In many classrooms, students demonstrate an enviable tech savviness as they easily navigate new applications with grace and little fear. Need your computer hooked up to the projector? There is a good chance at least one student can do it for you. Need help getting the WiFi booster to work properly? Ask a student.
There is no question that today’s schools are filled with digitally savvy children who have grown up with technology and the internet of things. But a discrepancy exists when considering students’ digital fluency compared with their digital literacy, and both sets of skills are required in their future.
Recently, EdSurge podcast host Carl Hooker discussed the importance of advancing digital literacy with field experts Rebecca Young, Natasha Adebiyi and Jon Gregori. The webinar, sponsored by Dell, offers advice and reflection on advancing students’ digital literacy skills.
Defining digital literacy
Digital literacy is the ability to navigate, consume, create and communicate online information appropriately in the digital world. Such skills can include media literacy, visual literacy and technology fluency, depending on the class age and context. Young, a learning specialist and instructional technology coach at Plainfield School District in Illinois, describes digital literacy as “having all the skills that are necessary not only to be safe but productive and successful in the digital world we live in.” She continues by suggesting students need to learn how to read a digital room and engage effectively.
Gregori, an innovative learning specialist at Henrico County Public Schools in Virginia, notes that digital literacy is a “modern life skill” that goes beyond digital competencies to include strength in character and citizenship. More than previous generations, students today must learn to think critically and collaborate responsibly as they consume and produce online media.
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