Digital Literacy

 

  

   It is “the interest, attitude and ability of individuals to appropriately use digital technology and communication tools to access, manage, integrate, analyze and evaluate information, construct new knowledge, create and communicate with others in order to participate effectively in society”.

    The UNESCO ICT is a framework that outlines the competencies that teachers need to integrate Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) into their professional practice. It emphasizes the role that ICT can play in supporting 6 major education focus areas across 3 growth phases of knowledge acquisition.

    There is an emphasis on the educational benefit of ICT integration in each focus area of the framework, to provide a solid educational context for the development of ICT Skills.

    As one progresses through the phases, the activities demand greater higher order thinking skills. They move from basic comprehension on issues relating to ICT to finally reinterpreting educators responsibilities to leverage ICTs in unique ways.

It provides a lens through which to integrate ICT into teacher training. The ICT CFT provides a framework through which capacity building for ICT integration in teaching and learning can be developed.

    

    UNESCO can accompany Member States upon request in their application of the ICT CFT to develop national competency standards for teachers linking the ICT CFT to broader interventions in the framework of national ICT policy frameworks. UNESCO can also support Member States to contextualize the ICT CFT at the institutional and/or governmental level (based on national contexts) and harness the use of open educational resources (teaching/learning resources available for use/re-use and adaptation provided through open licenses) for the implementation of teacher training activities based on the Framework..

     The multitude of texts published along with my own educational experiences to define the fact that there are many challenges that education faces to succeed in the 21st Century. Students  need to acquire the ability to create, design, innovate and think critically to solve the complex demanding that will face them. As education evolves in this new century, educators and those who guide them must be aware of the rapid changes, especially to confront  all the problems that we all have as individuals and as a society. Teachers and learners most explore the current education system to be prepare for the 21st Century challenges.

References :

Ministry of Education, British Columbia. (2017, May 17).  Digital Literacy Standards. Retrieved from  http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/education-training/k-12/teach/teaching-tools/digital-literacy

Connecting the Digital Dots: Literacy of the 21st Century.(2006, January 1st) Retrieved from http://er.educause.edu/articles/2006/1/connecting-the-digital-dots-literacy-of-the-21st-century

UNESCO ICT Competency Framework for Teachers. (2011).  Retrieved from

http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0021/002134/213475e.pdf