Digital literacy “literally” means a new way of being literate – not with books and printed materials, but now with digital materials.
Digital Literacy skills are becoming increasingly important in our digitally connected world. Becoming digitally literate is a multi-faceted experience that involves: learning to be a “Digital Citizen”; learning how to make safe choices online; creating an online persona that reflects what you want to share; and striking the right balance between sharing and engaging and protecting privacy. The BC Digital Literacy Framework (link to video and blog post on this blog)
It is helpful to understand how to differentiate between some of the different ‘literacies’ that help you to become a digitally literate educator who can support their students in becoming literate.
Below are a few definitions and resources to help you begin this exploration.
In today’s world, most of us become digital citizens whether we realize it or not! Being a Digital Citizen can come with its downsides and knowing how to identify red flags and build critical digital and media literacy skills is more important than ever. For example, unwanted online interactions can turn into criminal harassment in situations where proper boundaries have not been set. Visit the Digital Citizenship Blog Post in the Scarfe Digital Sandbox to learn more about:
- caution and cyberbullying – exercising caution to avoid behaviours associated with cyberbullying
- social media guidelines prepared by ERASE Student Advisory in BC
- protecting privacy
- ISTE standards – and how they help
- interactive games to help build skills – Digital Passport, Digital Compass and Educational games
- The term critical literacy refers to the use of print and other media technologies to “analyze, critique and transform the norms, rule systems and practices governing the social fields of everyday life” (Luke, 2012, p. 5 in UBC FoE Digital Literacies Modules - link below).
- Critical digital literacies (CDL) acknowledge power differentials, strive for equitable access to diverse resources, and the reconstruction of transformative potentials (Spante et al., 2018 in UBC FoE Digital Literacies Modules - link below).
- This definition requires that those within a field of study examine how, why, and where norms, rules, ways of doing, ways of being in relationship to topics, processes, procedures, and each other, are critiqued with a social justice view, examining the spaces and places where those who are marginalized and disenfranchised can find intentionally equitable hospitality (Bali et al., 2019 in UBC FoE Digital Literacies Modules - link below).
Becoming Media Literate is a large part of becoming a digitally literate citizen. As teachers, we can help our students develop their media literacy through authentic engagement and explicit discussion. We can weave media literacy skills across subject area instruction and have students reflect on, and apply, their learning through class discussion, assignments and self-evaluations.
"Media are all around us – from TV shows and billboards to social media and online news. Digital media literacy is the ability to think critically about the media we consume, and to access, use and engage with digital media in an effective, responsible and meaningful way." (Media Smarts, Digital Media Literacy defined)
How does developing digital literacies support interdisciplinary learning and how can it be applied across the curriculum? Different areas of studies have preferred online portals and ways of looking up information that are more optimal for those subject areas. As per "Digital Media Literacy Fundamentals” by Media Smarts, there are two important aspects of digital literacies when engaging with digital technologies across subject areas:
#1 - Find (seeking) and evaluating information
#2 – How to use digital information and tools (content creation and design)
A few examples
- Health and Physical Education – the impacts that Photoshopped images can have on body image and the “fear of missing out.”
- Social Sciences – learning to distinguish bias, misinformation and propaganda
- Civics – using online tools to become engaged citizens
- Arts – arts courses need to reflect the impacts of digital technology
- Music – creaing works using multi-modality is now something that can be achieved
- Technology – courses should expand to include understanding and creating with technologies (including programming and other means to actually ‘create’ technologies)
- Digital Maker Technologies - encompass a wide range of tools and technologies and can be used to create in digital and non-digital environments
Some criteria to consider when selecting resources, websites or articles for the classroom,
- author (reliability / source / website source)
- commercial vs. educational
- accessibility (design vs. user)
- date of publication
- any broken links (or outdated links)
- any inappropriate ads or content that might pop up?
Example lesson
One way to approach helping your students learn to select and evaluate resources, is to have them construct their own criteria for evaluation. You might have them, in partners or small groups, look at two web (or print) resources and brainstorm what they notice about these resources and how this makes them effective and trustworthy (or not). An example would be to have students first review the Pacific Tree Octopus website (an example of a very elaborate hoax site), asking them to share what they notice about the site, whether they believe what they see or not and what questions emerge as they review the site. Next, they might visit the National Geographic Pacific Octopus web page as a contrasting source. Following this small group work, a large group share could occur where students discuss their impressions, questions and emerging criteria for evaluation.
Learn More
MediaSmarts: Canadian Teaching Resources
MediaSmarts is a Canadian not-for-profit charitable organization for digital and media literacy. Among the wide variety of resources that they develop (searchable by provincial curriculum), are some introduction videos and tips on how to stay safe online.
- MediaSmarts provides some important concepts of digital literacy:
- In digital media, there are no one-way connections. Instead, everyone is involved – as producer or consumer – and linked via a multidirectional, interconnected network.
- Digital content is permanent: everything that is transmitted is stored somewhere and can be searched for and indexed. This includes things that may seem temporary, like Snapchat photos.
- Digital content is shareable, and what you post online may be seen by people you didn’t intend or expect to see it. Once content is shared, you have a limited ability to control who sees what.
- What happens via digital media is real but it doesn’t always feel real. When we’re online, it can be easy to forget that laws, morals and rights still apply, and that online actions can have real world consequences.
- Digital media, like traditional media, reflect the beliefs, unconscious biases and unquestioned assumptions of their creators, which in turn can influence our own experiences and behaviours.
- See also: MediaSmarts: Digital Literacy in a Time of Fake News (Scarfe Sandbox blog post)
Welcome to Online Education: Faculty of Ed Digital Literacies Canvas Course
A series of non-credit modules has been developed to support Faculty of Education students, including teacher candidates, in developing their digital literacies. All registered Faculty of Education students have access to the “Welcome to Online Education: Digital Literacies” modules in Canvas.
A few highlights from these modules
- Tips for succeeding with online learning. “Online learning has come a long way from previous mail-in courses”
- Introducing Online Education Digital Literacies Sherry Turkle video: “modern technology has become like a phantom limb…it is so much a part of us.”
- Striking a balance – what to share versus what to keep private, watch the video Alone Together
- Multimodalities: “Multimodal” describes communication practices in terms of textual, aural, linguistic, spatial, and visual resources