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In language and literacy studies, the proliferation of new digital tools and forms of symbolic representation has raised serious concerns about access to digital technologies, the ethics of new language and literacy practices, and the educational polices that link the broad digital world to learning contexts within and outside of schools. While contemporary sociocultural, critical, and plurilingual perspectives have added theoretical complexity to the study of digital language and literacy, the realities of online life have outstripped our theories and our practices. The purpose of the proposed conference is to use three key themes related to digital equity — access, ethics, and engagement — as a means of focusing attention among scholars, teachers and community members on current and needed research, pedagogical applications and policy outcomes at the intersection of digital and language and literacy practices in educational contexts.
It is vital to the future of Language and Literacy Education that we re-examine the role of research in developing educational practices and policies that speak to these contemporary concerns as people of all ages take up digital tools in a range of learning environments and intersecting and often contested spaces (virtual/real, local/global). Addressing the interrelated issues of access, ethics and engagement is particularly timely and relevant in the context of contemporary debates related issues of access, state power, democratic participation, privacy/surveillance, intellectual property rights, free speech and corporate control.
This two-day conference will take place May 24th to 25th, 2016 at the University of British Columbia. We will bring together key international and Canadian researchers, graduate students, teachers, and community educators to identify the most important current and future research and policy directions. We will address the need for an interdisciplinary framework for thinking about equity in digital language and literacy practices in learning environments in the contemporary technology and information landscape.
Keynote speakers include Professors Eva Lam of Northwestern University, Alan Luke of the Queensland University of Technology, John Willinsky of Stanford University and Anabel Quan-Haase of University of Western Ontario. Faculty members and graduate students in the Faculties of Education at UBC and Simon Fraser University with expertise and interest in digital literacy will engage in dialogue with the invited scholars, each other, and a range of community literacy partners from the Vancouver School Board, Burnaby House, Downtown Eastside Adult Literacy Roundtable and UBC Learning Exchange to address the key themes outlined above.
