What is Digital Literacy? A guest blog from Andy McLaughlin, University of Aberdeen

What is Digital Literacy? A guest blog from Andy McLaughlin, University of Aberdeen

1. EDUCATION SCOTLAND Digital Literacy exploration group Cross-cutting Curriculum workshop - Digital Literacy Thursday 23 rd May 2024 Andy McLaughlin University of Aberdeen

2. What is “literate”? Conceptual definitions - digital literacy as a general idea or ideal Lanham (1995) “literacy” has extended its semantic reach from meaning “the ability to read and write” to now meaning “the ability to understand information however presented Fluency model c.f. Digital Natives myth Standardized operational definitions - “operationalize” what is involved To be digitally literate in terms of certain tasks, performances, demonstrations of skills, etc., and advance these as a standard for general adoption Competency model c.f. Platformisation of education

3. Platform promoted skills Apple Google Microsoft Connected Communication Skilled communication  Collaborative Collaboration Collaboration  Creative Creativity Real-world problem solving and innovation  Personal Critical thinking Knowledge construction  Self-regulation   Information and communication technology (ICT) for learning 

4. Digital literacies or digital skills 1980s Used by humans Computer literacy Computer skills basic programming commands formatting a floppy disk 1990s Internet literacy Web skills navigating hypertext building web-pages 2000s Cyber safety ‘21 st Century Skills’ online communication creativity collaboration 2010s Media and Information Literacy viral content Misinformation f ake news 2020s Used on humans Algorithmic literacy automated decision-making Algorithmic technologies ‘AI’ technologies Selwyn, 2022

5. New digital literacies How do we prepare children and young people to: recognise when data-driven automated systems are being used; have a basic understanding of how these data-driven automated systems work – what Tania Bucher d escribes as an ‘ algorithmic imaginary ’; know how to  work with  algorithmic systems – for example, writing with a natural language processing tool so that it helps (rather than hinders) your creativity; know how to  work around  algorithmic systems – for example, using  obfuscation tactics  to avoid dataveillance; recognise when human input and outsight is required – for example, knowing when to override an automated decision, or push back against algorithmic bias and automated discrimination. Selwyn, 2022

6. Post-digital theory Embeddedness of digital technologies across public and private life E mergence of postdigital societies, in which the absence of digital technologies is noticed more than their presence Today’s students must navigate an environment in which digital devices, spaces and networks frame ways of seeing, thinking and being.  Webster (2023)

7. “Despite the pervasive nature of digital technology, its benefits are not always fully felt within our education establishments” Scottish Government (2016)

8. ySKILLS project (LSE & EU Horizon 2020) Lack of standarised approach leads to a variation in opportunities for children and young people to engage with the internet and digital media Digital literacy includes elements of media literacy , such as critical information literacy ( Wuyckens et al., 2022) ySKILLS project recommended future policy work focus on the development of digital literacy as a precise and core concept Ní Bhroin , N., Krutzinna , J. & Staksrud , E. (2023) Digital skills = technical and operational skills information navigation and processing skills communication and interaction skills content creation and production skills

9. DIGITAL SKILLS + DIGITAL KNOWLEDGE DIGITAL LITERACY

10. DETECT – Developing Teachers’ Critical Digital Literacies (detectproject.eu) in Gouseti et al (2024) Technology Use Critical technical skills Computational thinking Technology risks and troubleshooting Data Literacies Data analytics Data protection & data safety Big and Open data Data visualisation Information Literacies Digital media use Online reading comprehension Online inquiry process Source validation and verification Digital Content Creation Creative digital expression Co-creation Multimodal production Digital publishing Remixing Digital Teaching & Learning Digital pedagogical methods Learning analytics Digital learning ecologies Digital Citizenship Rights and responsibilities Sustainable use Digital civic engagement Digital Wellbeing & Safety Empowerment Online Safety Digital overexposure Digital selfhood Digital belonging Ergonomics Digital Communication & Collaboration Online communications Online collaboration Digital empathy Networking Digital identity and profiles

11. Challenges Children and young people are quick to adopt and experiment with new possibilities, but they should not be left alone in this or rely only on the influence of peers or the supervision of parents. Digitality stretches across the curriculum. Teaching new digital competencies in schools cannot be a responsibility of an individual teacher, but a collaborative activity of teachers and all members in the school community. Gouseti et al (2024)

12. Global perspective Nordic curricula share an emphasis on societal issues and a critical and ethical approach. Godhe (2019) policy shift from technological competence to stretched out interpretation of digital competences that includes dimensions that acknowledge citizens’ role in the digitalised society. Olofsson et al. (2021)

13. Questions to consider How do we ensure our teachers and schools get resources, training and guidelines on how to provide educational opportunities related to digitality equally for all? balance the opportunities with students’ well-being? find meaningful pedagogical practices based on visions of digitality in the future? Does the current national curriculum address the increasingly complex range of critical digital literacies required for teaching, learning and living in a digital world? How do we support teachers and students with developing not only technical skills but a critical understanding of how to navigate digital environments and participate in a digitised world safely, responsibly and ethically? How do we ensure consistency of baselines across CLD, SDS, SLIC and the essential digital skills framework? ( After all, the parents must come on the same journey as the kids) Gouseti et al (2024)

14. References Godhe , A.-L. (2019). Digital literacies or digital competence: Conceptualizations in Nordic curricula. Media and Communication, 7(2), 25–35. https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v7i2.1888 Gouseti , A., Ilomäki , L., Lakkala , M. (2024). Re-thinking Critical Digital Literacies in the Context of Compulsory Education. In: Dunn, H.S., Ragnedda , M., Ruiu , M.L., Robinson, L. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Everyday Digital Life . Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-30438-5_15 Lanham, R . (1995). Digital literacy, Scientific American, 273(3), 160–161 https://www.jstor.org/stable/24981795 LCOM TEAM (2024), Digital Literacy in 2024: 7 Important Computer Skills for Future-Ready Students https://www.learning.com/blog/digital-literacy-in-2024/ Ní Bhroin , N., Krutzinna , J. & Staksrud , E. (2023). ySKILLS – Children and young people (aged 12-17)’s digital skills: Evidence-based recommendations for policy and practice. KU Leuven: ySKILLS https://zenodo.org/records/10252368 Olofsson , A. D., Lindberg, J. O., Young Pedersen, A., Arstorp , A.-T., Dalsgaard, C., Einum , E., Caviglia, F., Ilomäki , L., Veermans, M., Häkkinen , P., & Willermark , S. (2021). Digital competence across boundaries – Beyond a common Nordic model of the digitalisation of K-12 schools? Education Inquiry, 12(4), 317–328. https://doi.org/10.1080/20004508.2021.1976454 SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT (2016), Enhancing Learning And Teaching Through The Use Of Digital Technology. https://www.gov.scot/publications/enhancing-learning-teaching-through-use-digital-technology/documents/ SELWYN, N (2022), What should ‘digital literacy’ look like in an age of algorithms and AI? https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/parenting4digitalfuture/2022/04/06/digital-literacy-and-ai/ Webster, J. Updating Digital Citizenship Education for a Postdigital Society. NZ J Educ Stud (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40841-023-00305-3