hi

two books on digital literacy , hope they help.

http://www.ncsu.edu/meridian/jul99/downloads/diglit.pdf

https://books.google.co.th/books?hl=en&lr=&id=doVQq67wWSwC&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=digital+lietracy&ots=h3U39u6D8q&sig=ItdzYO5RS32_R1lCkDIk2l28Tw8&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=digital%20lietracy&f=false

https://books.google.co.th/books?hl=en&lr=&id=TuJQAwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=digital+lietracy&ots=bDeQIS9dE6&sig=EJJ3aApOnfc372R4FiOw7acp_hQ&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=digital%20lietracy&f=false

Well - the answer to this question is complex. But, I think that new tools (i.e., technologies) have afforded new ways to interact with the world, communicate and make meaning. In this sense, working with these tools to produce outputs of some kind becomes a literacy every bit as much as using a writing implement to produce some form of written communication. Because these tools are not static, but continually changing and the subject of innovation however, it is not really the mastery of the tools themselves that is the critical literacy. Writing is a literacy that transfers to pen, pencil. chalk - a host of mechanical implements. Digital literacy is not quite the same as METHOD of interaction differs from tool to tool as does the output. So digital literacy is more about the ability to adapt to shifting tools in the environment and openness to change in how we interact with the world through those tools. This kind of literacy is not really something that can be "taught" but is more something that can only be acquired through authentic experience with multiple tools, constantly changing over time. So should digital literacy be taught? No, it needs to be embraced and integrated as a part of the world in which we exist - leveraged as new tools come along and acknowledged as a skill that successful citizens need to have to continue to contribute and learn in our constantly changing world.

... the cognitive and technical abilities that constitute digital literacy... four popular models ... competences within the framework of digital literacy

JISC developed seven significant thematic areas of digital literacy:

Be safe in a digital environment.

Find, evaluate and apply information.

Use digital tools – hardware/software.

Understand social responsibility.

Showcase achievement.

Awareness of digital identity.

Collaborate – education, community & work life 

Definition emerged from an analysis of the extant research, interpreted for the Leicester context (Ala-Mutka 2011; Bélisle 2006; Educational Testing Service 2002; Ferrari 2012; Fisher et al. 2012; JISC 2012a, 2012b; Martin 2002; NAACE 2012; UNESCO2008). The purpose of the working definition was both to define the initial boundaries of the Project, and to provide some conceptual clarity: 'Digital Literacy refers to the skills, attitudes and knowledge required by educators to support learning in a digitally-rich world. To be digitally literate, educators must be able to utilise technology to enhance and transform classroom practices, and to enrich their own professional development and identity. The digitally literate educator will be able to think critically about why, how and when technology supplements learning and teaching."

based on the

conceptual frameworks developed by Bawden (2008), Martin & Grudziecki (2006) and Van Deursen

(2010), upon which Ala-Mutka (2011) proposes a Digital Skill Model based on the knowledge structure, skills and attitudes set out in the European Qualifications Framework. The Ala-Mutka model contains a matrix that includes the following elements: (1) Instrumental skills and knowledge. Divided into two blocks: operational and media related; (2) Advanced skills and knowledge. These define the main aspects that have to be learnt to apply to digital settings, mostly in networked environments, and are grouped as follows: Communication and Collaboration, Information Management, Learning and Problem-solving,

and Significant Participation. (3) Attitudes for the application of these skills and knowledge. Because of their transversal nature, subjecting them to any sort of regulation is complicated (Dominguez, D., & Miravalles, P. T. (2014)

Dominguez, D., & Miravalles, P. T. (2014). Learning Competences in Open Mobile Environments: A Comparative Analysis Between Formal and Non-Formal Spaces. Open Praxis, 6(3), 235-244..

DigiLit Leicester framework: Finding, Evaluating and Organising;

Creating and Sharing; Communication, Collaboration and Participation; and

E-Safety and Online Identity/ Hall, R., Atkins, L., & Fraser, J. (2014). Defining a self-evaluation digital literacy framework for secondary educators: the DigiLit Leicester project. Research in Learning Technology, 22.

Burton, L. J., Summers, J., Lawrence, J., Noble, K., & Gibbings, P. (2015). Digital Literacy in Higher Education: The Rhetoric and the Reality. Myths in Education, Learning and Teaching: Policies, Practices and Principles, 151.

Belshaw, D (2011) What is ‘Digital Literacy’? [online] Available at: neverendingthesis.com/dougbelshaw-

edd-thesis-final.pdf

Department for Education (2013) The National Curriculum in England: Framework Document. [online] Available at: www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/

file/239033/PRIMARY_national_curriculum_-_Computing.pdf 

Dear All,

The following is fundamental and anecdotal, but I offer it anyway:

YES Digital Literacy should be taught  NOW to those who need it in order to:

a) enter the job market

b) stay employed

b) continue school, especially to enter school when being away from school later in life 

c) perform at optimum on the job to stay competitive 

Here is a small example: A 50 yr old woman does not know how to use apps on her cell phone, or how to use her smart phone for more than for texting, surfing the net, and phone calls etc. How does she get a new job in advertisement? How does she sustain a job in an ever changing world using ever changing digital devices?

Digital literacy begins early in life as many countries are putting computers and tablets in the classrooms, to instill skills to use digital devices, different types, and evolving technology and to create a desire to continue to use them and look for future devices and their capabilities eagerly. And even before school begins, the toys that many toddlers/children play with are actually educational toys that are computer-like.

Comparative statement(s):

A 2010's or 2000's Digital Literacy/Digital Devices class is to a 1980's computer science class is to a 1950's business typing class in business is to a 1609 Gutenberg movable printing press  is to a 4th - 5th century Roman monastery caligraphy apprenticeship which evolved from the  220 BC Chinese shūfǎ mandated by Emperor Qin Shi Huang. [of course I left out many technological inventions in this timeline.

The purpose of the above paragraph is to show that two things have occurred over time: 1) people had to learn how to read and write in print and cursive, in order to read what was hand printed for business or to have a job as a scribe using a brush and to know what was proclaimed by the ruler, 2) they have had to learn how to operate new technological communication machines and devices with the aforementioned Reading & Writing/Printing skills.  It [reading and writing, as well as technology literacy] had to be taught ! Once machinery entered the game such as the printing press and typewriters, one had to but learn to operate the machines to produce documents to be read, which relied on being able to read and write. And so on with the TWIX or Teletype electromechanical teleprinter and the computer of 1960's  to the personal computers of the 1970's all employing the transferable skills of 1920's typing; which evolved from Tesla's 1890's 'telautomaton', to the current digital devices that yield information born in Poland [INFOSTRADA, introduced in US by Al Gore, perfected by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Bill Gates] in which one has to learn how to operate the device/computer/tablet/smart phone and understand how to use them to research a topic or perform a task or function.  

It has all been taught!  No one is born knowing how to use them, what each device is capable of doing etc. There may be/have been a few who are self-taught with each evolution, but that is not the norm.

Who taught the printing press skills in 1950's and 1960's in US? Vocational skills instructors or 'shop' classes taught by former printer operators turned teachers. These classes are now gone from high school classes today. Who taught typing? Business and Vocational instructors, former secretaries turned teachers. Who taught computer science classes? A computer expert who became a teacher.  These classes are gone from high school classes today, and YET the keyboard class still exists, but is it soon to be extinct? Probably not, as long as devices still use a keyboard; BUT it will be taught earlier in life, when instruction in digital literacy should begin in life. May be at 5 or 7 or 9 years old. When such devices are first used in classrooms for learning, that is when digital literacy should/will begin. Who will teach it? I would say who ever is a qualified/expert in the field and has had formal education to become an elementary school teacher ! That is the person who will become a digital literacy teacher to elementary school students. However, any elementary school teacher should be able to introduce digital literacy to young students with specified devices appropriate for the age group [just my opinion].

Digital literacy needs to be taught NOW in all classes that use such technology at the earliest age,  the way "library use" was once taught in high school and mandatory in freshman year college in the 1970's.

In the beginning, we will teach the older students how to use the devices for research and special applications. Later during this transition, we will teach younger students the basics, starting with keyboarding and ergonomics to prevent injury and alleviate pain.

Computer science teachers can take over NOW. English teachers will make assignments that utilize what they learned from computer science/digital literacy class.

It is a no-brainer to me. But this is just my opinion. No facts to back it up, just looking back at history and the evolution of technology that has to do with communication devices that also led to employability and job skills [scribes, typesetters/printers, typists/computer programmers/users/, pc users, tablets and smart phones and more], I asked myself who is the most logical person to teach this subject.

Soon digital literacy will be what learning to read/write once was like and it will be taught in 1st grade and perfected through 4th grade along with reading and writing (hand printing, as cursive is no longer offered in many schools in US). A class later in junior high or high school will not be necessary, as every one will keep up on their own, as it becomes the norm; just as classes in reading and writing is not necessary after one has been taught early in life.

I am most interested in learning from RG members, who else others believe should teach the digital literacy class?

Most respectfully,

Jeanetta Mastron

Hello Leona and everyone. 

At Deakin University, we have adopted Graduate Learning Outcomes (GLOs) that underpin students' learning and employability and the following definition is for one of the GLOs, digital literacy:

using technologies to find (search and navigate); use (think critically and analyse ) and disseminate (create, communicate, connect) information

Our research indicated that digital literacy is about these three aspects of information and how technology can leverage your ability to master global information in the digital age.  You may like to check out our Digital Literacy Framework and other resources at: http://www.deakin.edu.au/library/teach/digital-literacy.  We also have two papers: 

Hagel, P 2015, Towards an understanding of ‘Digital Literacy(ies)’, discourse: Deakin University Library research & practice, no. 1, Geelong, Deakin University Library.   http://dro.deakin.edu.au/view/DU:30073198

Hagel, P 2015, What is good practice in the development, assessment and evaluation of digital literacy for graduate employability?, discourse: Deakin University Library research & practice, no. 2, Geelong, Deakin University Library. http://hdl.handle.net/10536/DRO/DU:30073199

We are on a journey with a long path ahead, but are finding our new approach is manageable and will be sustainable.  The learning opportunities for our academic staff and students are highly effective where librarians collaborate with faculty to embed learning activities that build digital literacy skills in student programs and across course curricula.

Its an exciting field, and we welcome others who are interested to use and share our work.

Best wishes

Sue Owen

Interim University Librarian, Deakin University, Australia

I think what people define as digital literacy is an important skill to learn and awareness to have; however, I do not know how it differs anymore to professional literacy. The messages that come from digital literacy rhetoric are associated with the job market.

Along the same lines and a different tangent...

I worry that the linking of digital literacy to the job market ignores more important social justice questions such as whether it is ok to judge someone on their Facebook profile picture just as it isn't ok to refuse employment because of sexuality/gender. I don't doubt people need to be taught to be careful how they present themselves to the world and understand the ramifications of their choices, but isn't this the same argument for a woman wearing revealing clothing? Or judging someone for wearing a hijab?

I don't know the answer but I think it is a question worth asking. Digital literact concentrates on the employability of the person, not the labour laws. Would love some debate on this

Literacies correspond to the use of means at our disposal. If we can speak of the fourth literacy, its only due to the media that shape our society, that media and their use lead to a consistent literacy. Compared with the "other" literacies, that digital should be studied from the acquisition and from learning. Both forms of literacy take place in our societies because not everyone has the same opportunities to access the media, what we call digital divides. I think beyond the digital gaps that lead us to consider a fourth literacy, we should study the educational gaps around that literacy.

It is necessary? Maybe, but only in specific contexts and for construction of society.

If there ever was an oxymoron, "digital literacy" takes the cake since "literate" originally meant the ability to read and write and research is showing (OECD, PISA test results on digital reading) that the digital medium decreases literacy in the old sense of the word (McLuhan, Postman, etc.).

 However, I would argue that "digital literacy" is the ability to process information and learn through the digital medium."  The PISA research also showed  a negative correlation among 15 year old students between those who used the digital medium (computers) the most in and outside of the classroom while those who scored the highest in science reading and math also scored the highest on digital ability as measured by such tasks as navigating the Web to answer questions and solve problems. That is a direct correlation existed between digital literacy and academic achievement, a function of the old literacy). 

This is a very important question but a Pandora Box that may be leading us to what I call the Sesame Street Theory of Education, where "if you keep the kids entertained long enough, something [--- like old fashion literacy --] might stick."  I feel sorry for those who have to try to teach the Millennials since thanks to the digital medium they are, as one educator called them, "the Dumbest Generation."  

By the way, my kids are on the cusp of Gen X and the Millennials.  The daughter is a physician and the son a geodetic scientist.  As parents we never worried about them becoming "digitally literate," but at times worried about their literate ability. Perhaps being digitally literate means being aware of what the digital technologies is doing to our brains (see Nicholas Carr, The Shallows).

Mike

Leona:

Good question! You may want to explore this reference:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/226297535_Defining_Digital_Literacy

Best regards,

Debra

Chapter Defining Digital Literacy

Digital literacy is the ability to 'read' the language . 'speak' the language, as well as 'navigate' the hallways of the phenomenal mazes of the millenial lifestyle as it dynamically morphs. The morphing of this lifestyle and practice is happening virtually in microseconds, but fortunately,  humans are allowed to morph at our own learning speed. One cannot travel faster than the vehicle conveying self. We as learners ,are ultimately the doers, and will dictate the depths, heights and lattitudes of our digital literacy, despite the astronomical potentials in its vocabulary.

I think it's important to remember that when literacy is used in this way it is actually a metaphor.

There are any number of literacies (scientific literacy, disciplinary literacy, visual literacy, etc.) but when we modify the word literacy by putting some other word in front of it we are leveraging our idea of literacy (competence with text) to describe competence in something else. Thus, to my mind ordinal numbering of literacies is pretty meaningless. Rather, the question is whether the idea of competence that we are trying to describe can be recognized by others as something valuable. Here digital literacy is clearly important. How important depends on your frame of reference.

 Namaste Leona, 

Digital literacy is a set of  skills to use or utilize the available technologies to solve the problem. our society consist of digital natives, digital emigrants and digital fugitives.  To solve any problem one must has to put his/her effort  to read or to understand and to analyze the situation. again the problem solving circle will starts from the identification of need of information, locate, evaluate and ethical use of  information to solve the problem by using technologies. It includes using different gadgets such computers, printers, photocopying technologies etc..or software aspects.  the scope of teaching the digital literacy is differ from  the instruction level of teaching to self learning system and also the rapid developments of technology may pose a new challenge to apply it.  Hence Digital literacy can be taught as a part of syllabus by teachers or it can be taught as part of user education program by the librarians or else it can be taught both by the teachers and the librarians as part of information literacy program in a pedagogical manner.  The skills or set of skills required for lifelong learning is unpredictable. Ultimately the self learning capability has to be developed among the every individual under base of information literacy. 

Namaste has given us a good working definition of "digital literacy" and if it is to be taught, it should be taught as continuing education or more appropriately as vocational education. It's place in regular academics should be marginal or ancillary at best.

Digital inclusion can promote participation in cyberspace, however, the Information Literacy can further improves participation in decisions in the public sphere and may facilitate the seek of citizenship (Cybersociety).

Digital literacy is all encompassing. This is because, it embraces every field of endeavor by providing palatable means of learning as well as dissemination of learning outcomes for effective utilization. The emergence of digital literacy has brought scholars from different walks of life and geographical locations to a classroom.

The idea of "digital" being the fourth literacy  is absurd, although it has touched a nerve.  It is like people in he 19th and 20th century people seriously proposing "mechanical literacy" as a fourth along with reading, writing and arithmetic..  The question is a confused although well intended reaction to something everywhere and extremely powerful when the real question is what the digital phenomenon is doing to our selves. Again, I recommend Nicholas Carr's book, "The Shallows: What the Internet is doing to our brains."  Obviously he's right.  It's making us Americans shallow and stupid. It's also destroying education as we know and that's the reason we can't ignore the digital impact.

Although I am a huge part my career spent in the propagation and application of usage of computers in various fields (you may call it digital, information, computer literacy) I agree with Michael "The idea of "digital" being the fourth literacy is absurd..."!

We all seemed fallen into the "trap" of "Predicted to become a $1.29 billion industry by 2018, technology in the classroom is now an indispensable part of higher education..." (thanks Subhash C. Kundu for https://www.researchgate.net/go.Deref.html?url=http%3A%2F%2Findiatoday.intoday.in%2Fstory%2Ffuture-for-e-learning%2F1%2F379729.html and his answer in https://www.researchgate.net/post/eEducation-forty_years_of_promises)!

Leona, I'm not sure that referring to digital literacy as the 4th literacy is the most useful conceptualisation. So, my suggestion is that I find Luke and Freebody's 4 roles of the literate and Four Resources Model - http://www.newliteracies.com.au/what-are-new-literacies?/116/ - really helpful for complementing spoken and written modes of communicaton with multi-modal communication.

Well you are specifically asking how academic staff/faculty can become digitally literate. I believe one definition should involve knowing about available technologies for and what they can do as well as their limitations. Many faculty are from the previous generation, when computers were "new" to the work place and some have not embraced them as they should have.

Basic workshops provided by an IT department regarding the proper use of word processors (like Word), spreadsheets (Excel), and possibly databases (Access) or other technologies used in their discipline (like their LMS!). Educational conferences or staff development conferences are now holding introductions to Twitter or social media etc.

Academic staff/faculty have to take learning these new skills into their own hands. Besides, that's what we want our students to be able to do right? In the future they will need to learn new skills, and we need to provide them with the ability to *learn*.

Digital Literacy – I would define digital literacy in the terms of STEAM Education which is my main focus.  ‘Digital literacy’ is a multi-disciplinary literacy as it integrates information technology, traditional literacy skills, and Tony Wagner’s Essential Skills of STEAM Education.   ‘Digital literates’ are applying skills from all of these areas when reading in today’s age of literacy or Informatics Age. 

Basic practical skills like typing and managing a digital device are the practical skills required for ‘digital literates’.     Essential Skill 6 Accessing and Analysing Information and Effective verbal and written Communication (Skill 5) are involved in digital literacy.   Under Skill 6, we engage deductive and inductive reasoning when we navigate a page on the internet or in a computer programme to perform various tasks.  We are also searching for information which engages our accessing information skills.  Under Skill 5, we have learned to communicate in many different media owing to the different functions of IT that have evolved over the years.  Traditional literacy skills remain the basis of our reading practices – so when we become digitally literate, we are merging all the different skills and disciplines of IT, Essential Skills and traditional literacy skills. 

Dear colleagues, a number of you found Kimberly A Lawless’ post informative and I do agree with her view that new tools enable us to interact, communicate and make meaning in new ways in our daily lives. As Kimberly pointed out,  since new tools develop continually, we have to be open to new types of learning and communicating. She suggested that digital literacy should not be taught, but rather be embraced and integrated as a part of the world in which we exist and “leveraged as new tools come along and acknowledged as a skill that successful citizens need to have to continue to contribute and learn in our constantly changing world.

Some participants felt that digital literacy does not qualify as a fourth type of literacy. Michael Tang argued that digital literacy is the ability to process information and learn through the digital medium. Delfina Azevedo defined digital literacy in the terms of STEAM Education, which is her main focus. She regards it as a multi-disciplinary literacy since it integrates information technology, traditional literacy skills, and Tony Wagner’s Essential Skills of STEAM Education. Hemavathi B N pointed out that digital literacy is a set of skills to use available technologies to solve problems.

Rick Daniel Henderson suggested that a definition of digital literacy should involve knowledge about available technologies for and what they can do as well as their limitations. He pointed out that some faculty may be from a previous generation and may not have embraced technology/computers sufficiently. In order to develop faculty’s digital literacy, basic workshops on the proper use of word processors (like Word), spreadsheets (Excel), and possibly databases (Access) and other commonly used technologies such as the learning management system that their institutions use may be necessary. Rick advised that academic staff/faculty should take responsibility for seeing to it that they acquire the necessary new skills, since we expect our students to be able to learn new skills and we should be able to assist them in this regard.

In terms of teaching digital literacy, Hemavathi B N suggested that teachers may teach digital literacy as part of a syllabus, it can be taught as part of a user education program by librarians or by both teachers and librarians as part of an information literacy program. Michael Tang suggested that if digital is to be taught, it should be taught as continuing education, particularly vocational education. Hemavathi B N further pointed out that the set of skills required for lifelong learning change continually and ultimately we may be responsible for our own development.

Finally, Glen Finger also pointed out that it is not advisable to regard digital literacy as the fourth literacy and rather suggested considering views such as Luke and Freebody's Four Roles of the Literate and Four Resources Model. John further pointed out that the importance that one attaches to digital literacy depends on your frame of reference and some participants felt that the society one belongs to also play a role in this regard.

Thank you to everyone who shared their insights, resources and recommendations in terms of literature. We did no focus in much detail on events aimed at professional development in this field and I include a link to an event that I attended towards the end of July (it will be held again next year). Participants who wanted to obtain course credit for this event had to submit two additional assignments by late August and I embed one of my assignments, since it provides an idea of what we learned during the week, but of course, it is coloured by one’s own frame of reference! Martina will notice that I also refer to the developing world.

http://mediaeducationlab.com/summer-institute-digital-literacy

https://sway.com/DrnAjK8is1pG0Mry

The term "digital literacy" is not only absurd but an oxymoron, not to mention no one has clarified what they mean by "digital."  It's like asking if we should teach "Sexual Literacy."  If we centered this discussion on the question, "Should coding be the fourth literacy along with reading, writing and arithmetic?" we might have an interesting and meaningful discussion.  

Mike

I find this is a very interesting question. My work focuses on multiliteracies which incorporates digital literacy. I would recommend reading this article and more of Ibrar Bhatt's noteworthy work as an innovative approach to digital literacy practice viewed as curation.

http://ibrarspace.net/2014/05/21/curation-as-a-digital-literacy-practice/

Escola do Futuro’s investors have shown that the word literacy is not sufficient to represent the digital alphabetization unfolding. Nor even the expression digital literacy can represent that, for it resembles school-based learning. Digital literacies represent new codification and virtual on-line international practices in information society schools, as well as virtual apprenticeship communities (VAC), where the use and access to automated search tools is more common. Besides, reading, interpretation, research and Internet navi- gational, there is a continuous evolution process regarding technological learning11 (Passarelli, Ribeiro, Oliveira & Mealha, 2014).

In Lithuania we use digital competence or ICT competence  according to authors research area.

The question of digital literacy is often tackled by a desperate search for a "definition" - the immovable rock upon which strategy can be built.

The problem (a problem with digital literacy)  is that, as a socio-technical construct it cannot be defined in the way that a bound object, system or process can be defined.

DL is a shifting notion constantly being redefined by the shifting relationship between the individual and digital technologies. A further layer of complexity is added by the shifting nature of 'what technology is'. The common interpretation of a technology is bound by our earlier understanding of 'technology as object'. This leads some to imagine that "digital technologies" are the tangible objects we buy and use. Increasingly the nature of "digital technologies" means the relationship between the artefact, the network (explicit and implicit) and the individual. Here we are helped to understand what digital literacy might be by Foucault, Heidegger and those who have sought to see "technology"  as a phenomenon rather than an object.

As always we are challenged to ground such discussion in a way which supports action.

The best model of "what DL is" I can think of is that of JISC

https://www.jisc.ac.uk/guides/developing-students-digital-literacy

Research and Collective projects Future / USP School has turned its attention to the current process of digital inclusion, notably its development. And the concept of digital literacy (fourth literacy) and literacies has been used or exploited, as the basis of its literal translation as able to provide better understanding and comprehensive cognitive and social phenomenon than the traditional concepts of digital inclusion, and thus represent or give meanings to new skills related to ownership and use of ICT in contemporary (Passarelli, 2010).

 Today being digital literate has become imperative for accessing economic, social, and political opportunities. The following article provides an impact evaluation framework of digital technology based on digital capabilities. It argues that  we need to better understand the conditions under which ICTs can enhance peoples informational capabilities. Enhancing peoples informational or digital capabilities will empower them to expand their human capabilities in the economic, social, political aspects of their lives.  Please see below my latest book on the link between digital inclusion and empowerment: Development as Freedom in a Digital Age. I also include a link to my article on: Informational Capabilities - The Missing Link for the Impact of ICT on Development. 

Book Development as Freedom in a Digital Age

Article Informational Capabilities - The Missing Link for the Impact...