Conceptions of Digital Literacy: Implications for Research Design.

This paper reports on the early sages of two on-going research projects focusing on digital literacy in different contexts: Know IT, a blended learning, basic ICT course for adults and Digital Literacy in Irish Primary Schools (DLIPS), a study of the pedagogic uses of new technologies in the classroom contexts. The challenge of establishing a conceptual framework for digital literacy is common to both projects. Two approaches to conceptualising digital literacy, one as technical skills and the other as associated with social practices, are introduced and their contrasting implications for research design are discussed. Insights into the methods employed in both research projects are referenced to the researchers’ adoption of the social practice perspective