For example, when my step-grandfather first arrived in South Africa just before WW2, he was perfectly literate in his native tongue and could speak an approximation of English well enough to get by.

He was stopped for speeding and the traffic cop asked for his name. Since it was unusual, the cop asked him to spell it. Oupa was stumped – he had no idea what the English names were for the letters of his name. The cop was hugely scathing of “illiterate foreigners” (sound familiar, anyone?)

The changing face of literacy
More on the changing face of literacy

“…at face value it implies that with the advent of the digital world, literates are now illiterate and vice-versa.”

That's what I *am* implying! I don't (yet) know how far I want to push the issue, though, especially as I'm beginning to think that 'digital literacy' is perhaps the wrong way to describe what I'm getting at. Perhaps 'digital competence' or similar?

Regarding the Tuman quotation, I'm taking his point that notions of 'reading' and 'writing' change along with technology. *Therefore* when someone says they 'read' something (past tense) we can't necessarily assume there's paper involved. That's all.

The second sentence does not support the argument in the first one. Is what Tuman writes true? Does the concept of “reading” change just because we're reading text on a screen instead of text on a page?

“By ‘writing’ we can no longer assume authorship using a pen or pencil. The digital world has turned literacy on it’s head.” The first sentence does not support the statement in the second.

“The digital world has turned literacy on it’s head.” This is perhaps intended to mean that literacy ain't wot it used to be, but at face value it implies that with the advent of the digital world, literates are now illiterate and vice-versa.

For example, when my step-grandfather first arrived in South Africa just before WW2, he was perfectly literate in his native tongue and could speak an approximation of English well enough to get by.

He was stopped for speeding and the traffic cop asked for his name. Since it was unusual, the cop asked him to spell it. Oupa was stumped – he had no idea what the English names were for the letters of his name. The cop was hugely scathing of “illiterate foreigners” (sound familiar, anyone?)

The changing face of literacy
More on the changing face of literacy

“…at face value it implies that with the advent of the digital world, literates are now illiterate and vice-versa.”

That's what I *am* implying! I don't (yet) know how far I want to push the issue, though, especially as I'm beginning to think that 'digital literacy' is perhaps the wrong way to describe what I'm getting at. Perhaps 'digital competence' or similar?

Regarding the Tuman quotation, I'm taking his point that notions of 'reading' and 'writing' change along with technology. *Therefore* when someone says they 'read' something (past tense) we can't necessarily assume there's paper involved. That's all.

The second sentence does not support the argument in the first one. Is what Tuman writes true? Does the concept of “reading” change just because we're reading text on a screen instead of text on a page?

“By ‘writing’ we can no longer assume authorship using a pen or pencil. The digital world has turned literacy on it’s head.” The first sentence does not support the statement in the second.

“The digital world has turned literacy on it’s head.” This is perhaps intended to mean that literacy ain't wot it used to be, but at face value it implies that with the advent of the digital world, literates are now illiterate and vice-versa.