Digital Literacy: What Is It And How Important Is It

It’s a reality: children no longer learn only through traditional reading and writing, but through new technologies. It involves learning to evolve in an increasingly digital age in every way. It all has to do with digital literacy.

But what exactly is it? Is it a process, a capacity, a development,…? Why is it important to include digital literacy in schools and what are its benefits?

Digital Literacy and Classical Literacy: What is it?

The Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) defines the word “literate” as “the ability to teach someone to read and write”.

But it is a term that can become obsolete in the era of new technologies and communication in which we live: and from there is born the concept of digital literacy, this process that allows us to acquire the skills necessary to be proficient in new technologies.

Through this process, we come to digital literacy, which is the ability to perform different tasks in a digital environment. This is a generic definition that contains other nuances, as this ability includes other abilities, such as the following:

• Locate the information.
• Investigate.
• Analyze.
• Prepare the content.
• Design digital proposals.

All thanks to technology and digital media. In this way, literacy is the process of achieving digital literacy, which is actually a new way of communicating, creating and understanding information.

However, throughout the article we will use the two concepts as equivalent and therefore interchangeable.

Digital Literacy Levels

There are different levels of digital literacy. These range from the most basic to an intermediate to a superior. But what does each level involve? What examples of skills do we find in each of them?

• Basic or elementary level: for example, knowing how to post on Instagram.
• Intermediate level. Involves the use of technology to improve our lives, or to be more efficient; for example, learning to code on Facebook.
• Higher level: for example, create your own digital content.

Importance and benefits

In the world in which we live, where the use of new technologies prevails, it is almost essential to know at least what digital literacy consists of. And it’s that, in a way, it’s a new way to connect with people, to communicate with them and also with the world.

Additionally, digital literacy goes beyond learning digital tools and programs and has great benefits, such as:

• Develop critical thinking.  By accessing more information, we can better contrast it, thus promoting critical thinking.
• Access to better jobs. Knowing and mastering ICT today increases the possibility of accessing more jobs and that they are better paid.
• Promote social inclusion and development. Lack of access to technology creates more differences in cultural, economic, social and educational spheres.
• Improve our daily life. New technologies can integrate into our daily lives and improve our quality of life, making it easier and more comfortable.

School and digital literacy

Schools are increasingly choosing to include programs or subjects that promote digital literacy skills. And it is that this type of literacy poses a new way of teaching and learning.

But what are the advantages of teaching ICT to the little ones?

• Stimulate your curiosity.
• The promotion of more independent work (for example, having to search for information himself).
• Acquisition of transversal learning.
• An approach closer to reality with increasingly “digital” children (“digital natives”: already familiar with new technologies).

What does bringing digital literacy to school mean?

The introduction of ICT in the school curriculum results in the teaching of computer tools and programs, but also by the introduction of e-learning (electronic learning).

Thanks to this system, the good thing is that all geographic barriers are eliminated, allowing access to unlimited information, as well as collaboration with other centers. Thus, ICTs make it possible to learn to program, to get to know the internet better…, but not only. Therefore, their inclusion in school should also be based on subjects related to media and audiovisual education.

As we can see, digital literacy is already part of our reality, and also of the reality of the little ones. And also, not only people who dedicate themselves to the digital world, but also people who are starting to learn new technologies.

Digital environments are growing more and more and it is therefore essential to have the right tools to move around.

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