Why it is important to be Digitally Literate in the 21st Century

Digital Literacy in the 21st Century

The definition of what it means to be “literate” has changed drastically in the past few years. In past times one would be considered literate if they were capable of reading and writing at a basic level. Now with advancements in technology and the internet, literacy has evolved into digital literacy. The Vimeo video we watched for class explained how digital media is changing which skills are necessary to navigate literature and literacy in today’s world. Students must now be able to utilize online learning tools and social media platforms. In order to explain digital literacy we must first see why it is so important to be digitally literate.

A huge problem pertaining to digital literacy is our education system’s outdated view on what it means to be literate. Schools do not take into account that being digitally literate is a crucial skill in today’s world. An example of the importance of digital literacy is the recent explosion of “fake news” media sites. An ISTE article by Nicole Krueger includes a quote from an instructional technology specialist, Nancy Watson, explains how non-literate students are at a serious risk of not being able to tell credible sources from non-credible sources, “And it takes a huge amount of pretty sophisticated critical thinking, digital skills and an understanding of our online behavior to even start to understand how complex the action of website evaluation is.” (Krueger). Schools are not preparing students to face the challenges of the 21st century. There are new risks and threats that can only be properly countered with good knowledge of digital literacy.

Digital literacy also creates new ways to teach and learn within the classroom. Students are discovering new ways to interact with their interests online and through other digital media. They are no longer confined to just physical text when it comes to reading or learning more about their possible interests. Curwood’s article on The Hunger Games and affinity spaces describes this in great detail, “Participants shared their passion for The Hunger Games trilogy and their motivation for participating in online spaces, including Hunger Games fansites and social media such as Twitter, Tumblr, YouTube, and Facebook.” (Curwood). As more and more young people gain access to technology they will discover new ways to interact with the content that they enjoy. This is yet another reason why schools should focus on defining digital literacy and then figuring out the best way to teach it in classrooms.

Now that the importance of digital literacy has been explained we can begin to define what exactly it is and the best possible ways to teach others about it. The cybersecurity company Webroot defines digital literacy as, “Digital literacy includes learning how to find, sort, evaluate, manage, and create information in digital forms” (Webroot). When broken down digital literacy basically means being able to navigate digital media texts and being able to fully utilize these resources. Students are already capable of grasping a small part of digital literacy by themselves as they grow up in the digital world. However, it is up to schools to better prepare them for this digital world. These students cannot be counted on to learn everything by themselves and schools are neglecting their responsibility if they do not teach these skills.

Schools have made some early progress with teaching digital literacy. Most K-12 schools have some form of computer classes that students are required to take. I remember taking computer labs in elementary school and then taking courses computer based courses in high school. These classes definitely helped prepare me for using technology outside the classroom and inside my college classes which have demanded a very strong knowledge of digital literacy. If education systems funnel more money into schools they could better research how to teach digital literacy and could afford the new technology that could aid in the teaching process.

Students also need to be digitally literate so that they can be safe and smart while navigating social media sites. It is inevitable that students will get engaged with social media so schools should work to prepare them for it. Warner gives us an example of why it is important for students to know how Twitter is a form of writing that they need to be prepared to use. Retweeting is a form of student writing as they are retweeting posts they enjoyed or agreed with in order to better define themselves. Students run the risk of distorting their digital image or getting into something they didn’t mean to if they do not fully understand how to navigate social media.

Digital literacy and its place in the 21st century is a concept that many are still trying to figure out. The advancement of technology and the internet’s rising importance in our society has made digital literacy a required skill for everyone. It is already an integral skill for many jobs and that number will only rise within the coming years. It is up to us educators to decipher the best methods for teaching digital literacy and to help our students become fluent in this new type of literacy.

Works Cited Page

Curwood, J. (2013). “The Hunger Games”: Literature, Literacy, and Online Affinity Spaces. Language Arts, 90(6), 417–427. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/24575002

Teaching digital literacy in a new era of skepticism. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.iste.org/explore/articleDetail?articleid=2104&category=Digital-and-media-literacy

What Is Digital Literacy? (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.webroot.com/us/en/resources/tips-articles/what-is-digital-literacy

M. (2010, December 01). Rethinking Learning: The 21st Century Learner | MacArthur Foundation. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0xa98cy-Rw