A cartography of digital literacy: conceptual categories and main issues in the theorization and study of digital literacies

Abstract

This paper presents a cartography of the digital literacy academic field. Such cartography is comprised of two sections: a categorization of the field through literature review and analysis, and an exploration of its main issues through thematic and network analysis. On the one hand, five conceptual categories of digital literacies are found: functional, sociocultural, critical, transformative, and sociomaterial. On the other, main issues are described with 21 recurring themes of digital literacy and a few networks depicting its most salient matters of concern, concluding with an interpretation of these in the composition of 8 encompassing issue spaces: digital literacies conceptions and practices, digital literacy in education, access and digital divide, digital texts and literacy, websites and social networks, digital technologies at the workplace and healthcare, digital technologies users and uses, and information issues. Finally, a few paragraphs are dedicated to the limitations of categorizing and issue mapping.