature of Literacy, Instruction, and Assessment

This chapter suggests that a dual-level theory of new literacies is a useful approach to theory building in a world where the nature of literacy continuously changes. It begins by making a central point: Social contexts have always shaped both the function and form of literate practices and been shaped by them in return. The chapter discusses the social context of the current period and explain how this has produced new information and communication technologies, and the new literacies that the technologies demand. It explores several lowercase new literacies perspectives that are emerging. The chapter argues that a dual-level New Literacies theory is essential to take full advantage of this important and diverse work. It presents one lowercase theory of new literacies, the new literacies of online research and comprehension, to illustrate how a dual-level theory of new literacies can inform new literacies research that takes related but different theoretical perspectives.