Adolescents’ Digital Literacies in Flux: Intersections of Voice, Empowerment, and Practices

Abstract

This article features a collaborative autoethnographic examination of three adolescent-researchers’ digital literacies. The participatory design punctuates the role of the adolescent-researchers as they explored their meaning-making practices. Such collaborative research, which included three adolescents and their parents, not only resurfaces parent-inquiry, but also brings the adolescent-researcher voice to the forefront of literacy research. Two research questions guided the investigation: (a) What do adolescent-researchers tell us about their digital and nondigital literacy practices? and (b) In what ways do adolescent-researchers’ retrospective examinations of their own practices reveal their perspectives of these practices and the power (and power struggles) that underlie them? The research team engaged in two rounds of coding, embracing first dramaturgical coding and then versus coding. Results suggested that Perspective/Attitude was the most prevalent attribute in the adolescent-researchers’ discourse. Moreover, versus coding revealed strong relationships between “then versus now.” Overall, the voices of the adolescent-researchers offer ongoing authenticity to discussions of their practices, creating continued opportunities to rethink the implications and applications of digital and nondigital practices in adolescents’ lives.