I know by some peoples standards I’ve not been around education all that long and I’ve certainly been around the edublogosphere a fraction of that time. But I have just reached my 365th post, which must count to something. Regardless I have, as yet failed to find an answer to my question: “What is ‘digital literacy’?
However I did com across a slideshare by Dr Tabetha Newman who quoted Allan Martin and suggested it as being one of the most broad, flexible but still tangible definitions out there.
“The awareness, attitude and ability of individuals to appropriately use digital tools and facilities to identify, access, manage, integrate, evaluate, analyse and synthesise digital resources, construct new knowledge, create media expressions, and communicate with others, in the context of specific life situations, in order to enable constructive social action; and to reflect upon this process”
Hardly a bumper sticker so question being:
Can you come up with a better definition? In less than 55 words?
That is definitely a thorough definition, though I think some of it is redundant and not necessary for concise meaning. What about paring it down a bit? Yes, there is a difference between evaluate and analyze, but it might be practical to put those together. Does digital literacy really require us to “enable constructive social action”? If we include that, shouldn’t we include a list of all the objectives that might result from digital literacy? The definition already includes “communicate with others”. Do we really have to define “communicate”?
How’s this?
One’s ability to use digital tools to manage, evaluate, and synthesize digital resources, construct new knowledge, and communicate with others, in the context of life situations, to meet specific needs or goals.
Great pondering!
I work for a company that represents Certiport, which is a global leader in promoting digital literacy, so I helped with the “digital literacy” Wikipedia page.
It is currently defined on the site as “the ability to locate, organize, understand, evaluate, and create information using digital technology.” Not bumper-sticker worthy, either, but it’s only 15 words.