The Comfort of Screens

Are screens the modern mirrors of the soul? The postdigital condition blurs the line between screens, humans, physical contexts, virtual worlds, analogue texts, and time as linear and lockstep. This book presents a unique study into people and their screen lives, giving readers an original perspective on digital literacies and communication in an ever-changing and capaciously connected world. Seventeen individuals who all live on the same crescent, aged from 23 to 84, share their thoughts, habits, and ruminations on screen lives, illuminating eclectic, complex, and dynamic insights about life in a postdigital age. Their stories are brought to life through theory, interview excerpts, song lyrics, and woodcut illustrations. Breaking free from digital literacy as a separate, discrete skill to one that should be taught as it is lived - especially as automation, AI, and algorithms encroach into our everyday lives - this fascinating book pulls readers into the future of digital education.

Jennifer Rowsell is Professor of Digital Literacy at the School of Education, University of Sheffield. She conducts arts-based, digital, and makerspace research with children, young people, and adults in schools and community spaces. She is Lead Editor of Reading Research Quarterly, co-edits the Routledge Expanding Literacies series, and co-convenes the UKLA Everyday Literacies SIG.