The term 'literacy' in 'computer and information literacy' (or its variations around the world) is often used uncritically. Does it mean 'competence' or does it refer more specifically to a particular kind of ability to read and write using computer interfaces? This paper suggests that the best term to describe the changing patterns of reading, writing and composing with ICT is 'new discourses', because these communicational exchanges are multimodal and operate on a range of media platforms. The paper is a theoretical conceptualization based on contemporary rhetoric or ''the arts of discourse', and on OECD conceptions of what it means to be literate in the 21st century. It also draws on and refers to empirical case studies of recent e-learning projects. The paper is an updated reflection on a chapter on new literacies and discourses in ICT in the 2011 Sage book, 'E-learning Theory and Practice', by Caroline Haythornthwaite and Richard Andrews.