Digital Literacy: A Crucial Skill to Include in the Curriculum

The Internet has taken long strides and caught up with our everyday lives. From the places we go to the food we eat, the clothes we wear to the education we receive – almost everything has become synonymous with the usage of Internet.

This new age tool has drawn immense attraction across all age groups – be it 8 or 80 – the convenience of the Internet has conquered us all.

With the astounding wealth of knowledge and resources that the Internet holds, it doesn’t take much to let your ethics slip if you aren’t well-informed about how to behave online. The outcomes to such careless activities could be quite hazardous. The magnitude of the outcome aggravates when children encounter such situations. This has led to the increasing importance of digital literacy.

 What is Digital Literacy?

Technology has shifted the way kids learn nowadays. It isn’t uncommon to find a 7-year-old glued to the iPad, switching between apps, teaching himself the art of mental calculation and sketching, at one go. Given the sky-high standard of learning, such skills are considered to be a staple. But the question is, are they aware of how to make the right use of these digital tools?

Digital literacy is this knowledge and awareness that helps us engage, in more meaningful and accurate ways, with digital technology. It is the ability to apply digital tools effectively in day-to-day tasks.

Just like reading and writing, the importance of digital literacy has climbed the ladder of ‘Basic Necessities’ and now features among the mainstream requirements of every child. To be digitally literate is to gain access to a global pool of opportunities and knowledge.

Importance of Digital Literacy

 Children nowadays, are born digital natives. In fact, digital literacy already has one foot through the door in the areas of children’s interests. This is quite evident in the fact that one in three children has his very own tablet computer! With the numbers rising steeply, tech-addiction is just a step away from becoming labeled as a clinical problem.

Speculations apart, technology has sidelined old school media and taken up the glorious limelight in education. This has been largely made possible by children’s inclination to digital media, which has acted as the predominant driver of engagement.

With the immense potential that the digital media holds, the importance of making children digitally literate has surfaced in huge amounts. Here’s a look at a few:

• Digital literacy helps in the fundamental understanding of computers and other tech tools. It is not restricted to the basics of operating a computer, but also understanding the mechanics behind how it works.
• Digital literacy helps in breaking the boundaries that traditional learning poses. It has the potential to revolutionize learning. Students can study at their own pace, expand their classroom to the global one and reach across to an evolving learning community beyond boundaries.

Here’s a look at why digital literacy matters.

• Jobs have already been witness to increased automation and the future forecast on that front seems quite sunny. And digital literacy is the only torch lighting the way through employability. According to evidence, as many as 81% of employers consider knowledge of digital skills to be an important factor for recruiting candidates.
• Digital literacy skills can be translated from the world of technology to the real world to meet the constantly growing learning standards of this generation. It helps students to steer clear of old values like rote memorization and pay more attention to the acquisition of knowledge and the ability to apply it appropriately.
• Apart from bridging the digital divide, digital literacy is instrumental in helping children become aware of the threats that technology pose.

 Effective independent learning is the primary outcome of digital literacy. Its importance has weaved its way into the curriculum and has placed it at par with the likes of Math and English. Digital literacy has scored as one of the core subjects that every child needs to be educated in. In fact, it is at the very heart of modern education.

Designing a Digital Literacy Curriculum

 Integrating digital literacy in the curriculum cannot happen in a day. For the shift in learning to take root effectively, it is essential that teachers develop a familiarity with ICT (Information and Communications Technology). Once that is established, the rest of the task will be easier.

Introducing digital media in small doses in a way that complements the present curriculum is the best way to make this a success. Start with the simple things.

1. Decoding Digital Data

 While learning new concepts, you can encourage your students to look up the new terms that they come across, on the Internet. Teach them how Google works. Help them deconstruct the search results and teach them how to identify the results to trust among the ones that show up. You can show them how to assess the relevance of the context of the results.

Here‘s one example.

Encourage them to consider the following questions before trusting an online content:

• Are the facts mentioned valid or believable?
• Is the writing skill good?
• What was the purpose of the content creator?
• How is a particular result better than the others? What are the parameters?
• Who is the target audience of the content?

When they examine the facts themselves, they will get a first-hand, guided experience of the online media.

1. Encourage Them to Create and Publish Text

 To educate your students about digital media, you need to get a little creative. Interaction forms a large part of digital media. What can be a better way to introduce digital literacy to your class other than by helping them be a part of it?

The first step – make the assignments digital.

The Internet is teeming with platforms that allow users to publish and edit content. For example, Wikipedia is a free encyclopedia that can be turned into meaningful assignments to meet learning objectives. You can encourage your students to edit its content after careful analysis and research. It is a wonderful teaching tool and an even more effective one for incorporating digital literacy in the classroom.

Apart from that, scores of blogging platforms can be highly engaging and interactive as well. You can encourage your students to choose a relevant platform, read the relevant conditions for publishing text and create a paper accordingly. Once it gets published and the comments stream in, you can teach them how to tackle those efficiently.

Additionally, social media has quickly grown to spread its wings into the academic realm. Why not leverage that as well to teach your students something new?

1. Guide Students to Become Responsible Digital Citizens

 The Internet with its array of attractions isn’t without its fair share of disadvantages. Cyber threats, viruses, hackers and so on pollute the digital world. So, you need to teach your students how to maintain a safe distance from these while making the most of the opportunities that the digital world has to offer.

Apart from these, there are issues concerning plagiarism, online etiquette, rules to find valuable resources, ways to give constructive feedback and so on. You need to educate your students about how to deal with those on a positive note.

Urging your students to practise digital citizenship in a controlled setting can help them gain more fruitful experience with the digital media. These ideas will address most of the elements of digital literacy in the classroom and would help your students become more informed individuals.

Would you like to add any other techniques that can be employed to promote digital literacy in the classroom? Share those with us in the comments section below. We would love to hear from you.