As technology continues to advance and grow in many areas of human endeavor. Digital literacy is one of the most in-demand skills today, but understanding how to teach it is another. This is where digital literacy in education comes in.
In this post, I am going to give you detailed information about digital literacy in education, perfect examples, and what you should know and possibly teach others.
Okay, let's dive in by first learning what digital literacy actually is.
What is Digital Literacy?
Digital literacy refers to one's capacity to explore the virtual world through reading, writing, technological skills, and critical thinking. It is the ability to find, evaluate, and communicate information using technological devices such as a laptop, smartphone, e-readers, etc.
This is a fundamental technological skill required by every student irrespective of the type of career they will like to undertake in the future. I recommend this Akanne Academy free Introduction to Computer course for a start.
Basic Digital Literacy
This defined a must digital literacy skill everyone should have today. Anyone who does not have the skills listed in this section should be referred to as a digital illiterate and should immediately go for training.
1. Computer Awareness
2. Digital Communication
3. Social Media Platforms
4. Internet Navigation Skill
5. Use of Digital Devices
6. Internet Data Privacy
7. Fake and Fact-Checking
You can learn more about digital literacy and its applications in different areas.
Principles Of Digital Literacy
1. Comprehension
The first principle of digital literacy is simply comprehension–the ability to extract implicit and explicit ideas from a media.
2. Interdependence
The second principle of digital literacy is interdependence–how one media form connects with another, whether potentially, metaphorically, ideally, or literally. Little media is created with the purpose of isolation, and publishing is easier than ever before. Due to the sheer abundance of media, it is necessary that media forms not simply co-exist, but supplement one another.
3. Social Factors
Sharing is no longer just a method of personal identity or distribution, but rather can create messages of its own. Who shares what to whom through what channels can not only determine the long-term success of the media, but can create organic ecosystems of sourcing, sharing, storing, and ultimately repackaging media.
4. Curation
Speaking of storing, overt storage of favored content through platforms such as Pinterest, pearltrees, pocket, and others is one method of “save to read later.” But more subtly, when a video is collected on a YouTube channel, a poem ends up in a blog post, or an infographic is pinned to Pinterest or stored on a learnist board, that is also a kind of literacy as well–the ability to understand the value of information, and keep it in a way that makes it accessible and useful long-term.
Final Thought
Digital literacy skill is one of the required skills in every job interview today. Teachers and parents have already understood the importance. The problem lies in knowing what to teach and that is what this post has discussed in detail without ambiguity.
Digital literacy in education should be made compulsory for every child to equip them with future challenges.