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• 1 2022-06-08T20:39:46+00:00 Literacies 12 introduction to literacy, defining terms and link to taxonomy graphic plain 193 2023-10-02T12:44:59+00:00 Literacy is a human process of making sense of our world, binding our understanding and relationships to each other and our contexts. Literacy is found in the “relationship between human practices and the production, distribution, exchange, refinement, negotiation and contestation of meaning” (Lankshear & Knobel, 2007, p. 2). Within this relationship building process there is a reciprocity between practice and meaning-making, between context and language, and between reading and writing (Lankshear & Knobel, 2007).
  
            Stordy (2015) examined literacy/ literacies to create a taxonomy that encompassed a multitude of definitions and variations of relevant terms. This taxonomy included both an autonomous perspective outlining psychological cognitive definitions and an ideological perspective relating to socio-cultural approaches that define literacy/literacies. Stordy (2015) differentiated these into those literacies that integrated no-or-few digital technologies (conventional), those that incorporated new technical elements (peripheral), and those literacies that assimilated new technical stuff with new ‘ethos stuff’ (paradigm), as further described in the Taxonomy of Literacies (see Figure 9).
  
            The taxonomy was grounded in literacy research and provided a working definition of literacies that “captures the complementary nature of literacy as a cognitive ability and a social practice” (Stordy, 2015, p. 472). Although Stordy (2015) acknowledged the challenges and limitations of this framework, and recognized that the borders between these concepts are fuzzy and permeable, this taxonomy supported the reframing of literacies in a way that clarified understanding necessary for this research. Missing in this definition of literacies is the entanglement of practices with cultural capital or cultural awareness. I recognize and acknowledge my intentional omission of conceptions of neutrality or power structures inherent within the social and political values often attached to literacy/literacies practices (Frau-Meigs, 2017) as these are beyond the scope of this research and would further complicate the intended focus on the lived experiences of teacher educators' media and digital literacies in their open educational practice.
  
            Literacy terminology was frequently confused or conflated with notions of skills, fluency and competency. For this research, I regarded these as different conceptions (see Figure 10). Fluencies encompassed the ability to speak, read, and write in a given language quickly and easily. Competency was defined by having skills and abilities to do a job (“Competency,” OED Online; “Fluency,” OED Online). These definitions are not the same thing, but can be considered to be subsumed within the broader term of literacy. This clarification is made here since research applied these terms interchangeably. For this research there is a clear spiraling distinction between conceptions of skills, fluencies, competencies and literacies (see Figure 10 below).
   
   
• 1 2023-06-25T19:45:54+00:00 Contributions to MDL 4 conclusion section outlining how this research contributes to MDL plain 2023-10-02T16:31:10+00:00

  Contributions to the study of media and digital literacies

  This dissertation research makes an original contribution to knowledge in the field of media and digital literacies in distinctive ways. The conceptual analysis of media and digital skills, fluencies, competencies and literacies (see Literacies section; see Figure 9; see Figure 10) supports the shifting conceptions of what being literate means in current educational contexts and adds to conceptual clarity. The spirals toward literacy that I illuminate in this research may bring some bearing on the ongoing calls for literacies in multiple and varied fields of endeavour within education and beyond. 
  
            This research contributes to knowledge about media and digital literacy research by examining the lived experiences of how TEds infuse MDL into their teaching practice. Just as McLuhan’s tetrad proposes, and evidenced in the lived experiences of the participants in this research, with every medium and message for media production within their OEPr, there is not only enhancement and retrieval, there is also reversal and obsolescence (McLuhan & McLuhan, 1992). Knowing and recognizing where and how this tetradracic process occurs can add criticality to the endeavours TEds make when teaching with an MDL focus. 
  
            This research confirms what (Buckingham, 2020) suggests - that media in education is shaped by “purposeful, critical use … of communication” (p. 115). This is less about learning technical skills and fluencies, and more about deeper awareness of critical aspects of media – “media language, representation, production, and audience” (Buckingham, 2019, p. 58).