What is Digital Literacy? 

For a first introduction please see the video below:

Digital literacy and why it matters (2:54 Min):

_{University of Derby (2014): Digital literacy and why it matters. [1]}

_{The Video is only available in English. Subtitles can be turned on on YouTube. The video explains what "digital literacy" means and why it is important.}

As you saw in the video, Digital Literacy describes a number of skills and competences that are important in an increasingly digital world. But it's not just about technological know-how. See below various definitions of Digital Literacy to get a clearer image of what it means.

Digital Literacy: What it means to be is described in the following graphic:

_{Figure 1: Digital Literacy. BBC [2], The Edvocate [3], Media Smarts [4], Powerschool [5]}

Digital Literacy in Education 

Referred to education, Digitial Literacy is extremely important

• for students:

Apart from other important qualifications, students need to have a number of Digital Literacy skills in order to face the increasing amount of digital requirements in our society. On the one hand this refers to working environments - students need to be prepared for more and more digital labour conditions. On the other hand it also includes lots of aspects of everyday life - it is important to learn, how to move in the digital space in a responsible way. See in the table below what digital citizenship means to be. 

• for teachers: 

Today´s teachers need to equip themselves with the digital skills that are necessary to help their students to become responsible digital citizens. This requires technical know-how on the one hand but it goes far beyond that as it demands knowledge about opportunities, risks and dangers referred to the digital world, as well as a set of competences in how to encourage and empower students to be  responsible citizens - online as well as offline. 

At the same time, digital tools are more and more used for teaching. It is important to constantly analyse and criticially reflect those tools concerning topics like inclusiveness, representation and stereotypes.

Becoming A Digital Citizen – What Does That Mean?

_{Figure 2: DQ Digital Citizenship Framework [6]}

As you can see in figure 2, there are various aspects of Digital Citizenship. Considering the different areas, one can notice that they are connected with each other. Critical thinking skills are needed for example in order to overthink one´s digital footprint and to manage cyber security. (Digital) Empathy is needed to teach people how to react when being exposed to cyberbullying situations.

We are all responsible for the way in which we act. This also refers to the digital environment. A responsible way how to use it is essential for an atmosphere of well-being, trust and respect - concerning ourselves and the people around us.

Figure 3: Digital Responsibility

Reflection

• When thinking of your school / your class / your students, in which areas do you see a high need for action?
  It migth be beneficial to share and discuss your own perceptions afterwards with your colleagues.

You don't need to be an expert in all topics. It can be very useful to find experts from specific (local) organisations that can offer workshops, give a speech or hand out material at your school. For further information hava a look at these organizations: 

Online Safety: Online Safety Alliance 

Hate Speech: No Hate Speech Movement 

Digital Divide and Digital Accessibility 

"The term "digital divide" refers to the gap between individuals, households, businesses and geographic areas at different socio-economic levels with regard to both their opportunities to access information and communication technologies (ICTs) and to their use of the Internet for a wide variety of activities."

- OECD 2006 [10]

The COVID-19 pandemic forced teachers to switch to distance learning and digital tools which brought up multiple challenges. Teachers, students and parents had to adapt quickly to this new educational context. Due to social inequalities that had already existed before, distance learning and the increasing use of digital tools were about to reinforce academic inequalities among students.

Figure 5: How digital technologies contribute to social inequalities [11]. 

Digital technologies can reinforce social inequalities that already existed in society. Figure 5 shows this interrelation: different dimensions like sex/gender, origin, class, age, religion, disability have influence on the access and especially the economic and social resources, as well as discrimination patterns. At the same time, the design of digital products can lead to exclusion. This can happen through stereotyped presentations (e.g. pink for girls, blue for boys), a lack of representation and diversity or a design that doesn’t meet people`s needs, which can lead to a spiral of inequality, which then again has impacts on socialization.

Figure 6: Social inequality processes during school closure. Economic, structural, digital and cultural divides influence the psychological functioning of parents and students in a way that amplify inequalities [12].

Figure 6 shows the digital divide in the context of a cultural, economic and structural divide. All in all, these different aspects affect self-efficacy, the feeling of competence and achievement and finally lead to inequalities.

For a better understanding, please download and read the whole article below:

What do you think ?

•  What can you as a teacher do to reduce the digital divide between students?

•  What can your school do? 

•  Where do you see limitations and difficulties?
  

European Framework for The Digital Competence of Educators

´As educators face rapidly changing demands, they require an increasingly broader and more sophisticated set of competences than before. In particular, the ubiquity of digital devices and the duty to help students become digitally competent requires educators to develop their own digital competence.´ (DigCompEdu 2017, S.4 [7])

The European Comission published a European Framework for the Digital Competence of Educators [7]. It describes a number of tools and trainings for educators to develop their digital competences. 

Here you can find the entire publication: 

 See here a video that introduces the Digital Competence Framework for Educators (DigCompEdu) [8]:

Figure 4: DigCompEdu, 6 areas of digital competences [9]

The DigCompEdu Framework pointed out six different areas of competences that focus on varied aspects of educators’ professional activities. We now want to have a deeper look into these aspects.

Task 1:

Please open the European Framework for the Digital Competence of Educators. You will first get  a brief overview over the document. Then open the six documents below which you can work through step by step. Each document includes a little reading task as well as questions to reflect on. Take notes and share your thoughts with your colleagues.

1: Professional Engagement

2: Digital Resources

3: Teaching and Learning

4: Assessment

5: Empowering Learners

6: Facilitating Learners' Digital Competence

Sources

[1] University of Derby (2014): Digital literacy and why it matters. Online available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2k3C-iB88w&ab_channel=UniversityofDerby

[2] BBC. Welsh Baccalaureate (WBQ National: Foundation KS4). Digital Literacy. Online available: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zxs2xsg/revision/1

[3] Lynch, Matthew (2017): What is Digital Literacy? In: The Edvocate. Online available: https://www.theedadvocate.org/what-is-digital-literacy/

[4] Media Smarts. Canada´s Centre for Digital and Media Literacy. Digital Literacy Fundamentals. Online available: https://mediasmarts.ca/digital-media-literacy/general-information/digital-media-literacy-fundamentals/digital-literacy-fundamentals

[5] Powerschool (2021): The Classroom Guide to Digital Literacy in K-12 Education. Online available: https://www.powerschool.com/resources/blog/the-classroom-guide-to-digital-literacy-in-k-12-education/

[6] White Paper Digital Intelligence (DQ) (2017): A Conceptual Framework & Methodology for Teaching and Measuring Digital Citizenship. Online available: https://www.dqinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/DQ-Framework-White-Paper-Ver1-31Aug17.pdf

[7] Redecker, C. (2017): European Framework for the Digital Competence of Educators: DigCompEdu. Punie, Y. (ed). Publications Office of the European Union. doi:10.2760/159770

[8] European Union (2021): European Framework for the Digital Competence of Educators Teaching in the digital age - using technology to enhance learning. Online available: https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/video/I-201842?lg=EN%2FEN

[9] Joint Research Centre. Digital Competence Framework for Educators (DigCompEdu). Online available: https://joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu/digcompedu_en

[10] OECD (2006): Glossary of Statistical Terms. Digital Divide. Online available: https://stats.oecd.org/glossary/detail.asp?ID=4719

[11] Reidl, Sybille; Streicher Jürgen; Hock, Marlene; Hausner, Beatrix; Waibel, Gina; Gürtl, Franziska (2020): Digitale Ungleichheit. Wie sie entsteht, was sie bewirkt und was dagegen hilft. Wien: Österreichische Forschungsförderungsgesellschaft mbH (FFG). Online available: https://www.femtech.at/content/digitale-ungleichheit-wie-sie-entsteht-was-sie-bewirkt-und-was-dagegen-hilft.