PQI 6029

Digital Skills in Education

SEMESTER 1, SESI 2021/2022

DIGITAL FLUENCY

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PREPARED FOR:
DR. SITI HAJAR BINTI HALILI

PREPARED BY
NARMATHA A/P DORAISAMY

S2005190
ISI KANDUNGAN

1.0 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

2.0 WHAT IS DIGITAL ......................................................................................................................... 3

3.0 WHAT IS DIGITAL FLUENCY ..................................................................................................... 3

4.0 IMPORTANCE OF DIGITAL FLUENCY ...................................................................................... 4

5.0 WHY WE NEED DIGITALLY FLUENT ....................................................................................... 6

6.0 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................................. 6

7.0 REFERENCE.................................................................................................................................... 7
1.0 Introduction

Nowadays the learning environment is more dynamic and more advance than before because of

pandemic Covid-19. That shows, today’s learners are more to digital world that our educational system

was designed. In mean times the education system continues to advance and teachers dedicate ample

time into developing new ways to communicate course material effectively and in a way that benefits

all learners. In Malaysia, many higher education institutions are substituting traditional resources with

educational technologies.

In higher education, how we help students prepare for the future by becoming not only problem

solvers but also problem creators? Did any child in 2000 say they wanted to be a drone operator, a data

scientist or lift driver? These jobs are new in the last 12 or 15 years. These careers exit because created

big, bold problems for us to solve. So how do we help students? Have one way to provide students with

huge skills to become big, bold problem solvers is by offering det of opportunities to digital fluency.

Digital fluency is the ability to leverage technology to create new knowledge, new challenges

and new problems. From this, student able with critical thinking, complex problem solving and social

intelligence to solve new challenges. Digital fluency also requires excellent communication skills, new

media literacy, and cognitive load management to address the issues and concerns we face today and in

the future. In 21st century, information enriches our lives, personally, educationally, socially and

economically. Those without the skills to use digital information will facing some problems and will

bring disadvantaged at home, at school and in workplace.

2.0 What is Digital

In general, digital define as a system that can be used by a computer and other electronic equipment, in

which information is sent and received in electronic form as a series of numbers. Digital also describes

as a system that generate and process binary data. Computers are digital machines because it can process

information that has encoded as binary values. It means, the information that shown as whole numbers

rather than in another form such as a picture, graph, etc. Digital is often used as synonym of computer,

information technology or technology. The common example of digital is digital technology, digital

electronic, digital media, digital content, digital economy, digital data, digital culture, etc.

3.0 What is Digital Fluency

Fluency derives from the word ‘flow’ and fluent refers to being flexible, accurate, efficient and

appropriate (Karen Spencer 2020). In other word, the way we use skills, language and speech flows

naturally and easily. Fluency from digital context involves using technologies to learn, to work and to

play. Fluency includes not only words but also culture, ways of thinking, and a lot of practice.

Digital fluency is about supporting teachers and students to confidently and effectively use

digital technologies to enhance teaching and learning outcomes. Digital fluency is about helping

students to develop skills in critical literacy in digital contexts, and to recognise how language, symbol

and text affect understanding and communications. With digital fluency we can use our digital know,

how to communicate ideas, or create something brand new and it is essential skill for today’s world. In

fact, digital fluency is at the top of the “Power Skills in 2021” list, according to a recent report from

LinkedIn. Employers ranked digital fluency as the number one skill that is “most important to be

successful in the new world of work (John Koehler 2021).

Digital fluency is the ability to discover, evaluate, and use information and technology

effectively. It involves the lifelong pursuit and development of knowledge, skills, attitudes, conceptual

understandings, confidence, and persistence that evolves with training, experience, and experimentation

with digital and information resources. Digital fluency allows people to build on technological
foundations and not just work alongside them, but also to unleash newfound creativity and ways of

working.

It requires skilful and willing adaptation to new and emerging technologies and formats of

information sharing. It also entails a critical examination and consideration of information and digital

ethics and the nature of digital world. Digital fluency is a combination of digital or technical, proficiency

that able to understand, select and use the technologies. In addition, it also digital literacy that cognitive

or intellectual competencies which able to read, create, evaluate, make judgements and apply technical

skills.

"Digital fluency is about understanding how to use digital technologies, deciding when to use

specific digital technologies to achieve a desired outcome, and being able to explain why the

technologies selected will provide their desired outcome" (Tim Bell -University of Canterbury).

4.0 Importance of Digital Fluency

Digital skills at a level of fluency are understood to have both positive and negative impacts on learner

achievement and successful employment. Digital fluency is important for increasing positive

information communication technology (ICT) effects.

The important of digital fluency for developing our skill is learning of technology. Study of

technologies will be keeping up with digital advancement and it will help us to polish and develop our

skills. It makes easier for us to adapt with new features and also easy to knowing the standards. If we

missed several iterations in development, it can be harder to catch up.

As a learner of digital fluency, being able to understand of how digital tools work in one

program or platform. When we use another means have to spend less time to figuring out the mechanics

of how to get something done. This gives us more bandwidth to think more critically or more creatively

about what and why we are doing it.

 Thus, there has been increasing demand for educational systems to integrate digital fluency

technology into curriculum. This technology is an engaging medium for teaching and learning, and

broadly used by students as a means of communication, information retrieval, and entertainment. Digital

fluency is a collection of fluencies including curiosity fluency, communication fluency, creation

fluency, data fluency and innovation fluency.

Curiosity fluency is important because it having questions and students desire to answer those

questions. These things prepare students not to just Google and answer but aware they are capable of

developing their own answers. It will be an opportunity for developing students’ curiosity fluency with

practice and deep thinking throughout their education and make students think differently about the

challenges that all face in the 21st century.

In a similar manner, communication fluency also important because is the ability to

communicate new knowledge across to choose a medium that is most impactful. Proof of this, digital

storytelling is one of communicating medium for learners. Furthermore, students can use virtual reality

or augmented reality to tell a story. Learners need to understand not only how the technology works but

also the impact on the reader and the fact that how a story might be told by this medium.

Another important of digital fluency is creation fluency. Seeing that, is a deep understanding

of how create and leverage knowledge to make something new. This creation can make by virtual and

can include 3D printing and programming. In higher education, we are implementing creation fluency

spaces. This will provide access to tools and expertise to allow learner to be inventors. Additionally, by

including programming in creation fluency, student can learn how to create in an app by their own

creation.

Apart from this, data fluency also important of digital fluency because is the capacity to use

data sets to make informed decisions. Further, this knowledge is about what the technology can do to

process new data. Besides, the important of innovation fluency in digital fluency is realization that

failure is a valuable part of the learning process. To develop and innovate, learners need to take risk,

fail, learn from those failure and the process to bring a new idea.
 In addition, digital fluency is important in developing a marketable skill in 21st century. In

decades past, we said computer skill are important for employer but that’s no longer for resume in 21st

century. Being digital fluent shows employers that we can learn new systems and tools. Maybe it can

be something new or something that no need to developed for another ten years. Nowadays, it’s an

advantage of work from home and remote work that’s being digitally. Digital fluency seems an obvious

benefit to computer programmers or information technology workers and the truth is that is an important

skill for today world. Whether we are a nurse or an HR or an accountant, being able to understand

different technologies is a highly demanded skills for 21st century.

Importantly, digital fluency is a base of opportunity for students to build their skills and

exposure to wide range of technology tools. Not only this but digital fluency important to provide

learners with understanding the different types of technologies and their learning applications (Howell,

2012).

5.0 Why we need digitally fluent

We need digital fluency in our life to compete with huge technologies in this 21st century. By having

digital fluency technologies, we can create and navigate information successfully, able to work

collaboratively, solve critical problems with creatively, pursue our own learning goals and so on.

In higher education of Malaysia, students are supported and offering students the chance to

create and test new ideas, learn from experts, solve problems and create new problems. From this

education, students can manage to solve critical problem by using this digital fluency. In the process of

acquiring these fluencies, learner have an opportunity to explore ethical decision making, critical

thinking, courageous leadership and cultural awareness.

In addition to this, digital fluency will prepare learners not only for the future jobs but also to

be entrepreneurs, activists, researcher and lifelong learners. This education will help students learn the

challenges not just for this century but its for upcoming century too. Digital fluency is related to

responsibility, equity and access in each and everyone life. Along with, by having digital fluency
education in Malaysia can increase the participant of digitised society. If we work with digital fluency,

we able to use technologies that keep ourself safe online and take full advantage of opportunities in our

daily life. Specifically, able to apply for work, manage our finances, manage our responsibilities and

bold facing problems in future.

6.0 Conclusion

Form this critical writing of digital fluency, we understand that its more to computer skills or

information literacy. Digital fluency development must include lifelong, inquiry, exploratory, playful,

collaborative, ethical and media learning. We must need to be digitally fluent to teach and learn

effectively in 21st century’s digital environment. Most of the educator stuck in their old way of teaching

and lack of skills and knowledge based on digital fluency. For now, the educators to be able to

demonstrate this skill they need to be digitally fluent. They need to able to use digital tools to critically

evaluate information and effectively assist and communicate with their 21st century learners. Internet

is the greatest asset, its openness and accessible to everyone. Fluency is an emerging aptitude that

involves knowing when and why we use the digital media that we choose, and using it to communicate

or retrieve information. Digital fluency is most important skill in this century. Its important in order of

adaptability, technological skill, communications, collaboration, change of management, emotional

intelligence, more mindful, time management and creativity. We all must take initiative to learn digital

fluency to make our future bright. The higher digital fluency, the more we can create digital values.
Reference

Vangie Beal. (2020). Digital. Retrieved from

https://www.webopedia.com/definitions/digital/

Jennifer Sparrow. (2018). Digital Fluency: Preparing Students to Create Big, Bold Problems.
Retrieved from
https://er.educause.edu/articles/2018/3/digital-fluency-preparing-students-to-create-big-bold-
problems

Shuana Niessen. (2015). What is Digital Fluency? Retrieved from

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/283266223_What_is_Digital_Fluency

John Koehler. (2021). Why Digital Fluency Is an Essential Skill to Develop in College. Retrieved
from
https://www.grantham.edu/blog/digital-fluency-essential-skill-develop-college/

Katherine Fulgence. (2020). Developing digital fluency among teacher educators: Evidence from
Tanzanian Schools of Education. Retrieved from
https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1268923.pdf

Sway.com. Digital Fluency. Retrieved from

https://sway.com/s/euzzLOihkj0h3tvk/embed

Agnes Chigona. (2018). Digital fluency: necessary competence for teaching and learning in connected
Classrooms. Retrieved from
https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1609&context=ajis

Dr Gerald. (2011). Digital Fluency: skills necessary for learning in the digital age. Retrieved from
https://research.acer.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1006&context=digital_learning

Karen Spencer. (2020). What is digital fluency? Retrieved from

https://www.digitallearningcollab.com/blog/what-is-digital-fluency