I have heard the term digital literacy before, but have never heard it explained in a way that makes sense to me. I had to start with finding a definition. I found that digital literacy “refers to the knowledge, skills and attitudes that allow children to be both safe and empowered in an increasingly digital world” and that is encompasses play, participation, socialization, searching and learning with digital technologies (UNICEF).

Digital literacy was not a skill I learned until I came to university and I learned it along with being able to see the difference between an academic article and an article that cannot be used for an academic paper. This was not really a concern when I was in school, but I think it is something important for students to learn with how easy it is to access knowledge. Almost everything we do involves the internet and being digitally literate. Facial scanning and AI are becoming very common place around the world and not just online while we’re on the computer (UNICEF).

Image shows a woman, a boy and a desk top computer. The woman appears to be helping the boy learn to use the computer
Image from Pexels website by Julia Cameron
Image shows a woman, a boy and a desk top computer. The woman appears to be helping the boy learn to use the computer
Image from Pexels website by Julia Cameron
Image shows a woman, a boy and a desk top computer. The woman appears to be helping the boy learn to use the computer
Image from Pexels website by Julia Cameron

As for teachers, part of media literacy is understanding copyright, fair use, public domain and what these terms mean for our use in the classroom. Using a video in class, for example, is fair use and we can do. Using a copyright book without permission may not be though (Media Policy). As a future teacher, I need to be able to understand what I can use in the classroom and what I cannot, as well as how to teach students media literacy. Teaching media literacy can be difficult, as there is a lack of infrastructure and low connectivity (UNICEF). Connectivity can be an issue in some schools, no matter the location, due to various issues. I have been in schools on days when connectivity has not been working, where if a teacher was planning a digital lesson they may have to pivot and move the lesson or the digital component to another day.

As far as understanding digital literacy teachers need to know about it and what to teach to students. A Crash Course Video discusses 5 media skills that need to be build. First, we need to remember that access to digitization is uneven. Some students and their parents and guardians only have access to the internet at school or when they go to the library or free Wi-Fi from restaurants or coffee shops. This needs to be remembered when teaching digital literacy, as some students will have some  experience online, while others will have little or none (Media Skills). It should be acknowledged that it may be difficult for disabled students to access or use certain parts of the internet due to accessibility issues (Social exclusion).

The other four skills are skills that must be built over time. The skills are to analyze, evaluate, create and act. Each of these skills could be taught from younger grades all the way through secondary school. Analyzing means figuring out the purpose and point of view of the media we are looking at. This can be a movie entertaining people, adds trying to sell people something, or an article arguing a size. Further, we need to think about how people would interpret the message and if anything was left out of the message. Next, evaluating the relevance, accuracy, bias and reliability of a source. This is a skill that will be better to teach older grades, and pertaining to bias, should be noted “that various social groups and strata, minorities, foreigners, some professional groups, women and individuals are represented in the media in a biased manner” (Social exclusion). The fourth skill is creating blogs, posts, videos. This can be used at many grade levels. Finally, acting and using your media literacy. This can be deleting unhelpful apps, looking at other opinions and using evidence to base opinions. While many of these skills cannot be taught to younger students, a base can be started so that as students get older they can learn more about media literacy and use their skills as they leave school.

Sources:

Cameron, Julia M. “Photo of Woman Tutoring Young Boy.” Taken 28 March 2020. Accessed October 16, 2023.

Crash Course Media Literacy. “Media Policy & You,” 2021. Alexander Street. Accessed October 12, 2023.

Crash Course Media Literacy. “Media Skills,” 2021. Alexander Street. Accessed October 12, 2023.

Kasap, Fevzi and Pinar Gurcinar. “Social exclusion of life in the written media of the disabilities: the importance of media literacy and education,” Quality & Quantity, no. 52 (2018), pp. 557-571. https://doi-org.prxy.lib.unbc.ca/10.1007/s11135-017-0635-z. Accessed 16 October 2023.

UNICEF, “Digital Literacy for children -10 things to know.” https://www.unicef.org/globalinsight/documents/digital-literacy-children-10-things-know#:~:text=Digital%20literacy%20goes%20beyond%20technical,and%20learning%20through%20digital%20technologies.