Professional Documents
Culture Documents
What is digital literacy? Unanimously, this kind of literacy is defined as the ability
to use digital technology, communication tools or networks to locate, evaluate, use and
create information (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2008). In the very same
line of thought, the University of New South Wales (n.d.) delineates digital literacy as
the technical and critical analysis abilities required to find, evaluate, create and
disseminate information using different digital technologies. And Visser (2012) encircles
digital literacy as the ability to use information and communication technologies to find,
evaluate, create, and communicate information, requiring both cognitive and technical
skills. In conclusion, digital literacy, -based on what the experts believe-, implies digital
Digital literacy also implies a persons ability to perform tasks effectively in a digital
environment... Literacy includes the ability to read and interpret media, to reproduce data
and images through digital manipulation, and to evaluate and apply new knowledge
gained from digital environments (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2008).
Now this sound like a more round-up definition for digital literacy that is inclusive of the
individual who is ready to learn from digital ambiences.
But what is being lost from perspective in any of the definitions cited above is what
all this means for a digitally literate individual. Is this the same for an instructor as well
for a learner? Visser (2012) goes beyond this now elaborated definition and outlines what
a digitally literate person is by stating that this very individual:
1. Possesses the variety of skills technical and cognitive required to find,
understand, evaluate, create, and communicate digital information in a wide
variety of formats;
2. Is able to use diverse technologies appropriately and effectively to retrieve
information, interpret results, and judge the quality of that information;
3. Understands the relationship between technology, life-long learning, personal
privacy, and stewardship of information;
4. Uses these skills and the appropriate technology to communicate and
collaborate with peers, colleagues, family, and on occasion, the general public;
and
5. Uses these skills to actively participate in civic society and contribute to a
vibrant, informed, and engaged community.
(Visser, 2012)
How does all this relate to teachers and students as digitally literate individuals?
Well, digitally literate instructors and learners need to somehow embody what Visser
(2012) states, but how? Here you have my proposal:
learning;
goals;
3. Understands the relationship between
own pace;
and
5. Uses these skills to actively participate in
To sum up, digital literacy is not just digital technology, communication tools, the