Definitions
Changing notions of literacy
Developing digital literacies
Standards for digital literacy
Standards for 21st century literacy
CCSS & SBA perspectives
Additional resources

"We define digital literacies as the capabilities which fit someone for living, learning and working in a digital society. To help with thinking about this, we have outlined six elements for consideration, which can be seen in the following diagram.
....The curriculum provides a framework for engaging with technologies that are educationally relevant.

For students, digital practices in the learning environment are shaped within their programme of study where they tend to look to teaching staff for guidance on recommended technologies or adopt those required by the curriculum. Embedding digital capability into the curriculum aligns with their educational aspirations and helps make sense of the tasks and technologies in use.

However, there is generally a lack of consistency within institutions in how students are introduced to technology in their studies, how technology is used in curriculum activities and how digital skills are assessed if at all. Engaging staff and students in development activities and systematically designing digital literacy into the curriculum will help address some of these issues."

“the ability to know when there is a need for information, to be able to identify, locate, evaluate, and effectively use that information for the issue or problem at hand”
Source: National Forum on Information Literacy

Without information literacy training, first generation students, adult learners, returning workers, senior citizens, international students and others who have had no and/or limited experience in using information resources housed in the world of library will continue to reside in the Digital Divide universe, technologically astute, intellectually deprived, and powerless.
Instead of reinforcing the information literacy skill set of digital natives and digital immigrants, we’ll continue to nurture library natives while disenfranchising library immigrants in our on-going national efforts to expand college and career readiness among the masses.
“A popular government without popular information or the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue to a farce, or a tragedy, or perhaps both.”
James Madison

NCTE 21st century literacies:
Develop proficiency and fluency with the tools of technology;
Build intentional cross-cultural connections and relationships with others so to pose and solve problems collaboratively and strengthen independent thought;
Design and share information for global communities to meet a variety of purposes;
Manage, analyze, and synthesize multiple streams of simultaneous information;
Create, critique, analyze, and evaluate multimedia texts;
Attend to the ethical responsibilities required by these complex environments.
Source: NCTE website

Not to be confused with digital literacy which focuses on the use of information and communication technology tools, information literacy emphasizes the K-16 development of the habits of mind needed to sustain and maintain our democratic way of life.

Also...Providing authentic contexts for practice, including digitally-mediated contexts
Providing individual scaffolding and support
Making practices of meaning-making explicit
Anticipating and helping learners manage conflict between different practice contexts
Recognizing and helping learners integrate their prior conceptions and practices
Source: 20 ways of thinking about digital literacy in higher education, The Guardian

Locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize and ethically use information from a variety of sources and media
Plan strategies to guide inquiry
Evaluate and select information sources and digital tools based on the appropriateness to specific tasks
Process data and report results

ISTE.org (ISTE standards for teachers

Access and Evaluate Information

Access information efficiently (time) and effectively (sources)
Evaluate information critically and competently
Use and Manage Information
Use information accurately and creatively for the issue or problem at hand
Manage the flow of information from a wide variety of sources
Apply a fundamental understanding of the ethical/legal issues surrounding the access and use of information
from p.21.org

Expert thinking – ill-structured problem solving
Complex communication
New media literacy – consume & produce technology-rich media in a social context
Technology or digital literacy



Rittel and Webber 1973 defined wicked problems first related to social policy.
Conklin later generalized the concept of problem wickedness to areas other than planning and policy.

The defining characteristics are:[5]

The problem is not understood until after the formulation of a solution.
Wicked problems have no stopping rule.
Solutions to wicked problems are not right or wrong.
Every wicked problem is essentially novel and unique.
Every solution to a wicked problem is a 'one shot operation.'
Wicked problems have no given alternative solutions. from wikipedia

“The need to conduct research and to produce and consume media is embedded into every aspect of today’s curriculum. In like fashion, research and media skills and understandings are embedded throughout the Standards rather than treated in a separate section.”
“They [students] tailor their searches online to acquire useful information efficiently, and they integrate what they learn using technology with what they learn offline. They are familiar with the strengths and limitations of various technological tools and mediums and can select and use those best suited to their communication goals.”
Source: CCSS website

"When making mathematical models, [students] know that technology can enable them to visualize the results of varying assumptions, explore consequences, and compare predictions with data. Mathematically proficient students at various grade levels are able to identify relevant external mathematical resources, such as digital content located on a website, and use them to pose or solve problems. They are able to use technological tools to explore and deepen their understanding of concepts.“
Source: CCSS Website

More information on this topic is available online in BlackBoard, in the Web Links section, and students are encouraged to explore these materials in more depth