What is digital literacy?

[Terry Freedman]

Here are my views about digital literacy. Challenge me.

Digital literacy should be one of the key parts of any curriculum.

What is digital literacy? Let's express this in behavioural terms.

I believe that it should not be possible for young people to leave school without being knowledgeable enough to be safe online (not just from sexual predators but from financial, racist, and other types of predator too).

It should not be possible for anyone to leave school and then leave laptops in the back of cars, usb sticks containing sensitive data in pub car parks, or sell hard disks containing data on eBay. All of these kinds of actions are undertaken by digitally illiterate people in my opinion.

Digital literacy should not be seen only in defensive terms:

A digitally-literate person will be able to express herself by creating a presentation, a podcast or a video. She will be able to validate data before putting it into a model, and then verify the results of the modelling process in terms of the accuracy and plausibility of the data.

A digitally-literate person will be able to use software applications in elegant and efficient ways, and even perhaps in ways that could not have been foreseen by the program's creators.

There are, or should be, lots of opportunities for pupils to apply and practise their digital literacy skills, right across the curriculum. However, in order to do so, they need a deep, not a superficial, understanding of the processes involved. These are not trivial. Take, for example, the concept of data validation. It's quite sophisticated, and quite necessary. It's summed up in the adage, "garbage in, garbage out", meaning that if you put rotten data into a computer you'll get rotten results. Someone has to be able to ensure that the data going into the computer is not full of errors, or of the wrong type.

It's been found recently , by the government inspection body in England, that teachers tend to teach technology up to the limit of their own knowledge, and that this effectively holds children back. In my experience, where technology is taught by non-specialists, this kind of "dumbing down" goes on as a matter of course. It's not deliberate: teachers don't know what they don't know. It's therefore not a criticism as such. If I taught English, it would almost certainly be superficial, because I'm not an English specialist, even though I've been speaking the language for over half a century. Why should we assume that if we send someone on an interactive whiteboard training course and give them a laptop for producing their worksheets, and they book their vacations online, that they're qualified to teach technology?

In fact, if we are really serious about embedding technology in the curriculum, the answer is not to get rid of it as a subject and farm it out across the curriculum, but to do the precise opposite and increase the amount of time spent teaching it. That would give pupils a much firmer skills base to employ in other subjects. It would also give non-tech teachers more confidence in using technology in their classrooms because of the knowledge that the youngsters pretty much know what they are doing.

Thoughts? Comments? Let me know!

[Richard 9B]

Digital literacy is having your self aware of the dangers on the net. Being intelligent when using any said technology by not misusing it and causing harm to your self and others. Being digitally literate is a skill that must be acquired to benefit yourself and others in the online community.

[Terry Freedman]

I agree, Richard. I think it's interesting that you think that by being digitally literate, a person can benefit other people. How?

[Maha9BIT]

Digital literacy is being able to use technology and being smart and safe at the same time while using it. A person who is digitally literate should know how to use technology and the person should also be able to make presentations, videos etc. Being digitally literate gives you more opportunities in life such as work. Also being digitally literate can help your country and economy.

[Terry Freedman]

Maha, you're spot on that being digitally literate gives you more opportunities in life. I'd go even further and state the corollary: being digitally illliterate puts you at a distinct disadvantage in lfe.

[Romain L]

My opinion on Digital Literacy is to be able to understand and analyze what technology is and using it to your advantage, what this advantage may be is dependent on the person and what they wish to make of this technology. To be fully Digital Literate you must be able to take the smallest piece of technology, analyze it, look at what all it's possible purposes may be, and then find what the best use of this technology is IN YOUR OPINION. I emphasize the fact "in your opinion" because what I believe is that being Digitally Literate is not definite, there is no standard, to be Digitally Literate you must believe that you are and KNOW that you are doing all that is mentioned above. Digital Literacy is just an opinion, that is what I believe.

[Terry Freedman]

Romain, I know what you're saying, but I disagree. We know when a person is not literate in the usual sense don't we? I mean, if they can't read, or they can read but not understand what they're reading, we know they're illiterate. It's not a matter of opinion. In the same way, if you believe you are digitally literate, but I am able to fool you into giving me your online banking details, say, then you're not completely digitally literate, are you, whatever you may think about yourself?

[Maha9BIT]

Digital literacy means being smart while using the internet and also being safe at the same time. People who are digitally literate should be able to make presentations, videos etc. and use technology without any difficulty. People who are digitally literate should also use the internet safely. Being digitally literate could possibly give you many opportunities in the future because most companies would want a person that knows hows to use technology appropriately. Also being digitally literate can help your country and economy in the future, therefore everyone should be digitally literate.

[Terry Freedman]

I agree, Maha. Regarding companies, many adverts these days state that expect job applicants to be comfortable in social networks and working with technology.

[Neil]

Digital literacy is when people use the computers without fault and without any problem. There can never be a person that wont make any mistakes with a computer, so you cant say that digital literacy is when people can use it without any problems. Being computer or digitally literate means that you are very smart when using technology. You also have to be able to use the technology and use it for your advantage.

[Terry Freedman]

I agree about being smart, Neil. Do you realise that your second sentence says the complete opposite of your first sentence?! Perhaps being digitally literate is not so much never making a mistake, but being able to recognise when you have, and then to take appropriate steps to retrieve the situation.

[Aisha]

I think that digital literacy is a great idea for everybody, because people can express themselves through many great different ways that work for all types of people. If you are a person who likes to talk to people and express their feelings to them then they can do a presentations to present in front of audience. If you are completely the opposite and is shy and nervous to talk to people, then they can create a video or podcast about themselves. So digital literacy is a fantastic way to express yourself, whether you are open and outgoing or shy and not self confident. And if your knowledge in technology isn't that great, then this is the perfect way of advancing your ideas and ways in working and using the modernizing and every day changing concept of Internet, and Technology.

[Terry Freedman]

Brilliant, Aisha! You've said exactly the thing I always tell teachers when trying to convince them to use Web 2.0 apps in their classrooms: that it's a way of making sure that all students are included in the lesson.