TOPIC 4:

DIGITAL
LITERACY
OUMH1603 - LEARNING SKILLS FOR 21ST
CENTURY

By : Ts. Dr. Thevisva Segar Rajamanickam

 • Digital literacy is the ability to identify and use technology
confidently, creatively and critically to meet the demands and
challenges of life, learning and work in a digital society.
• Being digitally literate implies having skills and capabilities
across a number of domains, including the ability to
WHAT IS  use technology;

DIGITAL  find, use and critically evaluate information;

 organize data and media sources;
LITERACY?  communicate, collaborate and participate in online
environments;
 manage your online identity as well as your personal
security and privacy; and
 create online content, not just consume it.
 WHAT IS ICT LITERACY?
• ICT literacy is using digital technology, communications tools, and/or networks to access, manage,
integrate, evaluate, and create information in order to function in a knowledge society.
• This definition is also important in that it lists five critical components of ICT literacy.
• The five components represent a set of skills and knowledge presented in a sequence that suggests
increasing cognitive complexity. After discussions regarding the kinds of tasks represented by each
component, the panel agreed on the following definitions: 
o Access - knowing about and knowing how to collect and/or retrieve information. 
o Manage - applying an existing organizational or classification scheme. 
o Integrate - interpreting and representing information. It involves summarizing, comparing and
contrasting. 
o Evaluate - making judgments about the quality, relevance, usefulness, or efficiency of
information. 
o Create - generating information by adapting, applying, designing, inventing, or authoring
information.
The components of ICT literacy are the foundational tasks that will lead to ICT
literacy. 

These THREE proficiencies are explained below.

a) Cognitive Proficiency - the foundational skills required at school, at home, and at work.
Problem solving and numeracy are examples of cognitive proficiency. As a student
enrolled in higher education, you need to have a good grasp of knowledge in your field
of study which is also considered as cognitive proficiency.
B) Technical Proficiency - the foundational element of digital literacy.
It encompasses basic knowledge of hardware, networks, applications
software, and other components of computing. As a student, you need to have
at least the following computer proficiencies.

C) ICT Proficiency -  the application and integration of technical and cognitive

skills will lead to ICT proficiencies. ICT proficiencies can be considered
as enablers that allow individuals to maximise the capabilities of technology.
INFORMATION LITERACY
• Information is the result of data that has been given a
meaning.
• According to Li (2014):
a) Information has a broad domain: the scope of
information is very broad. Information can have different
meanings in different scopes; and
b) Information exists in many different forms: information
can be represented as codes, colours, events, facts,
graphs, images, letters, lights, numbers, pictures, signs,
signals, sounds, statistics, tables, texts, waves, and so
on.
• Information can be seen from different perspectives, such as:
a) Information as useful data;
b) Information as subjective knowledge;
c) Information as a resource; and
d) Information as a commodity.
WHY INFORMATION LITERACY IS IMPORTANT FOR YOU AS A LEARNER?
• One of the first challenges facing students at the university is where to find the articles or
books they need. 
• The ability to do an article or book search is an information literacy skill essential to
surviving in academic activities. 
• There are a number of other questions that need addressing here:
a) Which tools should you use to discover whether the library has the articles or books that
you need?
b) Do you know the methods that you can use to search for the articles?
c) What would be your options if the library does not have the articles or books that you are
looking for?
• If you have no clue or answers for the above questions, then you really have to improve
your information literacy level. 
• Information Literacy is a type of fluency that you need to master not only by the student
but everyone.
FIVE MAIN ACTION COMPONENTS OF INFORMATION LITERACY

identify

acknowledg
Find
e

apply evaluate
 FIVE MAIN ACTION COMPONENTS OF INFORMATION LITERACY
• Information literacy forms the basis for lifelong learning. 
• It enables learners to master content, become more self-directed, and takes greater control over
their own learning. 
• Information literacy is also related to information technology skills.
• Information technology skills enable an individual to use computers, applications software,
databases, and other technologies to achieve a wide variety of academic, work-related, and
personal goals. 
• It is interesting to note that information literate individuals tend to develop some technological
skills. 
• This is because information literacy activities such as understanding, finding, evaluating, and
using information may be accomplished effectively through information technology tools or
applications. 
• Information literacy initiates, sustains, and extends lifelong learning through abilities which may
use technologies but are ultimately independent of them.
 INFORMATION LITERACY FRAMEWORK

• In this 21st century, your level of information literacy will need to increase.
• Whether at work, in university, or at home, there is an ever growing demand for you to do
the following:
a) Determine the extent of information needed;
b) Evaluate critically the information and its sources;
c) Access the needed information efficiently and effectively;
d) Incorporate the selected type of information in your knowledge base;
e) Use the information effectively in order to accomplish a specific task or purpose; and
f) Use information ethically and legally; and at the same time understand
the economic, legal, and social issues surrounding the use and access of information.
 INFORMATION LITERACY FRAMEWORK (CONT.)
• In higher education, information literacy is not just about learning how to search for an
information using search engine or search information in a library database.
• In fact, the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education, created by the
Association of College and Research Libraries in 2015, listed SIX frames that act as gateway
to understanding, thinking about and practicing information literacy by students like you. 
a) Authority is constructed and contextual;
b) Information creation as a process;
c)  Information has value;
d) Research as inquiry;
e) Scholarship as conversation; and
f) Searching as strategic exploration.
TECHNOLOGY-ENHANCED LEARNING
• The 21st century education is all
about application of technology in
teaching and Learning.
• Nowadays, many lessons are
delivered in digital format including
the online learning via
Web/Internet. 
• You, as a learner at Open
University Malaysia that uses
technology heavily in teaching and
learning, need to have confidence
and motivation in order to engage
in online learning or online
classroom.
21ST CENTURY
EDUCATION

https://youtu.be/nA1Aqp0sPQo
 • TEL is often used as a synonym for e-learning or
digital learning.
• When TEL is applied in web environment, then
TECHNOLOGY- it becomes online learning. 
ENHANCED • Technology enhanced learning can provide
learning opportunities that are unconstrained
LEARNING by time or location, support wider and more
relevant learning experiences and provide
opportunities for students to take greater
control of their own learning.
 TECHNOLOGY-ENHANCED LEARNING (CONT.)
Nowadays, TEL is delivered primarily as online learning. The use of technology can
add value to your learning by enabling:
a) Connectivity to information and to others;
b) Access to learning resources anytime, anywhere and anyhow;
c) Greater choice over the time, place and pace of study;
d) Alternative modes of study: distance, blended work-based, partially or wholly
campus-based;
e) Knowledge-sharing and co-authoring across multiple locations;
f) Opportunities for reflection and planning in personal learning spaces;
g) More active learning by means of interactive technologies and
multimedia resources;
h) Participation in communities of knowledge, inquiry and learning; and
i) Development of skills for living and working in a digital age.
• Figure  shows how some of the ever
growing learning technologies that
can support the various aspects of
learning, teaching and assessment
via TEL. 
• As a student at Open University
Malaysia (OUM), you will soon start
using or applying some of these
tools.
 TECHNOLOGY-ENHANCED LEARNING (CONT.)
You must strive to become an effective digitally capable learner or e-learner at OUM. This capability
will enable you to the do the following at ease:
a) Participate in digital learning such as weekly e-lessons;
b) Use digital learning resources, such as video lectures and online quiz;
c) Use digital media to take part in learning conversations with tutors and your coursemates;
d) Use digital tools to organise, plan and reflect on learning;
e) Record learning events/outcomes and use them for self-analysis, reflection and showcasing of
achievement through e-portfolio or learning blog;
f) Use digital tools to take notes, review and revise learning;
g) Undertake self-assessment;
h) Submit your assignment though electronic submission via myINSPIRE LMS;
i) Participate in other forms of digital assessment; receive and respond to such as live forum;
j) Manage learning time and tasks; manage attention, engagement and motivation to learn in digital
settings;
k) Work collaboratively with other learners by using digital technologies where appropriate; and
l) Share digital know-how and expertise with others.
 TOOLS USED IN TEL ENVIRONMENT IN THE
CONTEXT OF OUM
Learning Management System (LMS)
• A learning management system (LMS) is an application software for the administration,
documentation, tracking, reporting and delivery of educational courses. 
• LMS can be considered as a container that holds all teaching and learning tools together. 
• At OUM, myINSPIRE LMS  which is an enhanced version of the open source Moodle LMS is used to
support your digital learning experience.
THE BENEFITS PROVIDED BY
MYINSPIRE LMS

course materials and

references
Self-assessment

Benefits of myINSPIRE

Communicatio
n and
collaborative
learning

Sharing
resources and
information
 TOOLS USED IN TEL ENVIRONMENT IN THE
CONTEXT OF OUM
Forum
• Forum is an online discussion board where people can hold
conversations in the form of posted messages. 
• A discussion forum is hierarchical or tree-like is structure: a
forum can contain a number of subforums, each of which
may have several topics. 
• Within a forum's topic, each new discussion created or
started is called a thread, and can be replied to by many
people. 
• Forum is in the asynchronous format (not real time),
meaning it enables users to review and participate in
discussions with others at times convenient to them. 
• OUM's myINSPIRE has its own forum system that you can
use to interact with your coursemates and online tutor.
TOOLS USED IN TEL ENVIRONMENT IN
THE CONTEXT OF OUM (CONT.)
e-book
• An electronic book (or e-book or eBook) is a book publication made
available in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable
on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices such
as iPad or tablets. 
• At OUM, e-book is provided in the form of e-module through portable
document format (pdf ) and accessible from various devices. 
• The e-module can be viewed online or downloaded into your device
for offline viewing and printing.
TOOLS USED IN TEL
ENVIRONMENT IN
THE CONTEXT OF
OUM (CONT.)
Video Lectures
• A video lecture is a
recorded educational
lecture posted in the
course page
of myINSPIRE. 
• Students may view the
lecture online at a time
which is convenient for
them.
TOOLS USED IN TEL ENVIRONMENT
IN THE CONTEXT OF OUM (CONT.)
Mobile learning
• The terms M-Learning and Mobile Learning are usually used
to refer to teaching and learning with mobile technologies. 
• Lately it has gained prominence in the teaching and learning
at the higher education.
• The "mobile" in "mobile learning" has two meanings:
a) Learner mobility: learners are able to engage in
educational activities without the constraints of having
to do so in a tightly delimited physical location. It
requires nothing more than the motivation to do so
wherever the opportunity arises  from books,
electronic resources, places and people; and
b) Mobile devices: portable, lightweight devices that are
sometimes small enough to fit in a pocket or in the
palm of one's hand. Typical examples are mobile
phones, smartphones (like the iPhone), palmtops, and
handheld computers like the iPad or PDAs (Personal
Digital Assistants).
 The Following Factors Have Contributed To
The Effectiveness Of Mobile Learning (cont.)

Convenience  Duration Focus Microlearning Contents

all the required learning is short and concise courses courses are designed based brief focused learning can contents are engaging and
at your fingertips that allows for broader on learning outcomes or be created easily interactive
participation course objectives
TOOLS USED IN TEL ENVIRONMENT IN THE CONTEXT OF
OUM (CONT.)
Mobile Learning via myINSPIRE
• Mobile learning via myINSPIRE
is supported through mobile
website using the Internet
browser in your mobile phone
(such as Chrome, Mozilla) as
shown in figure.
• Alternatively, you may
download myINSPIREÊs mobile
app (powered by Moodle) from
Play Store (Android phones) or
App Store (iPhones) and install
it in your phone. 
• The link to install this app is
provided in the myINSPIRE main
page.
 MEDIA LITERACY
• Media Literacy is a 21st century approach to education. 
• It provides a framework to access, analyse, evaluate, create and
participate with messages in a variety of forms  from print to
video to the Internet. 
• The influence of media should not be underestimated. We
spend hours surfing the Internet, watching videos, listening to
the radio, and attending movies, and the media's effect
becomes clear.
• Tthe goal of media literacy is to increase awareness of many
forms of media messages that we encounter in life. 
• It should help us recognise how the media filter our perceptions
and beliefs, shape the popular culture and influence personal
choices. 
• We need to provide critical thinking skills and creative problem
solving to become reasonable users and information producers.
MEDIA LITERACY (CONT.)

Media literacy helps in:

a) Promoting critical thinking;
b) Understanding how media content affects culture and society;
c) Identifying communication strategies;
d) Recognition of the purpose of the creator of the media
content;
e) Recognition of misinformation and manipulation; and
f) Creating and sharing your own media content.
MEDIA LITERACY (CONT.)

There are FOUR important skills that help the viewer or reader to
understand the meaning of media literacy:
a) Accessing media;
b) Analyzing content;
c) Being able to evaluate messages; and
d) Being able to create media for self-expression and
communication.
 Media For Learning and In Classroom
• We learn by doing. 
• Movies, radio, Internet, photography, print, and all the other communication forms
are available to us not only as sources of information and pleasure, but as tools
that can be used to produce creative and innovative educational solutions. 
• You may use your handphone to record your own presentation and upload it into
myINSPIRE LMS for the online tutor to view and eventually for grading.
• Classroom (be it physical or online) is a place where active production in all media
is a natural way to learn. 
• It is a place where learners solve problems, not only through reading and writing,
but also through producing media contents through digital means. 
THANK YOU!
 REFERENCES

https://developingemployability.edu.au/what-is-digital-literacy/
https://www.ets.org/Media/Research/pdf/ICTREPORT.pdf
https://tel4dt.wordpress.com/2011/11/02/what-is-tel/