Intro to Critical Digital Literacy

If I were to ask myself 'what is critical digital literacy?' without having been in a course that specifically focused on that concept, I would have no answer other than a blank stare. That is a concept far too large to define right off the bat, so let’s break it down. Critical. I would venture to say that critical means necessary.

Digital. I would say that this related to the anything incorporated into technology whether it be on the internet or other applications like games or programs.

Literacy. This, to me, would mean the ability to maneuver competently within the particular medium one is trying to utilize.

Now that we have gotten those three separate definitions, we can connect them all.

So, back to where we began, Critical digital literacy. What is it? Given the prior definitions, I would say that a solid definition of this would be necessary and detailed skills one must have in relation to the digital world and technology to understand and navigate it properly and competently.

Critical digital literacy covers such a vast number of topics. When I began learning about it, I was absolutely amazed at the sheer amount of life lessons the digital world can teach someone. Without the proper teaching of this content, however, I think it is entirely too possible for someone to get misinformed and go down the wrong path in the digital world, making mistakes that will come back to haunt them, if not now, then later in life.

With this definition of critical digital literacy in mind, I feel it pertinent to share with you a couple of critical digital literacy frameworks that could help people to understand just what is involved in being digitally literate.

The first of these frameworks is called 21^st Century Competencies which gives insight into skills one must possess and skills people have to use to be digitally literate. This framework gives so much insight not just into what aspects of life digital literacy plays into, but also gives specifics and breaks it down into categories. These categories break down digital literacy into its sections of life lessons, then explains what each of these sections plays into in regards to what practices come into play, and then explains the 21st-century skill that is needed for each of these sections. This framework is brilliant in breaking down critical digital literacy and, if not all, then most of its aspect. I think many of you would enjoy it.

The other framework I think is most pertinent in today's world is the Mozilla web literacy framework. This framework presents a literal pie chart that is split into three sections, participate, write, and read. Within these three main sections, there are lots of smaller sections. As well, each and every one of these smaller sections contains a specific necessary skill that one must use in order to do this effectively. The four skills that are categorized in this framework is problem-solving, communication, creativity, and collaboration. All four of these unique life skills are spread out amongst the framework and each section of the framework has two or more of these life skills in use. This framework is brilliant because it is so simple to use and read, while also being incredibly complex and informative for people interested in how to be digitally literate.

As you can probably tell, I really enjoy the frameworks that break up into sections. This intrigues me because it takes this massive concept of critical digital literacy, and breaks it down, making it far easier to understand. However, the problems I find with these two frameworks is that the can sometimes be a bit too vague. They work for me, but for someone that likes more detail oriented things, they may not be detailed enough. That’s ok though as there are many many other frameworks that are far more detailed. So if you have been intrigued enough to keep reading up to his point, I’d suggest following these links to some other frameworks that may be more specific and give even more insight into the wonderful digital world.

Critical digital literacy, as I hope you can see, is a massive concept. Because of this, there are many people and concepts that attempt to break it down to its simpler roots. The two frameworks I have laid out are my two personal favourites but honestly, there are tons more. If you feel so inclined after this first step in our journey, take a gander at this video, it may help break the concept down for you more.

Thank you for joining me in our first steps in understanding critical digital literacy. I hope you have gained some valuable insight and I hope you choose to return. Remember, this was only the first step in our journey together. There is so much more we have yet to explore and I hope you’ll all join me for the ride. Until next time, have fun and you will hear from me really soon.