multimedia options to exercise this dialogic, literate nature of learning via routes of intrinsic motivation.


Cloud storage, file and group sharing enable collaborative participation. As outlined above, a swathe of common social purposes and interactions are now enacted online and can engage almost immediate peer comparison and response. For full participation these operations or practices frequently require the expression and substantiation of opinion in response to products and the negotiation of social norms and discourses (research and note management, blogging, online reviews, co-production). They may inspire original creation, synthesis and analysis as well as performance to specifications (podcasting, brainstorming, mind-mapping, job applications). For example, in making a purchase or sale through an online retailer (such as Amazon marketplace, eBay or Gumtree), an individual may research the technical specifications and reviews of a product or service, compare options and prices, create a sales page, set-up payment facilities, analyse buyer or seller ratings, feedback on reliability, discuss a query, raise a payment dispute, and leave a review. If either party's communication is not clear, the individual will not access the information they need, make a sale or purchase, or be able to resolve an issue without passing communication back and forth until a mutually acceptable solution is established.


There is much scope for positive developmental feedback loops which utilise real social, cultural and economic interaction in this dynamic literacies environment.


Teaching, learning and assessment


There has been an explosion in technology in education. Online quizzes and assessments include initial, diagnostic, feedback, formative and summative exams. Learning platforms such as Moodle, Blackboard or Edmodo, which include discussion forums, materials and assignment upload, ratings, feedback and tracking mechanisms, are commonplace in educational institutions; and websites and apps which offer additional resources and activities are a booming market. These Web 2.0 phenomena are developing online teaching and learning communities of practice. An early provider of online learning, the


Khan Academy hyperlink has


been utilised to support individualised learning and shared time for problem-solving activities, where social scaffolding can take place, while setting instruction time outside of contact time. This practice is also known as “flipped classrooms” (Branch, 2012).


According to The Economist briefing (2013), regular, frequent, dedicated online instruction and practice in the mechanics of subject learning (combined with institutional teaching and learning practice) has led to spectacular results with disadvantaged and funding-challenged cohorts. While longitudinal results do not yet exist to demonstrate the long-term benefits of these approaches, literacy studies have shown, '...a strong positive relationship between program participation and changes in literacy and numeracy practices measures' as Reder (2009) pointed out. Sheehan-Holt & Smith (2000) and Reder (1994) have also shown that such engagement can improve proficiency in the long term.


The growth in free Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC), created by prestigious international universities (


Future Learn) has received considerable press over the last year, as has the high drop-out rates which are


attributed at least in part to the lack of the human element in MOOC institutions (Clow, 2013). Cator (2013) expresses succinctly that 'technology can augment and amplify... skills, but […] is no substitute for experienced human decision-making and intervention in complex, dynamic, high-stakes situations' such as successful teaching and learning experiences.


As literacy practitioners, we need to work with and integrate technology further into our teaching and learning practice to develop our learners' literacies and life skills and our own capacity to respond to the demands of the sector.


JISC and the


London Knowledge Lab 19


are involved in significant work in this area.


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