Digital literacy is the ability to search, retrieve, understand and use information from a variety of digital sources (Bawden, 2008). Online information is presented in an interactive way, which is much different than static print material. Online media contains hyperlinks, photos, videos, sounds and comment features among other media. Digital literacy is an interactive forum that requires critical thinking to analyze and content evaluation and participate in content development. Digital literacy encompasses one’s ability to scrutinize material from a variety of online sources using various tools to access reading content and information.

Digital literacy is more than a skill set, but rather a set of competencies and mindset (Bawden, 2008). According to Bawden (2008), the four competencies to digital literacy are internet searching, hypertext navigation, knowledge assembly and content evaluation. Media Smarts Canada’s Centre of Digital and Media Literacy illustrates how digital literacy overarches skill sets and elements including the seven competencies for students outlined by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). The model is a continuum of skills that students will use from the initial point of contact with information, all the way up the model to create, where students are participants of digital literacy. Digital literacy encompasses an understanding of e-safety, knowing how to engage in the digital environment responsibly.

Digital literacy is how 21st-century learners structure information and knowledge. The focus is no longer on technical skills acquisition but rather orienting towards the cognition of literacy, critical thinking and judgement (Beetham & Oliver, 2010).

I am a Digital Age Learner