I am researching student understandings of what it means to be digitally literate and trying to see if they can move beyond being able to use different technologies and include other elements. The data analysis I have done far has thrown up a few different 'terms' and I'm wondering now if using 'digital literacy' is even helpful.
Hi! For your main question about ”digital capability”, I think this term or expression can be in line with, and inspired by Amartya Sen’s and Marta Nussbaum’s slightly differing versions of the ”capability approach” as a way to reason about human rights, economy and other matters. Begin here https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capability_approach
I see the term ”digital literacy” as one of the many widening expressions to the original understanding of literacy as ”to be able to read and write”, to a use of ”literacy” as a term for competence to be able to understand and act in a specific field; ”visual literacy” is another example. I find it useful; it is more of a metaphor though. Here are some other examples of creative use of ”literacy” https://www.skyward.com/discover/blog/skyward-blogs/skyward-executive-blog/march-2017/the-top-10-literacies-in-education-today.
See also the discussion in this RG question https://www.researchgate.net/post/What_are_the_information_literacy_conceptual_frameworks_and_standards_that_you_know
Hello
Digital literacy involves more than the mere ability to use software or operate a digital device; it includes a large variety of complex cognitive, motor, sociological, and emotional skills, which users need in order to function effectively in digital environments. The tasks required in this context include, for example, “reading” instructions from graphical displays in user interfaces; utilizing digital reproduction to create new, meaningful materials from existing ones; constructing knowledge from a nonlinear, hypertextual navigation; evaluating the quality and validity of information; and have a mature and realistic understanding of the “rules” that prevail in the cyberspace. This newly emerging concept of “digital literacy” may be utilized as a measure of the quality of learners’ work in digital environments, and provide scholars and developers with a more effective means of communication in designing better user-oriented environments. The present paper proposes a holistic, refined conceptual framework for digital literacy, which includes photo-visual literacy; reproduction literacy; branching literacy; information literacy; and socio-emotional literacy.
Citation
Eshet, Y. (2004). Digital Literacy: A Conceptual Framework for Survival Skills in the Digital era. Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia, 13(1), 93-106. Norfolk, VA: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). Retrieved March 25, 2019 from https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/4793/.
You should also take a look at digital competencies, the EU Digcomp framework (European commission 2013).
Thank you to @ Orna Farrell, Ingrid Del Valle García Carreño and Anders Norberg for your recommendations, the article by Eshet and the document from the EU were most helpful in my undergraduate dissertation and I have referred to them in this most recent piece of work. I think the use of the word 'capabilities' is probably a better and clearer way of describing the many different facets of being digitally literate. I am beginning to wonder though if it even matters that students do not know what it means as long as they are 'doing' all these things? Anyone have a view on this?
- Badges
- Science topic