Digital literacy is the confident and critical use of technology. It is the ability to perform tasks in a digital environment. The 20th and 21st centuries have experienced extreme technological progress. It is very difficult to find a field or aspect of human society that has not yet integrated technology within it. According to the article What is Digital Literacy? , “Digital literacy has become an essential life skill which, if absent or underdeveloped, becomes a barrier to social integration and personal development”. Without digital literacy, one would not be able to assess, manage, evaluate or create information using digital resources; all necessary skills to be able to function in the contemporary educational and working environments.
The developed world has become so dependent on technology, that it can be said that digital literacy can replace the single word literacy. According to Connecting the Dots: Literacy of the 21st Century, prior to the 21’st century literacy would separate the educated from the uneducated. Furthermore those who do not understand technology approach it in a manner comparable to how most people approach a foreign language; and they are never able to fully integrate into this new digital society. Therefore it is very important that teachers find ways to integrate technology into education, as without it, students will find it very difficult to be competitive in whatever field they choose to pursue. Digital literacy is the literacy of the 21st century and has become a necessary aspect of everyone’s lives.
Works cited:
Jones-Kavalier, Barbara R., and Suzanne L. Flannigan. "Connecting the Digital Dots: Literacy of the 21st Century (EDUCAUSE Quarterly) | EDUCAUSE." What is EDUCAUSE? | EDUCAUSE. Web. 14 Jan. 2010.
Hilding-Hamann, Knud E. "What is Digital Literacy." Digital Literacy. Web. 14 Jan. 2010.
Excellent job explaining the necessity of digital literacy; your quotes provided strong evidence. It is interesting to consider the possibility that digital literacy would replace the word literacy. I totally agree that technology should be integrated into education. I love how you compared trying to become digitally literate to someone learning a second language. Most of the more digitally literate people probably would have difficulty agreeing with this. But if we considered the perspective of someone with practically no technology skills this is precisely the case. Great Job!
ReplyDeleteNot only was this a good definition, but it became to some degree a strong argumentative piece as well. Some of your claims were very unique, but relevant nonetheless. The first sentence of your second paragraph, stating that digital literacy may replace literacy in general, was quite bold and in this way strengthened your argument for it's importance. The last sentence states the same thing with slightly different wording, but is in my opinion a good way to end the paragraph, with a bold statement of support.
ReplyDelete