Introduction to Digital Literacy

In this subunit we invite you to define digital literacy. We begin by:

  1. Searching for definitions for digital literacy on the web.
  2. Considering the difference between digital skills and digital literacy.
  3. Sharing the links you find on bookmarks.oeru.org (our resource repository for the course).
  4. Sharing personal reflections on why digital literacy matters to you in the course forum.

By starting to unpack the meaning of digital literacy, you also demonstrate your digital skills in social bookmarking, using online forums and earning badges on discourse.saylor.org.

Computer keyboard.pngDefining Digital Literacy

Purpose: Search for definitions of digital literacy and digital skills on the web to identify the difference.

  1. Read Wikipedia’s definition of digital literacy. Is this a good description?
  2. Scan the #diglit hashtag on Twitter. Did you find any valuable links to defining digital literacy.
  3. Search Google for digital literacy and record the URLs for any definitions you like, such as by adding them to your browser bookmarks.
  4. Search Google for digital skills and record the URLs for any definitions you like, such as by adding them to your browser bookmarks.
  5. Search Google for digital fluency and record the URLs for any definitions you like, such as by adding them to your browser bookmarks.
  6. How are the concepts of digital literacy, digital fluency, and digital skills different? How are they related?
  7. Read: What is digital literacy? from POMO. Do you think it is a reliable source?
  8. How do you rate the academic quality of the definitions you found?

What did you discover? Share your thoughts and experiences by posting a reply on the discussion forum, for example:

  1. "The major difference between digital skills and literacies is …"
  2. "I didn’t realize that …"
  3. "For me, digital literacy means …”

Note: Your comment will also be displayed in the course feed.

Last modified: Tuesday, February 12, 2019, 10:02 AM