“The Ministry of Education defines digital literacy as ‘the interest, attitude and ability of individuals to appropriately use digital technology and communication tools to access, manage, integrate, analyze and evaluate information, construct new knowledge, create and communicate with others.’” (Digital Literacy., 2020) But why is this important? How can we as educators successfully implement digital literacy into our classroom and what are the potential consequences we could be facing?

Even prior to COVID-19, digital literacy has been a growing concept in the classroom.  Teachers and students have been slowly turning away from traditional learnings such as standardized tests and familiar text books, and expanding through “learning that embraces digital spaces, content, and resources and emphasizes that the process of learning is as important as an end product.” (Heitin, 2016) Many ask the question as to “why” educators are taking a digital literacy approach with students, and truthfully; it is a means to communicate with our world now, and with where it is headed. “A digitally literate person uses technology to improve his/her ability to gather, organize, analyze and judge the relevance and purpose of digital information” (Digital Literacy., 2020) which can enlighten or inspire students to bring learned digital content to the classroom to form discussions that may have otherwise never happened.

With a strong advocation for digital literacy in the classroom, it has been constant adaptations of educators to arrange their academic delivery in a sense that will successfully implement digital literacy into the curriculum
 so how do we as teachers do this? How are educators from a different era of technology all of a sudden expected to know how to adapt their teachings to infuse digital literacy into academics? One current example of how this has been implemented at the University level is: A professor of ours has encouraged us to create a “Twitter” account creating the ability for us as students “to use information and communication technologies to find, evaluate, create, and communicate information, requiring both cognitive and technical skills.” (American Library Association, 2013) Did you know that “Twitter is actually a form of social media that allows for the connection between political leaders, educators and influencers from around the world?” (American Library Association, 2013) What part about being able to connect, view, “re-tweet,” find articles/resources and current events is not useful and relevant in the classroom? Well
 I suppose you always have that one student who is going to follow irrelevant education content such as BeyoncĂ©’s newest hit or Super bowl dance movies but hey, what can you do?

On a real note; there are pros and cons to inviting digital literacy into the classroom.  Of course, you could choose to focus on the negatives such as trusting students to be responsible using a personal digital device and so on, or you can choose to focus on the positive consequences such as previously stated by the Ministry of Education.  As an educator, “using standards-based techniques, a collaborative teaching environment enriched through creative integration of technology tools [takes learning beyond the traditional norms of the classroom]” (Heitin, 2016) allows our learners to grow and expand their knowledge in a way that is relevant to the times.  One of the pros that really caught my attention when reading from the B.C. Government website was that digital literacy forces us to “use critical thinking skills to plan and conduct research, manage projects, solve problems, and make informed decisions using appropriate digital tools and resources.” (Digital Literacy., 2020.)  The reasons behind this significance is even as adults we are constantly having to analyze the data and sources that are presented to us over social media or over the internet, and many times we have to sift out what is truly relevant and accurate to our research, teachings and materials.  Many of the digital tools presented to us also comes with the responsibility to use content that of which we own wisely; so why would we not want our future adults to learn these same skills when completing their learnings, research and studies throughout their education?

The point that should really be driven home here is that Digital Literacy, although has multiple stated meanings, is really an advocate for creating/ introducing a new, flexible and relevant learning environment for our students and teachers to grow. Digital literacy not only allows for the expansion of student and teacher resources in the classroom, but the ability to provide the tools needed to connect with our world, globalize resources and really make students feel comfortable that learning doesn’t have to have a strict outcome specifically for tests or assignments but more of a focus that digital learning has “the ability to use information and communication technologies to find, evaluate, create, and communicate information, requiring both cognitive and technical skills.” (American Library Association, 2013) So now that you’ve grasped “What is digital literacy” and I’ve scratched just the surface of why you should care; I challenge you to go forth and find out more about what digital literacy can offer you as a student, educated citizen, researcher, parent or teacher. Sources for this blog provided below- check them out!

 

 

Citation Bibliography

  1. Digital Literacy, Libraries, and Public Policy, Information Technology Policy’s Digital Literacy Task Force, American Library Association, January 2013
  2. Digital Literacy. (2020, September 17). Teaching Tools. from https://www2.gov.bc.ca/
  3. Heitin, L. (2020, April 02). What Is Digital Literacy? Retrieved September 23, 2020, from https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2016/11/09/what-is-digital-literacy.html