Digital Literacy
What is
digital literacy?
Digital
literacy is a common term we usually hear or read everywhere since the
popularity gained by the WEB 2.0. We talk every time about computer literate or
digital literate and also about digital citizenship, which is becoming very
important.
I found two
interesting definitions of digital literacy:
“an ability to understand and to use information from a variety of digital sources, … simply as literacy in the digital age” Paul Gilster (1997) cited by Prof David Bawden Source
“The ability to understand and use information in multiple formats from a wide range of sources when it is presented via computers.” Paul Gilster (1997) cited by Sarah Hjeltness Source
Well,
to basic ideas “computers” and “information”. We live in a digital era but most
importantly we live times when information is power. Almost everybody is looking
for information all the time: the news, the traffic, the currency, where to
shop, vacations, show business…, even personal
information of their loved ones… But people is not only looking for information they are
also generating information. The key of this current sharing of information is
internet. The digital era we live is leading us to be computer literate because
much information is being shared through internet and we cannot miss it. It
seems to be that the less information we have the less powerful we are.
The use of the web tools has become highly relevant in
the successful of people’s professional life. We cannot think of a leader in any
of the disciplines without a digital citizenship (a digital profile). People is using internet to promote
themselves. Does that mean that internet is useful only for working? What about
daily lives? Some digital
fans start their days turning on their electronic devises (if they are off) and
checking everything they follow and they find many the information they need
for their live in there. So, digital literacy introduces people into really
fast and interconnected world that is very necessary for working, for learning but also for
life.
"Digital literacy, to me, is figuring out the cool ways to use Internet tools to accomplish stuff." Karin Dalziel (2007) Source
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