The concept of digital literacy is a long-debated subject (Bawden, 2008). The concept of digital literacy arose in the late 1990’s as the digital age began to emerge from its infancy. At this time Gilster (1997) began to include digital media forms as part of the concept of literacy in a digital age. Here at UniSQ, we have continued to move with the times and have aspirational goals for digital transformation and the further development of digital campuses. As digital and educational technologies change, skills and knowledge of how to use these tools productively and educatively also need to grow and change. For digital literacy to improve, users must dedicate time to developing new skills so that they are able to effectively use them (Farias-Gaytan et al., 2022).

So, let’s consider some of the basic digital literacy skills we might expect ourselves and our students to have. Using cloud-based storage, being able to use formatting tools, understanding keyword searches, cybersecurity and using multiple apps/tools to create resources are some of the more basic skills expected. One of the most significant skills is being able to collaborate with others using technology. Being able to share and access documents for collaboration can make life much easier and avoid errors in versioning. Fundamentally, we all need to be able to adapt to changes in technologies and to do this, we must develop digital literacy.

I’ve been a teacher for over 20 years, starting my career in 2000 when educational technologies were becoming more common in classrooms. I’ve always been interested in leveraging new tools and strategies that might help my students achieve their learning goals. In that time, technology and tools have come and gone. While there are skills specific to tools, there are also a number of generic skills we learn from using educational technologies. The Australian Curriculum is now providing a clearer focus for student learning, so where does that leave those in Tertiary education? According to the Department of Education, Skills and Employment (2020), digital literacy is considered one of the critical skills for workforce participation and, therefore, in a tertiary context, must be given consideration.

Key challenges

• Time for academics and students to learn digital literacy skills
• Understanding specific needs and catering for these
• Specific incorporation into courses and programs to ensure the development of skills is progressive

Potential benefits

• Increased productivity
• Greater flexibility in how information and ideas are shared and accessed
• Students feel more successful at the beginning of their course learning as they feel more confident with what is required of them in a digital context.

So, consider this. How are your digital literacy skills? Could you explain to a student how to share a digital document? Are you able to navigate unknown web pages successfully? Do you use collaborative learning tools in your work and courses? If you need to brush up on some skills, consider discussing your needs with the Technology Demonstrators, and we can point you in the right direction.

Vanessa Crouch 

References

Bawden, D. (2008). Origins and concepts of digital literacy. In C. Lankshear & M. Knobel (Eds), Digital Literacies: Concepts, policies and practices (pp. 17-32). Peter Land Publishing, Inc.

Department of Education, Skills and Employment. (2020). Foundation skills for your future program. DRAFT digital literacy skills framework. https://www.dese.gov.au/foundation-skills-your-future-program/resources/digital-literacy-skills-framework

Farias-Gaytan, S., Aguaded, I. & Ramirez-Montoya, M.S. (2022).  Transformation and digital literacy: Systematic literature mapping. Education and Information Technologies 27, 1417–1437. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-021-10624-x

Gilster, P. (1997) Digital literacy. Wiley Computer Publishing.