4 Major Reasons Why Digital Literacy Skills Are Important For Teachers
The meaning of the term “digital literacy” has witnessed a gradual shift over the years. While there was a time when digital literacy was pretty much summed up as “Proficient at Microsoft Word”, now such skills are considered standard. This shift toward being technologically savvy is all-permeated, entering the classroom as well.
So, what is digital literacy?
“Digital literacy is the ability to use information and communication technologies to find, evaluate, create, and communicate information, requiring both cognitive and technical skills.”
Gadgets and gismo surround our life in every way today. If you are a teacher who needs to shoulder the major responsibility of imparting education to this generation, then you need to match up to the expectation of these fast-paced young netizens and one of the safest ways to keep yourself updated is by enrolling in a TEFL course.
Here, we’ve discussed four reasons why digital literacy skills are important for teachers, who are specifically dealing with tech-savvy learners.
1. Moving Beyond Google
Google is a powerful tool. Students with access to a computer/smart phone and the internet can find the possible answers to not only simple questions but also incredibly complex problems.
However, there is a significant difference between Googling an answer and understanding the essence of the information provided there. Our main objective must be to let students follow Bloom’s Taxonomy so that they can gain the deepest level of understanding when faced with a problem.
In other words, simply finding the answer in Google does not provide our students with true, meaningful learning. Most students nowadays are well-aware of how to use a search engine, it is up to teachers to provide students with the additional skills to bring the answers to the next level.
As a teacher, teach students to evaluate and question their sources. Teach them the correct approach to draw a strong conclusion. Encourage them to reach new levels of creativity.
2. Teaching Digital Citizenship
By teaching digital citizenship, we mean being a good digital citizen whereby the student correctly understands and follows appropriate and responsible uses of the internet technology. Two primary issues that are of concern when it comes to digital citizenship are: academic plagiarism and cyberbullying.
Academic Plagiarism
In a world where our learners are continually sharing information from the internet, it is quite natural that they may not know what plagiarism is, let alone when they’re doing it. Hence, as teachers, it is your responsibility to make them aware of plagiarism and set clear anti-plagiarism policies at the beginning of each academic year.
Cyber bullying
Cyber bullying is bullying that takes place online whereby users are harassed and threatened by known or unknown people. It has become a common issue in schools and online communities. And while today’s students are tech-savvy, they are not fully aware of the social norms that apply to online behavior.
Students must be made aware of cyber bullying and the laws that are in place to prevent it so that no student dares to do it or easily fall victim to it and if they are cyber-bullied, they can talk to their teachers and are well-aware of the necessary steps to take.
3. Expanding Conceptions of the Digital World
While most young students these days are adept at using digital tools for various purposes, their understanding of the overall functionality of these tools is often limited.
For example, students use Instagram to post random photos that they click on but never imagine using the platform for their art or history projects. They record themselves on whatsapp or tiktok, but do not use them for journalism projects or a historical narrative piece.
Here is where digitally literate teachers are of help. These teachers are well acquainted with the ways to inspire students to use today’s technology as a powerful toolset to expand their learning opportunities.
4. Improving Technology
Digitally literate teachers have the requisite knowledge and awareness to provide crucial suggestions on pedagogical practices or specific subjects to education-based technology developers. This kind of support from the digitally educated teachers helps to enhance both the quality and the quantity of useful data to be used for educational purposes.
If you are a digitally literate teacher, you can even share your expertise and wisdom with your peers, thereby helping to upgrade the overall teaching standards.
Conclusion
Information, if conveyed carelessly, may result in some disastrous consequences. Since today’s young learners are exposed to the digital world from a quite early age, hence they must be made aware of how to handle it properly and extract the essence of knowledge available digitally. Therefore, the onus is largely on the teachers to help the learners learn this.
This is the generation of technology where our students eat, sleep and breathe technology. Hence, the teachers of today’s generation and thereafter must equip themselves with the digital skills and knowledge that are necessary to help their students become responsible digital citizens by pursuing a good training course like 280 hours International Advanced Diploma in TEFL that focuses on enhancing the digital literacy skills for teachers.
