Evaluating Digital Literature

We have been defining and refining what good quality literature is for hundreds of years. This has been made easy because literature has largely remained constant in form and presentation for this entire time. Digital literature however, is relative new and debate continues just to come up with an agreed upon definition (Rowberry, 2018). The challenge of course, is that digital tools change and adapt so quickly that definitions risk being outdated, such as Hayles (2008) definition that indicates digital literature is designed to be read on a computer screen. Given the ubiquity of hand-held devices, this definition clearly needs revising. Wiesen (2022, para 1) offers a definition that resonates; digital literature are works:

“that are created in a digital medium that takes advantage of the format beyond the simple written word”.

Now that we have a working definition, how do we evaluate digital literacy? Yokota and Teale (2014) discuss this at length in relation to educators making quality digital picture book choices. The criteria they developed were:

1. Is the story appropriately presented in digital format?
2. Does the story take appropriate advantage of features the digital world allows, beyond what is possible in print?
3. Do the interactive features maintain the integrity of the main story?
4. Do any supplementary features align with the story?
5. Do the features make sense in terms of how children learn to read and learn in general.

McGeehan, et. al, 2018) built on these criteria to conduct reviews of digital picture books with a focus on the skills of learning to read. Given that not all digital literature is designed for children who are learning to read, these criteria need to be slightly adapted to be more generalised in nature. I propose the following criteria would be useful in evaluating a digital text, the first being exactly the same as one of Yokota and Teales (2014):

1. Does the work take appropriate advantage of features the digital world allows, beyond what is possible in print?
2. Do the digital features and interactive components enhance the work, or do they distract the reader from engaging with the story?
3. If the work has been designed for a specific audience, does it contain features, language and design that is appropriate?
4. Is the work itself engaging as a piece of literacy?

These four criteria are by no means exhaustive and could also be divided into sub-criteria. However, they provide a beginning reference point for evaluating digital literature.

References

Hayles, K. (2008). Electronic literature: New horizons for the literary. Library Journal, 133(8), 86.

McGeehan, C., Chambers, S., & Nowakowski, J. (2018). Just because it’s digital, doesn’t mean it’s good: Evaluating digital picture books. Journal of Digital Learning in Teacher Education, 34(2), 58-70. https://doi.org/10.1080/21532974.2017.1399488

Rowberry, S. (2018). Continuous, not discrete: The mutual influence of digital and physical literature. Convergence, 26(2), 319-332. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354856518755049

Yokota, J., & Teale, H. (2014). Picture books and the digital world: Educators making informed choices. The Reading Teacher, 67(8), 577-585. https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.1262.

Wiesen, G. (2022). What is electronic literature? Language Humanities. https://www.languagehumanities.org/what-is-electronic-literature.htm