Digital Inequalities and the Development of Critical Digital Literacy

• In Event: Media Literacy in a Time of Crisis

Abstract

Based on a case study of the digital practices of high school students in Vancouver, this paper examines to what extent youth of different social class positions are able to develop a critical lens to recognize disinformation online. It asks: 1. How are students with unequal access to material, cultural and social resources socialized into different digital literacy practices? 2. How do these students incorporate critical strategies in their online reading practices? Drawing on data from interviews and observations of students reading various online texts, this paper demonstrates how students with different digital repertoires can develop contrasting dispositions towards information online. To help students navigate digital spaces, it offers a framework for practitioners to integrate critical digital literacy in classrooms.

Author

• Ron Darvin, The Chinese University of Hong Kong