Unit IV: Media & Cyber or Digital Literacy

Lesson 2: Digital Literacy

Digital literacy is the ability to use information and communication
technologies to find, evaluate, create, and communicate information, requiring
both cognitive and technical skills.
What is Digital Literacy?
Digital Literacy is the ability and skill to find, evaluate, utilize, share, and
create content using information technologies and the Internet.
It differs from regular literacy that is offline and involves reading, writing,
grammar and syntax.
Digital Literacy may be about a person's ability to read and write online or
using technology such as computers, smartphones and Kindles, but it's also a
lot more than that. With the impact of social media, Digital Literacy skills also
now includes a wide range of skills like uploading content on YouTube to
sharing things on Facebook.
Especially in the connected, online world we live in today, there are some
essential digital literacy skills that we need to achieve our goals and live our
day-to-day lives.
Digital literacy is an ever more important factor in education from a young age.
Digital literacy in education, students must develop specific digital literacy
skills when reading and interacting with online content that may contain
embedded resources such as hyperlinks, audio clips, graphs, or charts that
require students to make choices. Students today are also being asked to go
one step further to create, collaborate, and share digital content and to do so
responsibly. For these reasons teachers need to understand the importance of
digital literacy skills for students and teaching digital literacy in the classroom.
Why is Digital Literacy more than reading online?
Being able to find and read online content independently is certainly an
indicator of digital literacy that students will need to demonstrate. However,
developing and teaching digital literacy is much more than reading online. For
example, reading a book online, in most cases, is not much different from
reading a print book. It simply replaces words on a page with text on a screen.
It may only require that students know how to turn pages online. Essential
digital literacy skills, as you can imagine, go so much further. However,
students who use both cognitive and technical skills to find, evaluate, create,
and communicate information are certainly on their way to becoming digitally
literate consumers.

What are the 4 principles of Digital Literacy?

There are 4 major principles of digital literacy that should be taken into
account when you, your child or your students are learning and developing
your digital literacy skills and using technology. These principles are as follows:
1. Comprehension - Students first must reach a level of comprehension of
digital literacy through lessons, home practice and support group work.
 This will help children grasp basic concepts of safety and digital literacy
that will form the foundation of their learning.
2. Interdependence - The next principle that children will learn is
interdependence. This is the concept that different digital platforms are
dependent on each other. Students will learn that all forms of digital
media are connected to another. This can also help them understand
data protection as, due to the sheer abundance of media, it is necessary
that media forms not simply co-exist, but supplement one another.
3. Social Factors - It is important that children understand that there are
social influences and factors in having an online digital presence.
Sharing information, content, media and stories through a certain digital
platform can determine the success of that media.
4. Curation - The final principle that students will learn about is curating
their own content and digital information. An easy way to do this is
through using platforms that offer the ability to store and save content
for later. Sites with a focus on this such as Pintrest.com allow students
to save content and ideas on their own platforms whilst sharing minimal
personal data.
A more detailed depiction has been completed by the Open University in the
Netherlands. These researchers released an article detailing more information
on other examples of Digital Literacy and the requirements of gaining complete
digital literacy. They believe that there are twelve digital competency areas:
 General knowledge - knowing the basics of digital devices.
 Use in everyday life - being able to use these devices day-to-day.
 Work and creative expression - being able to use digital skills to work
better and also express your creativity.
 Communication and collaboration - using technology to effectively
communicate, share and collaborate with other people in the technical
environment.
 Processing information - using technology to gather information,
research and data.
 Privacy - being able to protect your privacy online effectively.
 Legal and ethical practices - being able to operate and use digital
platforms in a socially responsible way, including understanding the
laws around using the Internet and other digital devices.
 Balanced attitude - having the right open-minded mindset about
technology.
 Awareness - of ICT's role in society and the impact it has.
 Always learning - familiarising and getting comfortable with new
technologies all the time.
 Informed decisions on appropriate digital technologies - being aware
of most relevant and common technologies.
  Seamless use - confidently and creatively using technology to increase
your effectiveness and efficiency.
Why are Digital Literacy skills important?
Digital Literacy skills are more important than ever in the world today.
Children now grow up with technology all around them, to the extent that
topics like coding and social media are now part of our national curriculums.
School leaders and teachers are focusing more and more on the benefits of
digital literacy skills in schools because today’s students are looking to the
internet and social media as a key source of information. This makes the ability
to use digital platforms safely, securely and efficiently even more important to
their education and future lives.
Bringing digital literacy into the classroom is key to nurture students who are
able to understand the basics of internet safety including creating strong
passwords, understanding and using privacy settings, and knowing what to
share or not on social media. They can also be supported in understanding the
dangers of cyberbullying and seeking help. Warschauer and Matuchniak are
two theorists who have done a lot of research into Digital Literacy and what
they call '21st Century Skills'. They identified certain new skills that are now
needed in order for a person to comfortably live in the 21st Century.
Here are some of the key benefits to digital literacy that demonstrate how
important these skills are:
Efficient working: Children are often required to complete longer written
assignments and curate research projects. Digital literacy and proficiency in
using technology can help students complete this work more accurately and
faster. This would allow them to progress through the curriculum easier and
smoother, taking full advantage of the educational support that technology
offers.
Safety: Learning about digital literacy in a controlled and safe environment
such as the classroom can prepare children to explore the online world safely
and keep their personal information safe from strangers online. This safe and
secure environment can also teach children about the dangers of cyberbullying
and online scams to reduce the risk of your student’s falling victim to these
behaviors.
Self-awareness: With every post to Instagram, every Tweet and every blog post,
kids are leaving behind a digital footprint. By learning digital literacy skills,
children will learn how they can leave good footprints and not ones they will
regret later. The focus here is teaching them how to use social media and other
online platforms to create a positive online reputation.
Emotional health: Gaining digital literacy skills can give children another
platform to express their thoughts and feelings safely to benefit their well-
being. For example, through text, email or even a blog (with care to use the
best privacy settings)
Examples of Digital Literacy skills
 Using your phone to check emails.
 Using an online search engine to find the answer to a question.
 Using online search to complete a research project
 Creating an online profile on a social media platform
Children will learn digital literacy skills by using technology and this will help
them to interact in this digital world around them. We also have a lot of
resources on digital literacy that will help students with this exploration in a
safe and supported way. This Digital literacy journey resource pack contains
an entire week's worth of lessons to help children explore and understand
different changes in digital technologies that are developing every day.
Benefits to using technology to support learning
It is amazing how fast the use of technology in the classroom is advancing to
support student learning. There are many benefits to getting digital with your
learning at home or in the classroom. Here are some of the main benefits of
using technology in the classroom.
1. Encourages individual learning.
Technology provides great opportunities for making learning more effective for
everyone with different needs. For example,students can learn at their own
speed, review difficult concepts or skip ahead if they need to.
2. Better memory and knowledge retention.
Students who are engaged and interested in things they are studying, often
have a better knowledge retention. As mentioned before, technology can help to
encourage active participation in the classroom which also is a very important
factor for increased knowledge retention.
3. Flexible teaching strategies.
Virtual lesson plans, grading software and online assessments can help
teachers save a lot time. This valuable time can be used for working with
students who are struggling. What is more, having virtual learning
environments in schools enhances collaboration and knowledge sharing
between teachers.
4 Encourage communication and teamwork.
Students can practice collaboration skills by getting involved in different online
activities. For instance, working on different projects by collaborating with
others on forums or by sharing documents on their virtual learning
environments. Technology can encourage collaboration with students in the
same classroom, same school and even with other classrooms around the
world.
How to begin talking about digital literacy in the classroom
In today’s digital world, chances are as a teacher or parent you’ve been
teaching your students digital literacy basics and enhancing their skills all
along, perhaps without even realizing it. When beginning conversations about
digital literacy, internet and digital safety is a key topic that needs to be central
to the conversation. While the digital world has immense value, our online
world also comes with inherent risks, particularly for children and students.
Digital platforms make children very vulnerable to criminals and cyber bullies
(especially during times of lockdown and social isolation). These risks and
situations can cause students to compare themselves to others on social
media, inciting feelings of inadequacy, detachment, isolation, and even the
development of mental health issues. Students, through these online
platforms, can also be victim to misinformation and manipulation from
strangers online that will take advantage of their age and vulnerability online.
Therefore, when opening discussions around digital literacy students need to
understand what it means to behave well online and how to act in online
environments.