Literacy for Digital: Futures Mind, Body, Text

274 Pages·2022·21.541 MB·English

by  Kathy A. Mills, Len Unsworth, Laura Scholes

LITERACY FOR DIGITAL FUTURES
The unprecedented rate of global, technological, and societal change calls for a
radical, new understanding of literacy. This book offers a nuanced framework for
making sense of literacy by addressing knowledge as contextualised, embodied,
multimodal, and digitally mediated.
In today’s world of technological breakthroughs, social shifts, and rapid
changes to the educational landscape, literacy can no longer be understood
through established curriculum and static text structures. To prepare teachers,
scholars, and researchers for the digital future, the book is organised around
three themes – Mind and Materiality; Body and Senses; and Texts and Digital
Semiotics – to shape readers’ understanding of literacy. Opening up new inter-
disciplinary themes, Mills, Unsworth, and Scholes confront emerging issues for
next- generation digital literacy practices. The volume helps new and established
researchers rethink dynamic changes in the materiality of texts and their implica-
tions for the mind and body, and features recommendations for educational and
professional practice.
Kathy A. Mills is Professor of Literacies and Digital Cultures at the Institute
for Learning Sciences and Teacher Education, Australian Catholic University,
Brisbane.
Len Unsworth is Professor in English and Literacies Education at the Institute
for Learning Sciences and Teacher Education, Australian Catholic University,
Sydney.
Laura Scholes is Associate Professor at the Institute of Learning Sciences and
Teacher Education, Australian Catholic University, Brisbane.

LITERACY FOR DIGITAL
FUTURES
Mind, Body, Text
Kathy A. Mills, Len Unsworth, and
Laura Scholes
Cover image: © Getty Images
First published 2023
by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
and by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2023 Kathy A. Mills, Len Unsworth, and Laura Scholes
The right of Kathy A. Mills, Len Unsworth, and Laura Scholes to be identified as
authors of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of
the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the
publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered
trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent
to infringe.
ISBN: 978-0-367-68394-8 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-367-68317-7 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-13736-8 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003137368
Typeset in Bembo
by SPi Technologies India Pvt Ltd (Straive)
In memory of Gunther Kress, whose thinking has influenced our
work on multimodality.

CONTENTS
List of Figures ix
List of Tables xii
Foreword – Theo van Leeuwen xiii
Acknowledgements xvi
Abbreviations xvii
INTRODUCTION
1 Introduction: Beyond Education for Industry 4.0:
Next-Generation Literacies 1
PART I
Mind and Materiality 21
2 Mind and Materiality of Digital Reading 25
3 Critically Evaluating Multiple Sources for Digital Futures 45
4 Why Video Gaming is an Important Digital Literacy Practice 64
PART II
Body and Senses 85
5 Embodiment, Literacies, and Digital Media 89
viii Contents
6 Haptics and Motion in Literacy Practices with Digital Media 107
7 Virtual, Augmented, and Mixed Reality: New Literate Bodies 125
PART III
Texts and Digital Semiotics 147
8 Infographics and Scientific Literacy 151
9 Advancing Animated Story Composition through Coding 176
10 Digital Interactive Literature 196
CONCLUSION
11 Conclusion: Multimaterial Literacies for Digital Futures 219
Author Index 239
Subject Index 246
FIGURES
2.1 Touch too is important for reading 30
2.2 Virtual reality encompasses the senses 34
3.1 Google search results for the term ‘corona’, November
2021. The high number of search results is shown, with
3,340,000,000 matches 48
4.1 Minecraft can be accessed on mobile devices 70
4.2 Community design © UN-Habitat. (a) A playground in
Gaza designed using Minecraft – before (b) A playground in
Gaza designed using Minecraft – after 71
4.3 Community design © UN-Habitat. (a) Minecraft used in
community urban design in Brazil – before (b) Minecraft
used in community urban design in Brazil – after 71
4.4 Community design © UN-Habitat. (a) Minecraft used
in community urban design in Brazil – in progress.
(b) Minecraft used in community urban design in Brazil –
final Minecraft design 72
7.1 Roman pottery by an 11-year-old student using VR
and in-air haptics 126
7.2 Mixed reality narratives: 3D holograms viewed through
the Hololens 2 126
7.3 Student making 3D Holograms to illustrate an MR story.
Ethical consent was provided for the use of all facial images
in the book 132