The Importance of Digital Literacy
There’s a popular debate amongst new parents about whether they will let their child use technology, or even worse…use the iPad as a babysitter. The debate goes into whether it affects the development of the child’s brain, causes attention deficit disorders, etc. I’m not going to get into this debate here, but what I would like to point out is that whether we like it or not, we live in a digital society and if we don’t make sure our children learn to use technology safely and effectively then we are doing them a disservice.
Image by Outcrowd
I have a child in primary school, and it is probably no surprise to anyone who knows me that he knows how to code, and is quite capable of formatting his hard drive, reinstalling Windows and related software. Sound advanced? Not particularly, these are necessary skills in a digital world. While I haven’t let him lose on the world of social media yet, we do look at my social media sites together and talk about what happens with a digital footprint, sharing content, the permanency of information online and being safe.
Now I have seen the damage that can be done on social media with teenagers, and there are many, many scary stories out there. So, will I let my son have social media as a teenager? I think if I didn’t, I would be doing the wrong thing by him. Instead, he will be able to have social media but in a staged approach with guidance and education. That education has already started – he is already saying to me “why did that person share that? Don’t they understand the consequences?”. To me that is the critical part that is often missed – the education in the lead up to letting our kids online. When you get your licence, you don’t just go and do the test without lessons and practice first – so why do we give our kids access to a weapon (yes, I’m calling the internet a weapon!) that can harm themselves and others without the appropriate education before letting them drive?
When you think of teenagers and using technology, what is the level of competence that comes to mind? Most people think teenagers and young people are all across it because of the way they can post stories on Instagram, use filters and take selfies. But there is more to it than this – and what do they know beyond social media and selfies? Are they able to apply their digital literacy skills to the workplace? This is where we are sometimes falling short.
Going back to the beginning of this article, I mentioned that we live in a digital society. This relates to education, work and community. Before 2020, there was less necessity for technology to be used in lots of situations. Now, we can’t even go to the corner store without needing to take a device with us to check in using a QR code. Here’s a bit of trivia – do you know what QR stands for? Quick Response Code, invented in 1994. It is a tool we have used in education for quite some time, however since 2020 the use of the QR code has spread exponentially. My point is, digital literacy skills are a necessity. It has become as important as being able to read or write. This is why we now have a framework related to digital skills – the Australian Digital Literacy Skills Framework, which forms part of the Australian Core Skills Framework to outline how we address LLND – Language, Literacy, Numeracy and Digital Skills.
At VETNexus, we are passionate about developing the digital literacy skills of our learners and workers. This is why we have launched the Digital Literacy Licence. Learn more at the DLL website!
