Digital Literacy

In order to demonstrate digital literacy, you need to show that you can use a variety of digital technologies to investigate, evaluate, and create. Basic digital literacy skills are important for your academic, personal, and professional success in the twenty-first century. A successfully digital literacy project needs to integrate all three aspects. Being digitally literate also requires that we understand our relationship to digital media as both producers and consumers.

Individuals in the 21^st century have digital skills. For example, on 1 May 2013, the Associated Press wrote that Facebook reported that 1.1 billion people were using the site each month. On average, 665 million people use Facebook on a daily basis. Whether they realize it or not, these individuals are both consumers and producers of digital media as they investigate, evaluate, and create content. But how many of them consider the ramifications of what they are posting or the on-line presence they are creating? How often is content shared by Facebook users that has already been debunked by Snopes.com? How many people have damaged relationships, employment, or education because of their postings?

In this section of Resources for Researchers, I address the three basic components of digital literacy, explain why all digital projects do not demonstrate literacy, provide examples of projects that can help students develop and demonstrate their digital literacy skills, and address the cost of illiteracy. Finally, I provide information on how students can receive recognition for their projects.