Ola Erstad is Professor at the Department of Education, University of Oslo, Norway. He is an internationally leading researcher with a focus on digital literacies, but firmly rooted in the wider social and cultural context of learning beyond the technological aspects, and across formal and informal contexts.
Literacies, lives and digital futures
The changes in everyday literacy practices brought about by the miniaturisation, mobility, personalisation and ubiquitous use of digital technologies are profound. Recent research about changing media use from analogue to digital, and about how digital media are often central to people’s everyday interactions with the world, suggest a sea change in the way that people experience their literacy lives in contrast with previous generations. Whilst young people continue to be avid meaning makers and to be multimodal, multisensory, active and interactive social beings, digital media offer previously unavailable ways to explore and express meaning. One aspect of this presentation will explore ‘digital futuremaking’, conceptually and empirically.