Many organizations simply aren’t investing in their workforce’s digital skills. According to the Digital Workplace Group’s 2017 Member Survey, 39 percent of respondents said their organization had no digital skills program or that they were not aware of any such program. This number should concern those organizations, considering recent findings from Gartner that suggest the need for digital literacy will continue to increase. By 2021, 25 percent of digital workers will use a virtual employee assistant on a daily basis. This number should concern those organizations, considering recent findings from Gartner that suggest the need for digital literacy will continue to increase……Continue reading….

By: By Dom Nicastro

Source: CMS Wire

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Critics:

The pedagogy of digital literacy has begun to move across disciplines. In academia, digital literacy is part of the computing subject area alongside computer science and information technology, while some literacy scholars have argued for expanding the framing beyond information and communication technologies into literacy education overall.

Similar to other evolving definitions of literacy that recognize the cultural and historical ways of making meaning, digital literacy does not replace traditional methods of interpreting information but rather extends the foundational skills of these traditional literacies. Scholars have argued that digital literacy should be considered a part of the path towards acquiring knowledge.

The current model of digital literacy explores six skills listed below.

1. Reproduction literacy: the ability to use digital technology to create a new piece of work or combine existing pieces of work to make it unique and applicable to personal understanding.
2. Photo-visual literacy: the ability to read and deduce information from visuals.
3. Branching literacy: the ability to successfully navigate in the non-linear medium of digital space.
4. Information literacy: the ability to search, locate, assess and critically evaluate information found on the web and on-shelf in libraries, including validity of that information
5. Socio-emotional literacy: the social and emotional aspects of being present online, whether it may be through socializing, and collaborating, or simply consuming content.^[24]
6. Real-time thinking: the ability to process large volumes of stimuli at the same time

Digital literacy skills continue to develop with the rapid advancements of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in the 21st century. AI technologies are designed to simulate human intelligence through the use of complex systems such as machine learning algorithms, natural language processing, and robotics.

The introduction of AI presents a new media platform that requires the skill of digital literacy. Learning how to use Artificial Intelligence comfortably, in a productive manner, is part of that literacy, but does not make it up entirely. Digital literacy does not simply refer to the use of these technologies, but rather the practices, attitudes, and behaviors that it supports.

Using Artificial Intelligence in practice, as a way of conveying and receiving information, separating truth from false, or creating new meanings and ideas, is an example of digital literacy. As these technologies emerge, so have different attempts at defining AI literacy – the ability to understand the basic techniques and concepts behind AI in different products and services. Many framings leverage existing digital literacy frameworks and apply an AI lens to the skills and competencies. Common elements of these frameworks include:

• Know and understand: know the basic functions of AI and how to use AI applications
• Use and apply: applying AI knowledge, concepts and applications in different scenarios
• Evaluate and create: higher-order thinking skills (e.g., evaluate, appraise, predict, design)
• Ethical issues: considering fairness, accountability, transparency, and safety with AI

Digital literacy is necessary for the correct and effective use of various digital platforms. Literacy in social network services and Web 2.0 sites help people stay in contact with others, pass information in a timely manner, and even buy and sell goods and services. Digital literacy can also prevent people from being taken advantage of online, as photo manipulation, e-mail frauds and phishing often can fool the digitally illiterate, costing victims money and making them vulnerable to identity theft.

However, those using technology and the internet to commit these manipulations and fraudulent acts possess the digital literacy abilities to fool victims by understanding the technical trends and consistencies; it becomes important to be digitally literate to always think one step ahead when utilizing the digital world.

The emergence of social media has paved the way for people to communicate and connect with one another in new and different ways. Websites like Facebook and Twitter (now X), as well as personal websites and blogs, have enabled a new type of journalism that is subjective, personal, and “represents a global conversation that is connected through its community of readers.”

These online communities foster group interactivity among the digitally literate. Social media also help users establish a digital identity or a “symbolic digital representation of identity attributes.” Without digital literacy or the assistance of someone who is digitally literate, one cannot possess a personal digital identity (this is closely allied to, but unique from, web literacy).

Research has demonstrated that the differences in the level of digital literacy depend mainly on age and education level, while the influence of gender is decreasing. Among young people, digital literacy is high in its operational dimension. Young people rapidly move through hypertext and have a familiarity with different kinds of online resources. However, for young people, the skills to critically evaluate the content found online show a deficit.

With the rise of digital connectivity amongst young people, concerns of digital safety are higher than ever. A study conducted in Poland, commissioned by the Ministry of National Knowledge, measured the digital literacy of parents in regards to digital and online safety. It concluded that parents often overestimate their level of knowledge, but clearly had an influence on their children’s attitude and behavior towards the digital world.

It suggests that with proper training programs, parents should have the knowledge in teaching their children about the safety precautions necessary to navigate the digital space.

Huawei and the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning Empowered Over 10,000 Literacy Educators Worldwide through Digital Skills Training  18:46 Tue, 08 Sep