Module 3: Non-digital and Digital Skills and Tools in Delivering Technology-

Enhanced Lessons

Lesson 5: Digital Literacy Skills in the 21st Century

World
Lesson Outcomes

1. Identified and described the elements of digital literacies

2. Conducted a self-evaluation on level of digital literacy skill

Introduction

The 21" Century has redefined digital literacy. It has broadened its perspective to
include other aspects of the 21St context. These literacies include (1) Cyber Literacy or
Digital Literacy, (2) Media Literacy, (3) Arts and Creativity Literacy, (4) Financial
Literacy, (6) Multicultural Literacy or Global Understanding.
This lesson will focus on digital skills and digital literacy as a response to the 21"
Century developments.
The millennial students are generally tech-savvy, digital natives. They practically
know how to go about a tablet, an ipad, smartphones or laptops better than anyone
else. This suggests their digital skills.
However, are all students digital literates?
Thinking on how to use the digital tools, accessing information, and exhibiting ways
of working in a globally competitive contexts, together with skills in living in the 21st
Century refer to the digital literacies.

Excite

Do you feel confident when you search for information in the internet? Do you easily
locate relevant resources? Do you think you are capable of optimizing the use of the
online tools such as Facebook or google when studying or doing school work? How do
you manage your digital identity?
The skills you need to be able to perform well in the situations are known as digital
literacy.' In the 21" century, you need to be equipped with these skills to be abreast with
the demands in the workplace.
Take the Digital Literacy Skills Self-Inventory and find out how confident you are
when working online by putting a tick mark [ ] in the corresponding column.

Module 3: Lesson 5: Digital Literacy Skills in the 21st Century Page 1 of 6

Experience

Digital Literacy Skills - Finding, Using, Creating Not Somewhat Very

Information and Understanding Digital Practices Confident Confident Confident
Selecting the right tool when you need to locate, use
or present information.
Presenting your digital identity online
Identifying and communicating with an expert online
Using online tools and sites to search or share
information online
Recognizing owner of ideas and information found
online through citations
Distinguishing the search engines to get information
Knowing the information that can be searched in the
Web
Using the right key words to search for related online
materials
Using social networking sites as a source of
information
Scanning or skimming a page of a site or a blog
among others to get the relevant information quickly
Signing up in pertinent sites having experts and
authorities in the discipline to be updated with
information they can provide
Using materials in a variety of online media (i.e.
videos, podcast, sites, among others)
Assessing the credibility of an online resource
Citing correct reference to other person's work found
Online
Using bookmarking to organize and legally share files
Posting comments to online forum, blogs or Vblogs,
or web pages while observing netiquette
Writing and posting online views or ideas suited to
the target readership or audiences
Collaborating with others online in creating and
sharing documents or presentations
Using multimedia to capture the information or
message (i.e. recording and editing a digital story,
video or a podcast)
Communicating with others through online modality
(e.g. skype, forums, blogs, social networking sites,
etc.)

What have you realized after taking the Digital Literacy Skills Self-Inventory?

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What are digital literacies?

Digital literacies are the individual's capabilities to be able to effectively and

responsibly function and perform in a digital society. The term 'digital literacy' was coined
by Paul Gilster in 1997 and it came from the discussion of the concepts on
a) visual literacy when images and non-verbal symbols try to capture the
knowledge;
b) technological literacy requiring one to be able to use technology in
addressing a need;
c) computer literacy, which in the 1980s started to become a household item
manipulated to achieve one's target; and
d) information literacy which refers to the finding, evaluating, using and sharing
of information.
In the teaching and learning context, digital literacy is an important competence.
In school, it has become a buzzword which refers to the ability to access, process,
understand, utilize, create media content using information technologies and the internet
(Hsieh, 2012). Study the varied digital literacies discussed below.

The Digital Literacies

Media Literacy — is one's ability to critically read information or content and

utilize multimedia in creatively producing communications.
Information Literacy — is locating information from the web and interpreting
while evaluating its validity in order that it can be shared.
ICT Literacy — is knowing how to select and use digital devices, applications or
services to accomplish tasks requiring the use of the internet.
Communications and Collaboration — are one's capabilities in being able to
participate in the digital networks in the teaching and learning context.
Identity Management — is being able to understand how to ensure safety and
security in managing online identity and foster a positive digital reputation.
Learning Skills — are ways of knowing how to study and learn in a technology-
enriched environment; this is knowing how to utilize technology in addressing the need
to learn efficiently.
Digital Scholarship — is being able to link and participate in professional and
research practices.

One important component of digital literacy is having an in-depth understanding

of concepts requiring essential core skills. These core skills. are known as the C’s of the
21st Century- Skills.

The Four Cs of the 21st Century Skills

The four C's of the 21st Century Skills refer to critical thinking, creativity, communication,
and collaboration. To perform well in this century, you need to develop and enhance these
skills namely creativity, critical thinking, communication and collaboration. All of these
21st century skills are essentials for students to do well in school and succeed in the
workplace.

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1. Critical thinking, is learning how to solve
problems. It teaches students not to accept
immediately claims without seeking the truth. It is
the ability to differentiate facts from opinions and
not only just learn a set of facts or figures but also
discover these for the sake. of knowing what
ought to be.
2. Creativity requires students to think out of
the box and to take pride in what is uniquely
theirs. It means that they will be able to look
at a problem from multiple perspectives-
including can propose multiple possibilities
and alternatives to address a problem and
they need to take calculated risks. Creativity
encourages students to think beyond the
expectations of conventions. However,
creativity may not ensure success all the time
but it may lead to another direction that can
actually be a better way of figuring out how to
solve the problem those that others may not
see.
3. Communication makes students express
'their ideas in the clearest and organized
manner. Through varied modes - face-to-
face, technologically mediated or a blended
medium, they need to know how to efficiently
and clearly convey ideas.'
4. Collaboration happens when students know
how to work well with others to accomplish a given task or solve a problem at hand.
This is a 21st essential. When students are made to work with others in a pair or
in a team, they are given the chance to practice how to relate with others. They
may be working with classmates they do not really prefer to work with but with
guidance, you can teach them to tap on the capabilities of each member of the
team and collaboratively achieve the goal. Eventually when they leave school, they
will definitely see the need to know how to collaborate with others in order for them
to accomplish a job, and you have prepared them for it. In other words,
collaboration teaches students that groups can create something bigger and better
than you can on your own.
In addition to the ' 4C's, there are Citizenship and Character. Citizenship is
known as netizenship in the virtual world. This is making the person consider how
one behaves accordingly by observing the norms and rules that are in accordance
with what are sociably and virtually acceptable. As a result, one is projecting a
reputable digital identity which is his or her character.

Digital Literacy Skills vs. Digital Literacy

Digital Literacy Skills are required in the wired world. These skills vary from texts
to images to multimedia. Future teachers who will be handling students considered as
tech savvy should equip themselves with competencies and fluencies needed to handle
the fast emerging tools and applications that should be able to handle even artificial
intelligences.
Lynch (2017), identified eight digital literacy skills needed to become digitally
literate. These are:

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 1. Coding. - Coding is a universal language. Basic understanding of HTML, CSS and
the like will create a shared understanding of what can be done with the web
pages.
2. Collaboration. - The use of Google Docs among others allows student to begin
experimenting with effective online collaboration.
3. Cloud software. - This is essential part of document management. The cloud is
used to store everything from photos to research projects, to term papers and even
music.
4. Word Processing Software. - Google, Microsoft Online Drop Box are available
for storage and management solutions.
5. Screencasting. - A screencast is a video recording using the computer screen,
and usually includes an audio. On the other hand, when you take a picture on the
screen of your computer, it is called a Printscreen Both can be used in explaining
topics as well as providing a visual support to clarify what you are thinking. While
the printscreen is a picture, the screen casting is a video screen capture which is
a great way to share ideas and is easy to use for novice video creator.
6. Personal Archiving. - Students should be taught the concepts of meta data,
tagging, keywords and categories to make them aware how are they represented
online.
7. Information evaluation. - Critical thinking to weed out fake news is a crucial 21"
century skill. The use of tools and skills needed to process. information are very
much needed.
8. Use of social media. - Social media serves different purposes depending on the
user, the technology and the need. For example, students should realize that
Twitter can be useful for staying current on the latest news in the field.

Digital literacy has been defined in many ways that is understandable by both
natives and digital immigrants. Teachers and students should not only be proficient in
how to use (digital skills) but they need to see the information and media technology to
find, evaluate, create and communicate information requiring both cognitive and technical
skills. are examples of how Digital Skills or Proficiency support Digital Literacy.

Here are examples of how Digital Skills or Proficiency support Digital Literacy.

Digital skills Digital Literacy

1. Sending an email or text 1. Evaluate the appropriate digital
channel for online communication with
peen teachers and parents.
2. Using Microsoft office/ Google 1. Identify the benefits and drawbacks o:
each digital tool.
2. Evaluate critically which tool is most
effective for the project at hand.
3. Tweeting, Posting to Facebook, 1. Navigate the social media safely to
Uploading a Video to YouTube, or protect oneself
posting a photo to Instagram 2. Identify hate propaganda and fake
news
4. Researching from the worldwide 1. Evaluate the information online.
web. a. Is the site legitimate?
b. Is the author an expert?
c. Is the information current or dated?
d. Is the idea neutral or biased?

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Task: Match the digital literacy in Column A with its description in column B

Column A Column B
A. Participating in the digital networks 1. Media Literacy
for learning and research 2. Communication and Collaboration
B. Adopting, adapting and using of 3. Learning Skills
digital devices, application and 4. ICT Literacy
Services 5. Career and identity Management
C. Critically reading and creatively 6. Digital Scholarship
producing academic and 7. Information Literacy
professional communications in a 8. Technology Literacy
wide range of media
D. Managing digital reputation and
online activity
E. Participating in emerging
academic, professional and
research practices that depend on
digital systems
F. Finding, interpreting, evaluating,
managing and sharing of
information
G. Studying and learning effectively in
technology-rich environments

On the Web...

Apply your digital literacy skills on information literacy by searching for the identified
sample sites. Navigate around each site and share what information can be found in
each. Share how you will make use of the information or content that you can retrieve
from those sites.
1. Professor Garfield with URL http://www.professorgarfield.org/pgf_home.html
2. Common Sense Media with URL
https://www.commonsense.org/education/digital-citizenship#digcit-program
3. Lesson Plan Booster: Digital Literacy and Online Ethics with URL
https://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson-plan-booster/cyber-
ethics.shtml

Exchange
Think-Pair-Share
Based on the result of your Digital Literacy Skills Self-Inventory, in which following
area(s) do you find yourself least confident?
a) Understanding digital practices
b) Locating information
c) Using information
d) Creating information

What action do you plan to take? Discuss this with your partner and share your Action
Plan.

Reference:
Bilbao, Purita P. et. al. Technology for Teaching and Learning 1, Lorimar
Publishing Inc. 2019, Quezon City Manila

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