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Early Childhood & K-12 EdTechTrending Topics
Home›Early Childhood & K-12 EdTech›8 Essential Digital Literacy Skills That Students Need

8 Essential Digital Literacy Skills That Students Need

By Matthew Lynch
September 1, 2017
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What was once called typing class is now known as technology class. Gone are the days where computer class was spent playing Oregon Trail and creating word processing documents. The networked world in which students exist demands an education that prepares students to produce and consume information in a variety of formats. These formats range from text to images to multimedia. Students need a broad variety of fluencies to be prepared for the 21st-century workforce. Even jobs traditionally thought of us being technology light now require someone who has basic computer skills. This article describes those digital literacy skills paramount to success in any career.

  1. Coding is a universal language and one that is useful whether a technical career is pursued or not. For example, having a basic understanding of HTML, CSS, and the like creates a shared understanding and a sense of knowing what can and cannot be done with web pages.
  2. Collaboration in the online environment requires deliberate Students should be taught basic project management and group work essentials to navigate between multiple platforms. Utilizing tools such as Base Camp or Trello in addition to collaborative functionality through Google Docs allows a student to begin experimenting with effective online collaboration.
  3. Cloud Software is an essential part of document management. The cloud is used to store everything from photos to research projects to term papers and music. While students are likely used to saving their pictures, they may not have the necessary processes in place to save their academic work in a way that is discoverable and accessible.
  4. Word Processing Software is often used in conjunction with collaboration and cloud software. Google has a suite of products, but there are other options as well. Microsoft Online increasingly integrates with different storage and management solutions such as Drop Box. Each of these platforms works a little differently, and students should have the opportunity to engage with several of them.
  5. Screencasting makes it easy for the novice video creator to make simple yet effective videos. This is a useful skill for explaining a topic as well as articulating what you are thinking. Ideal tools for teaching students how to screencast include Screencast-o-Matic and Camtasia. Through screencasting, a student can learn more about making accessible content.
  6. Personal Archiving takes into consideration that we leave a massive digital footprint. Without a plan in place to archive this information, it can quickly turn into a web of unfindable and not useful information. Students should be taught concepts such as metadata, tagging, keywords, and categories succinctly and directly to help them start thinking about how they are represented online.
  7. Information Evaluation has always been necessary. However, with the ease at which all people can create content and build knowledge, this skill becomes essential. Staying abreast of developments in information literacy and software engineering will paint a holistic picture of online information trends.
  8. Social Media Savvy is important because social media serves different purposes depending on the user, the technology, and the identified need. Students need to be given instruction and an opportunity to practice using various social media. For example, students should realize that Twitter is particularly useful for staying current on the latest news in the field while Flipgrid is great at building a sense of community.

Despite the commonly held conception that students are digital natives, research has repeatedly shown that this is not the case. Focusing on the 8 skills described above will guide your students to increased digital fluency where they can act ethically, responsibly, and productively.

 


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5 comments

  1. Weekly news recap September 15 15 September, 2017 at 10:02 Reply

    […] caught our eye – the story from IBM regarding Watson, this story on bilingual education, and this piece our Chief Academic Officer shared regarding the eight essential digital literacy skills that […]

  2. digital kompetent – was heißt das? – teaching knowledge and creativity 5 February, 2018 at 05:45 Reply

    […] 8 Essential Digital Literacy Skills That Students Need […]

  3. 6 Ways to Adapt Your Mobile Learning Strategy to the Needs of Modern Learners - The Tech Edvocate 24 October, 2019 at 05:17 Reply

    […] first step is to establish your workforce’s level of digital literacy. Don’t assume that just because an employee is a certain age, he is probably not very skilled on […]

  4. TechyKids 26 August, 2020 at 04:24 Reply

    The blog shared is good to read & very much informative. Agreed with what you said, these are some necessary digital literacy skills which very student should possess to stay ahead in this competitive world. Teaching coding to kids is the most important skill & due to technological advancements it has now become easier to give coding knowledge with the help of games & apps. Coding for kids has great impact on their overall development. It not only improve their problem solving abilities but also boosts their self confidence to a next level. TechyKids Canada make sure that kids get to learn important coding aspects which leads to develop their own apps & games. Thanks for sharing such an interesting blog with us.

  5. Implementing Digital Literacy in the Classroom – MarkerSpace America 11 January, 2021 at 17:07 Reply

    […] of resources, tools, and apps makes it easy for anyone to fall prey to the ill effects of the web. Being digitally literate helps one to find and avoid practices that are not […]

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