Mind the Gap(s): discourses and discontinuity in digital literacies

Meaning making in new media is rapidly presenting new opportunities and new challenges for those working in formal and informal educational contexts. This article provides an overview of current theory, thinking and commentary in order to map the field of digital literacy and to identify key questions for research and policy development. It identifies some of the discontinuities or gaps that exist between teachers, their students, and what technology can now deliver. Through two case studies the author tells the story of social practices that illustrate everyday digital lives and show how interactions involve a constellation of literacy events. This approach allows him to raise questions about the transfer of such practices into educational contexts and to explore the gaps between informal uses of digital literacy and current classroom literacy routines.