Chapter 6

Digital Literacy: The Overarching Element

for Successful Technology Integration

6.1 Introduction

Digital literacy is important because it is the underpinning influence that sustains an

individual’s competent and purposeful use of digital technology in education, in the
workplace and in his/her daily activities. Its importance and what constitutes digital
literacy are elaborated in this chapter.
Students in schools today and those entering post-secondary education have the
advantage of a lifelong exposure to digital technologies—technologies that are
equipped with advanced features are more portable and have more functionalities.
The simpler interfaces enable the young people to use digital technologies widely in
everyday activities and education. They are able to access a vast amount of digital
resources online and have more choices for information and entertainment than at
any point in human history (Hobbs, 2010). Having too many choices is itself an
issue, especially in the ability to make the right ones. The ubiquitous nature of mobile
technology and the easy access to the Internet means that students could be poten-
tially online and connected all the time and undertaking the following activities:
• Engaging in networking through their social media sites and online communities
of interest
• Finding out about virtually anything in an on-demand manner
• Consuming information in various formats and modality
• Collaborating, creating, sharing and distributing online
• Being entertained and educated through media such as music, videos, movies,
TV programs, online newspapers/magazines and virtual books

© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2015 125

Wan Ng, New Digital Technology in Education,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-05822-1_6
126 6 Digital Literacy: The Overarching Element…

For the students to be online frequently, there are numerous challenges that influ-
ence their learning, personal attitudes and character building. How effectively they
learn with online materials depends on how well they can look for information and
how well they can evaluate the trustworthiness and accuracy of the resources and
use them ethically to re-synthesise new content. For example, studies with high
school students with high and low web-search technical expertise (Lazonder, 2000)
and with graduates (experts) and undergraduates (novices) (Brand-Gruwel,
Wopereis, & Vermetten, 2005) have found that students with a combination of web-
search expertise and high domain knowledge selected more relevant information
and spent significantly more time on evaluating the trustworthiness of the materials.
Educating students to search effectively on the web is an important part of develop-
ing their digital literacy.
Being online frequently could shape the character and attitudes of students (Lee,
Pan, Liao, Chen, & Walters, 2013). The impact of media is powerful and messages
on the Internet could be negative, even harmful, and could influence students’ think-
ing, attitudes and behaviour. For example, one could find in contemporary media
culture unsavoury content such as distasteful images and movies, sites that promote
prejudice and advertisements that promote unhealthy products. In addition, the
media often reports on issues such as Internet scams, cyberbullying, credit card
fraud, illegal downloading, online predators and game addictions. Excessive expo-
sure to “dark” and violent content could distort a young person’s view of the world,
decrease safety and increase high-risk behaviour such as aggression and hostility
(Villani, 2001; Subrahmanyam, Greenfield, Kraut, & Gross, 2001). Counteracting
the influence and negative impact of media requires students to critique and assess
the underlying meanings embedded in texts, images, sounds and combinations of
these. They need to develop multiliteracy skills and learn about strategies to criti-
cally evaluate multimodal content. This is part of being digitally literate.
On a daily basis, millions of young people “meet” online to chat, exchange ideas,
communicate socially and collaborate on projects. Web 2.0 is becoming a lifestyle
for young people who are accessing the Web to send emails, seek information, pur-
chase goods, do online banking, chat online, post questions, contribute solutions,
post photos and videos, download games, videos and music, contribute to blogs and
wikis to share ideas and opinions.
As Web 2.0 environments become more and more of a lifestyle for young people,
the issue of cybersafety and potential risks in participating online is increasing
(Conroy, 2007; Hanewald, 2008). Cybersafety is about keeping safe online. The
potential risks that young people face online include being bullied, stalked, harassed
and exposed to identity fraud and inappropriate materials. Being digitally literate
ensures that the young people understand about, amongst other things, privacy,
security and cybersafety. In other words, they need to know how the digital world
works. Mark Surman, Executive Director of the Mozilla Foundation, argued that
these skills are as important as learning to read and write:
Becoming literate in how the technical world works is equivalent to reading, writing and
maths. We need to look at this fourth literacy as mainstream….Not just at the level of the
very basics of operating a computer but actually understanding how the code and mechanics
6.2 Digital Citizenship 127

behind it work. In the same way that if all you had was oral communication and you didn’t
have writing, you really wouldn’t understand the logic of our society. (Cited in Gurney-
Read, 2013, UK Telegraph online).

Oxley (2011) stated that the three biggest problems facing young people
today are:
1. Their perceived anonymity. Often students are unaware that what they place
online (comments, videos and images) can be viewed by, literally, the whole
world. Even on private sites that are password protected, the information posted
are retrievable and/or archived forever. Hence, posting personal information
online such as mobile phone number, home and school addresses could invite
unwelcome individuals to cyber groom (working to gain the trust of) the student.
It is possible for online predators to use Google Earth and search Google Maps
to pinpoint where the student is living.
2. Their accumulated digital portfolio or digital footprint. Many young people
devolve a lot about themselves online, particularly through social network sites.
Over many years of engaging with online activities, they accumulate a footprint
that could be accessed by others, in particular employers who are interested in
their potential employees’ history. Others, such as fraudsters, scammers and
identity thefts are able to find enormous amount of information about an indi-
vidual and could steal the personal information to create an identity or exploit the
identity in illegal activities such as Internet stalking and predatory marketing.
3. The legal implications of thoughtless or malicious actions. Careless postings on
the Internet, whether they are intentional or unintentional, could lead to legal
implications such as being sued or prosecuted. For example, individuals could
face jail terms if caught bullying online.

6.2 Digital Citizenship

Teaching students to use the Internet responsibly and ethically would enable them
to leave positive digital footprints and be good “digital citizens”. Ribble, Bailey, and
Ross (2004) defined digital citizenship as the norms of behaviour with regard to
technology use—both online and offline. Rules that apply in a digital world for
good citizenship are similar to those in a physical world (O’Brien & Stavert, 2011).
These include obeying (online) rules, respecting others and acting civilly and sensi-
bly. Digital citizenship acknowledges young people as stakeholders of Internet use
and empowers them to better manage online risks and to grow their online presence
in order to shape the world in safe and creative ways (Digizen.org).
ITNOW (2012) specified three essential characteristics of a digital citizen: (1)
capability—the ability to use digital tools; (2) autonomy—being able to make deci-
sions on technology use that are beneficial and supportive of the individual to live
well; and (3) participatory—having a voice and contributing to the debates online in a
democratic manner. Ribble’s (2011) definition of the characteristics of digital citizens
128 6 Digital Literacy: The Overarching Element…

has nine general elements. These elements are (1) digital etiquette—the electronic
standards of conduct or procedure, (2) digital communication—the electronic
exchange of information, (3) digital literacy—the process of teaching and learning
about technology and the use of technology, (4) digital access—the electronic
participation in society, (5) digital commerce—the electronic means for buying and
selling goods, (6) digital law—the electronic responsibility for actions and deeds, (7)
digital rights and responsibilities—the freedom that everyone can experience in a digi-
tal world, (8) digital health and wellness—the physical and psychological well-being
in a digital world and (9) digital security—the electronic precautions undertaken to
guarantee self-protection and safety.
Digital literacy that is defined as the teaching and learning about technology and
its use (point 3 above) is focused narrowly on the technical and information aspects
of technology. Digital literacy, as described in this chapter, is the construct that sus-
tains the competent use of digital technology across the various contexts throughout
an individual’s life. It is a much broader concept and encompasses not only the
technical aspects of using technologies but also the social–emotional and cognitive
perspectives of using them. It is the intersection between these three dimensions
(cognitive, technical and social–emotional) that constitutes the digital literacy
framework for this book. Educating students to be digitally literate is, amongst other
purposes, to enable them to participate actively as good and responsible citizens in
society through digital means.

6.3 Digital Literacy

With the rapidly changing landscape of digital technology in society, a range of

terms related to its literacy has been proposed in the literature, for example, ICT
literacy, information technology literacy, digital literacy, technology literacy, media
literacy, information literacy, net literacy, online literacy and new literacies.
The digital literacy definition for this book encompasses a range of literacies that
underpin the effective and competent use of digital technologies by individuals.
It blends the broad definition of Hague and Payton (2010, p. 2) that states:
Digital literacy is an important entitlement for all young people in an increasingly digital
culture. It furnishes children and young people with the skills, knowledge and understand-
ing that will help them to take a full and active part in social, cultural, economic, civic and
intellectual life now and in the future…To be digitally literate is to have access to a broad
range of practices and cultural resources that you are able to apply to digital tools. It is the
ability to make and share meaning in different modes and formats; to create, collaborate and
communicate effectively and to understand how and when digital technologies can best be
used to support these processes.

and the digital literacy definition formulated by the European Information Society
(Martin, 2005, p. 135) which states:
Digital Literacy is the awareness, attitude and ability of individuals to appropriately use digi-
tal tools and facilities to identify, access, manage, integrate, evaluate, analyse and synthesize
6.3 Digital Literacy 129

digital resources, construct new knowledge, create media expressions, and communicate
with others, in the context of specific life situations, in order to enable constructive social
action; and to reflect upon this process.

At a more specific level, Eshet-Alkalai (2004) suggested that there are five types
of literacies that are incorporated within the term “digital literacy”: photo-visual
literacy, reproduction literacy, branching literacy, information literacy and socio-
emotional literacy. The digital literacy framework proposed for this book is adapted
from Ng (2012a) and integrates these specific literacies and the broader meanings
defined above. The framework defines digital literacy as the integrated cognitive,
technical and social–emotional ability of an individual to competently use digital
technologies across the various contexts of his/her life. It embraces a range of skills
and knowledge embedded within critical literacy (the ability to critically analyse,
select and use digital resources ethically), multiliteracies (the ability to decode and
synthesise meanings in multimodal format), technical and operational literacy (the
ability to technically use digital technologies and their functional features) and
social–emotional literacy (the ability to communicate effectively using digital tech-
nologies and safeguard oneself online).
Literacy in this chapter is a pluralist view that includes vital competencies such
as the ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate and compute
texts that are written, printed and digital (Ng, 2013; UNESCO, 2004). As a concept,
it has moved beyond the view of being equipped with the technical skills of reading,
writing and being numerate.

6.3.1 Distinguishing Between Skills and Competencies

When discussing about digital literacy, the words “skills” and “competencies” are
often used interchangeably, but there is some distinction between them. A skill is
usually developed through formal training or education and is the ability through
knowledge and practice to do something well. Competency focuses on behaviours
and actions and is the ability to apply skills and knowledge to get things done effec-
tively. For example, an individual could be technically skilled in using a range of
applications but may not be able to use them to solve a problem or create a useful
artefact. Contextual knowledge is also necessary to demonstrate competency. For
example, a person may be technically skilled in creating web pages but the task of
creating discipline-based instructional materials for gifted students on a website
could fall short of competency due to a lack of understanding of how gifted students
learn and having insufficient knowledge of the discipline matter. A digitally compe-
tent person is a digitally literate person who is able to use a combination of skills
and knowledge thoughtfully to complete a task effectively using digital technology.
Competency transcends the dimensions of the digital literacy framework shown in
Fig. 6.1, requiring the cognitive, technical and social–emotional aspects to work in
a holistic manner.
130 6 Digital Literacy: The Overarching Element…

Fig. 6.1 Digital literacy framework

6.4 Conceptual Framework for Digital Literacy

The digital literacy framework, as shown in Fig. 6.1, has the three dimensions of (1)
technical: technical and functional skills; (2) cognitive: critical thinking and analyti-
cal skills, and multiliteracies; and (3) social–emotional: communicative, social and
online safeguarding skills (modified from Ng, 2012a). While the digital literacy for
mobile technology use, called mobile digital literacy, has some variations from the
digital literacy for laptops/desktops (due to the smaller size and less processing
power of mobile devices), most of the skills are transferable across the two contexts.
Hence, mobile digital literacy is a subset of digital literacy. Generic skills that are
identified as applicable to both desktop/laptop learning and mobile learning include:
• Knowing about the machine that the learner is using
• Developing proficient technical skills
• Selecting the right tools/applications to represent the learner’s thinking and
understanding
• Analysing critically data (both information and conversational data) received
• Exercising caution and appropriate behaviour while socialising in online
communities
The mobile user however needs to be able to differentiate between the different
devices and how they differ technically and functionally as well as understand the
affordances and limitations of similar software in mobile devices, for example,
Excel vs. mobile Excel.
6.4 Conceptual Framework for Digital Literacy 131

6.4.1 Technical Dimension of Digital Literacy: Technical

and Functional Skills

At the most basic level, a digital literate person should (1) have knowledge of work-
ing parts and be able to connect and use input and peripheral devices, (2) be able to
troubleshoot and (3) be able to adequately operate the features of applications.
1. Knowledge of working parts and be able to connect and use inputs and periph-
eral devices.
A digitally literate person should be able to connect together a functional
computer system or mobile device for his/her own personal use, for example, the
mouse, QWERTY keyboard, earphones/headset, VGA connector, USB drive,
printer, external speakers and the smartboard. He or she should have knowledge
of working parts, in particular, the common ones in “Control Panel” for example:
wireless, sound, display and use of multiple windows for multitasking. For
mobile devices, he or she should be able to use the touch screen keypads, stylus,
half-QWERTY keyboard, earphones, Bluetooth headset and connectors. He or
she has knowledge about the use of “Settings” to control features such as sound
and brightness; use of multiple windows; infrared, Bluetooth, wireless, memory
card, data synchronisation.
2. Able to troubleshoot. The ability to read manuals to conduct basic technical
activities is part of being digitally literate. In addition to or instead of reading
manuals, digitally literate individuals are able to make use of local “Help” func-
tions and/or web-based resources (e.g. Google search and YouTube) for assis-
tance. Keying the right questions or phrases into a search engine would enable
the individual to retrieve responses in the form of text, images and/or videos that
will provide explanations to address the problem. This is the interaction with the
cognitive dimension of digital literacy.
3. Able to adequately operate the features of applications. A digitally literate per-
son understands the organisational structure and management of file storage sys-
tems, i.e. about folders, directories and drives. He or she is able to manage data
transfer that includes understanding about file sizes (e.g. audio/video files are
often in MB) and spaces to hold them. He or she is able to find, download and
install applications (and uninstall when not needed), update user account infor-
mation on the Internet, understand about data charge costs associated with data
download, create shortcuts, embed links, send and retrieve attachments via email
and open them with appropriate applications, share using cloud storage such as
Dropbox or GoogleDrive, unzip a folder and create a CD/DVD.
Being digitally literate technically means knowing about and being able to locate
frequently used user interface elements, that is, cues that define interactivity such as
menu, sizing, dragging, scrolling, using sliders and collapsible lists. The digitally
literate individual makes use of multiple windows for multitasking purposes and
understands about tabs and their relationship to content. He or she is able to set
up and use communication/social networking tools, e.g. emails, web mail, VOIP
132 6 Digital Literacy: The Overarching Element…

(e.g. Skype), blogs, wikis, Facebook and Twitter. For mobile device users, he or she
is able to set up and send SMS (short messaging service), MMS (multimedia mes-
saging service) and IM (instant messaging).
Digitally literate individuals are able to protect their devices to avoid spams and
viruses by installing anti-virus software and regularly updating it. He or she knows
about the specific requirements of particular apps, for example, the need to down-
load a country’s map to the MyView app so that it can be used offline while navigat-
ing around the country and understands about the compatibility issues of operating
systems and the transferability of files between systems.

6.4.2 Cognitive Dimension of Digital Literacy: Critical

Thinking and Analytical Skills and Multiliteracies

In the cognitive dimension of digital literacy, a digitally literate person should have
the ability to (1) use the Internet effectively for information gathering and knowl-
edge synthesis, (2) evaluate and select appropriate software programs or apps to fit
a purpose and (3) understand about multiliteracies.
1. The ability to use the Internet effectively for information gathering and knowl-
edge synthesis.
A digitally literate person is able to use the Internet both to consume informa-
tion and create content by being able to (1) navigate systematically through
hypermedia environments to learn, search for information and construct knowl-
edge; (2) search and locate web-based information such as the use of appropriate
browser and search engine, narrowing the search using Boolean operators and
appropriate keywords to maximise precision and to reduce the number of pages
that the learner has to read, for example, using multiple (3–4) keywords in the
search would yield better results than a single keyword; and (3) critique informa-
tion by critically analysing and evaluating the digital content for accuracy, cur-
rency, reliability and level of difficulty. Studies by Wallace, Kupperman, Krajcik,
and Soloway (2000) and Hoffman, Wu, Krajcik, and Soloway (2003) have
shown that the use of “search and assess” inquiry skills where information at one
site is critically analysed before doing another search, is necessary for effective
understanding of the content from web-based resources. A cognitive aspect of
digital literacy is the ability to understand that the authors and producers of the
resources on the Internet have their own motivations in the messages that they
convey; hence, it is important for students to be able to critically evaluate whose
voice is heard and whose is not in order to learn as neutrally as possible. This is
the critical literacy aspect of digital literacy which will be discussed in more
detail in a later section of the chapter. For mobile users, an understanding that
mobile web pages may contain reduced versions of the “normal” desktop ver-
sions is necessary for students to be aware that sometimes a balanced perspective
of the articles may not be complete.
6.4 Conceptual Framework for Digital Literacy 133

Knowing about the ethical and moral issues associated with the use of web-
based resources to author or create digital artefacts is another perspective of the
cognitive dimension of digital literacy. This includes the understanding about
plagiarism, copyright policies and terms and conditions so that legal liability is
avoided. In addition, socialising online as well as making use of online services
(e.g. eBay, online banking) require the individual to understand about cyber-
safety, privacy and potential risks associated with these activities.
2. The ability to evaluate and select appropriate software programs or apps to fit a
purpose.
One of the cognitive skills associated with using software is the ability to
evaluate and select the appropriate application(s) to demonstrate understanding
of knowledge acquired or to solve a problem. Within each application, the digi-
tally literate individual will be able to select the most appropriate feature/func-
tions to compete the task. This selective capability is vital as the number of
applications that could do similar tasks has increased. For example, under what
circumstances would an individual choose to use OneNote, VoiceThread,
Moodle, Collaborate, Wimba, Skype, Ning, Blogster, Wikispaces, Tweeter,
Facebook or GoogleApps? These are all technologies with multimedia capabili-
ties that enable collaboration between the learner and peers or the wider com-
munity. Some have trial periods or are free with limited features until you pay for
the full versions. Some of the programs allow for synchronous communication
while others are only asynchronous. Some are more effective for socialising and
networking while others are better adopted for learning. Hence, selecting the
most appropriate software to do a given task would require an understanding of
the capabilities of the tools and how they could be used to deliver the intended
outcomes. A useful way to start would be to read up about these tools on the
Internet or view tutorials on YouTube and ask targeted questions that will provide
information to help with the decision making in an informed manner.
3. The ability to understand about multiliteracies. In education, learning involves
the exploration and interpretation, as well as production of multiple representa-
tions of the concepts under study. It also involves the ability to create connec-
tions between the different modes of representation in order to develop and
demonstrate reasoning processes and understanding. Helping students to under-
stand concepts requires both the teacher and students to work with the students’
representations that make what they understand explicit. Depending on the
nature of the concept under study, some modes of representation lend themselves
better to representing a concept. For example, a text-based description of a com-
plex concept like how a car engine works is less easy to grasp unless accompanied
by an illustration or an animation that shows how each part of the engine works.
As different modes of representation have different strengths and weaknesses in
demonstrating associated meanings, students need to be shown how these differ-
ent modes could be used to fit with the purpose of the learning. Learning from
different modes of representation would however, require interpretive skills
beyond those emphasised in print-based literacy.
134 6 Digital Literacy: The Overarching Element…

The modes of representation afforded by digital technologies are linguistic (writ-

ten material), visual (e.g. an image of a computer system), audio (e.g. a podcast or
piece of music), gestural (e.g. emoticon or video captured actions), spatial (e.g. maps
or 3D models) and multimedia (e.g. simulation of an earthquake). Multimedia is
multimodal and is the simultaneous use of two or more modes of representation, for
example, narrative (audio) over a picture (visual) using Fotobabble application.
Being multiliterate means having the ability to interpret, decode and create meanings
from one or a combination of these modes of representation. Multiliteracies was first
proposed by the New London Group (1996) to highlight two arguments that are influ-
enced by globalisation and technology: (1) the significance of cultural and linguistic
diversity and (2) the multiplicity of communication channels. The former argument
asserts that as today’s society becomes more linguistically and culturally diverse,
meaning making differs according to cultural, social and professional contexts while
the latter suggests that media and communication technologies enable meaning mak-
ing to be increasingly multimodal and where the written-linguistic modes are integral
of visual, audio, gestural and spatial patterns of meaning. Hence, a digitally literate
person is able to decode information that are text based as well as from images, sound
bytes (e.g. narratives, podcasts, music), videos (e.g. from YouTube), maps (e.g. use of
GoogleMaps) and models (e.g. 3D model of DNA)—these involve multiliteracies
skills that are linguistic, visual, audio, spatial, gestural (as captured in videos) and
multimodal (as in multimedia resources). Of these literacies, visual literacy has been
emphasised more in the literature for reasons such as visuals being able to assist stu-
dents to “see” abstract and complex concepts better. The advent of technologies such
as Instagram and other social media tools enabling visuals such as photos, pictures
and videos to be exchanged freely online highlights the importance of visual literacy.
In addition, we are surrounded by visuals (such as advertisements) on websites as
well as in the physical world. With globalisation spurred on by technology, our com-
municative environment is getting more dominated by images where images are uni-
versal. In education, visuals (images and videos) are becoming a predominant form
of communication across disciplines. Hence, inculcating visual literacy in students is
crucial for accessing information critically and creating knowledge that would lead to
successful educational outcomes (Bamford, 2003). The practical implications of
visual literacy are discussed in the next section.
Visual literacy in practice. Visuals are images presented in a wide variety of for-
mats. Visuals are present in photos, videos, signs, symbols, body language, maps,
cartoons, diagrams (e.g. labelled diagrams, flow diagrams, scale diagrams), concept-
maps (e.g. linear, spider, webbed), tables, graphs and charts (e.g. pie charts, bar
charts), advertisements, movies, DVDs, books, magazine, television and on com-
puter screens and websites. Innovations in new technologies have provided oppor-
tunities for young people to use and interact with visuals in new and creative ways,
particularly through social networking sites and instant messaging apps. These
include Facebook, Google+, Flickr, Tumblr, Twitter, Instagram, Whatsapp, Viber,
WeChat, KakaoTalk, Kik, Tango, Snapchat and MessageMe. The number of people
registered with each of these companies is usually large, for example, Instagram
reported having more than 150 million monthly active users (Rusli, 2013). Hence,
6.4 Conceptual Framework for Digital Literacy 135

each day millions of pieces of text messages, photos and videos are uploaded and
shared between users. Furthermore, The Nielson Company’s (2013) research
showed that while television remains the main source for viewing videos, adoles-
cents are increasingly watching more videos on their mobile phones, averaging
nearly eight hours per month. The study showed that over a quarter (27 %) of
12–17-year-old adolescents have created and uploaded videos to the Internet, up
from 14 % in 2006 (Lenhart, 2012).
Embedded within each visual are meanings that need to be understood. This
understanding is part of being visually literate. Definition for visual literacy varies
in the literature (Bleed, 2005). For this chapter, the definition is the ability to recog-
nise, evaluate and understand ideas conveyed through visual representations (visible
actions or images), as well as the ability to create and communicate ideas or mes-
sages through visual representations (Aanstoos, 2003; Thibault & Walbert, 2003;
visual-litreacy.org, n.d).
To be visually literate, it involves developing skills to interpret the content of
images, elicit purpose, audience, ownership and social impact (Bamford, 2003). It
also requires the ability to contextualise and judge the accuracy, validity and value
of the images. A visual image could represent a word, for example, a picture of a
lion. It could represent a concept, for example, the lion symbolises courage. One
can also use visual images to represent a variety of other things such as relationships
(e.g. concept-maps linking key words), cycles (e.g. diagram of the life cycle of a
butterfly or action research cycle), frameworks (e.g. seamless learning as shown in
Fig. 6.2) and processes (e.g. step-by-step processes of organisational change or a

Fig. 6.2 Visual artefact example: A depiction of seamless learning and its pedagogical consider-
ations (Nicholas & Ng, 2015, p. 274)
136 6 Digital Literacy: The Overarching Element…

flow chart of the manufacturing of a product). Visuals are good learning aids because
they are able to portray abstract words/concepts in a concrete manner. In interpret-
ing visuals, questions Bamford (2003, p. 6) proposed that students could ask about
them are categorised and shown below.

Issues What issues are being shown in the image?

How is the way the issue is shown in the image similar to or different from
how you see this issue in the world?
What might this image mean to someone who sees it?
What is the message of the image?
Information Where has the information in the image come from?
What information has been included and what information has been left out?
What proportion of the image could be inaccurate?
What information presented is factual/manipulated/framed?
What is the relationship between the image and any text?
What impact does the size of images within the picture have?
Who What people are depicted in the image (even if there are now actual people in
the image, whose culture or experiences are being shown?
Who created the image and for what purpose
Who is the intended audience for the image?
Whose point of view does the image take?
Persuasion Why has a certain media been chosen?
Why was a particular image chosen?
Why was the image arranged that way?
Is the information contained in the image factual?
What devices have been used to get the message across to the viewer?
How has the message been affected by what has been left out or is not shown?
Assumption What attitudes are assumed?
Whose voice is heard?
Whose voice is not heard?
What experiences or points of view are assumed?

These questions aid students to think critically about the visuals that they are
viewing.
There are a number of strategies to help students develop visual literacy. Some of
these visualisation and visual thinking strategies for schools (Draper, 2010; Finley,
2014) and higher education (Bamford, 2003; Felten, 2008; Metros & Woolsey,
2006) are listed below:
• Think aloud to demonstrate who, when, why and how the student visualise while
reading texts but adapted for “reading” visual artefacts.
• Guided imager to create mental images while reading.
• Story wheel to help students visualise story elements and practice summarising.
• Artistic response to create artistic representation based on a text.
• Reading a photograph or picture to analyse content considering factors such as
the shapes of the objects (could be animal, people, etc.), size, settings, colour,
position and/or context, direction, angle, lighting, body language and clothing.
6.4 Conceptual Framework for Digital Literacy 137

• Reading a comic to analyse the content considering factors such as panels (to
demonstrate emotions), words and pictures, characters, camera angles, symbols
and comic talk (word balloons, thought bubbles, narration boxes).
• Creating a multimodal artefact where skills and knowledge are acquired to pro-
duce a visual artefact. An example is the “Seamless Learning” illustration in
Fig. 6.2 which is a multimodal representation with text and images showing the
pedagogical considerations of seamless learning that need to consider context,
content, learning spaces, time and the constellation of resources in a ubiquitous
manner.

6.4.3 Social–Emotional Dimension of Digital Literacy:

Communicative, Social and Safeguarding Skills

Web 2.0 technologies such as Wikispaces, Flickr, MySpace, Google+, Blogspot,

Facebook and YouTube enable individuals to contribute to networked communities
for socialising as well as for learning. While the practice of socialising online could
bring positive impact such as the ability to share problems, alleviate isolation and
collaborate in projects, being social–emotionally literate safeguards the individual
from missteps and protects him/her from emotional strain resulting from the mis-
steps. In the social–emotional dimension of digital literacy, a digitally literate per-
son is able to use the Internet responsibly and safely for communicating, socialising
and learning by being able to:
• Observe “netiquette” by applying similar rules to face-to-face communication
such as respect and the use of appropriate language in various contexts to avoid
misinterpretation and misunderstanding. The individual needs to be aware that
short SMS and IM messages and their abbreviated language could impact formal
language development and use in classroom and formal situations.
• Interpret the tone of messages (e.g. use of bold letters and symbols) correctly.
• Protect one’s own safety and privacy by managing one’s identity and keeping
personal information as private as possible by not disclosing any more informa-
tion than is necessary. He or she needs to be aware that information or messages
posted are archived forever, leaving a digital footprint which is possible for oth-
ers to retrieve and misuse. An element of keeping safe is in the informed choice
of social apps. For example, in comparing the instant messaging apps KIK and
Whatsapp, each KIK member is given a user name (which is unidentifiable)
while Whatsapp uses real names and phone numbers that are identifiable.
Snapchat is another popular IM app amongst adolescents and young adults.
Snapchat messages are deleted within 10 s of them being opened. Cyber bullies
may think that they could send distasteful messages to others because of this but
the disappearances of messages do not mean that they are not retrievable—they
are just hidden. Hence, students need to be careful with the messages, videos and
pictures that they post to others.
138 6 Digital Literacy: The Overarching Element…

• Recognise when he or she is being threatened and know how to deal with it, for
example, whether to ignore, report or respond to the threat. Treats could come
from fraudsters, scammers, identity thieves, cyberbullies and stalkers.
• Balance the amount of time spent on social networking sites and the amount of
text messages sent in managing costs, ensuring that there is time to do other
things and preventing social networking addiction.

6.4.4 Intersecting Areas of the Digital Literacy Framework

The intersecting area between the cognitive and social–emotional dimensions of the
digital literacy framework involves online etiquette and cybersafety literacies where
the individual is able to assess situations to ensure safe and friendly interactions
such as whether to reply to (or not) an input from an acquaintance or stranger and
under what circumstances. Being cybersafe-literate involves the cognition and
affective part of the individual to work together to analyse a situation and recognise
when there is a threat and what action to take. This would involve critically analys-
ing messages and picking up cues from the content and tone of the messages,
including text abbreviations. Other skills include being sensitive to others’ emo-
tional state when conversing in social media networks and online communities or
editing and/or commenting on collaborative work. The underlying skill in analysing
messages is critical literacy, discussed in the next section.
Ethical literacy intersects between cognitive and social–emotional dimensions
because choices made that results in an action or a message could impact on the
welfare of other individuals. The consequences could also affect the individual him-
self/herself.
The area overlapping the social–emotional and technical dimensions of digital
literacy involves the ability to navigate through social media sites effectively and to
use the technologies of these services sensibly for social interactions. Kaplan and
Haenlein (2010) have identified six different types of social media:
1. For collaborative projects (e.g. Wikipedia)
2. Blogs and microblogs (e.g. Twitter)
3. Content communities (e.g. YouTube, Ask a Scientist1)
4. Social networking sites (e.g. Facebook)
5. Virtual game worlds (e.g. World of Warcraft2; Game for Science3; Cool Math
Games4)
6. Virtual social worlds (e.g. Second Life)

1
Howard Hughes Medical Institute at http://www.hhmi.org/askascientist/ or MadSci Network at
http://www.madsci.org/
2
http://us.battle.net/wow/en/
3
http://www.gameforscience.ca/
4
http://coolmath-games.com/
6.5 Critical Literacy 139

Each of these types of social media is a potential learning space. To successfully use
these technologies, it is necessary to have an understanding of the rules and policy of
the application as well as how the different technical features interact to bring about the
desired social learning outcomes. For example, a general rule in “ask a scientist” site
would require an initial search through their databases to see if the question in mind
has been asked before. Searching and assessing information on the Internet require
technical skills to navigate systematically across and within web pages and interact
with the information found. This type of literacy is called branching literacy—the
overlap between the cognitive and technical dimensions of digital literacy. Branching
literacy is an important component in the design of web pages where hyperlinks to
topics or sections need to be logical and well organised in order to ensure that the audi-
ence is not overloaded cognitively in trying to navigate through the pages to learn.
The other two intersecting literacies between cognitive and technical dimensions
of the digital literacy framework are reproduction and ethical literacy. These two
literacies are interrelated. Reproduction literacy is the ability to use digital technol-
ogy to create a new piece of work or to combine existing pieces of work to make it
your own (Eshet-Alkalai, 2004). In order to do so, the individual needs to be able to
select applications appropriate for the intended purpose. For example, the digital
literacy conceptual framework shown in Fig. 6.1 with its overlapping circles could
be created in Microsoft’s SmartArt application with templates for drawing Venn
diagrams, flowcharts and pyramids to show different types of relationships. A digi-
tally literate individual would be aware that there are other tools (e.g. Microsoft
Publisher or PowerPoint) that are able to create the same conceptual framework.
The choice of the tool would depend on the technical familiarity of the individual
with the available tools and the complexity of the task. For the conceptual frame-
work of Fig. 6.1, I have chosen to use PowerPoint to create it. The completed dia-
gram in a PowerPoint slide could be easily copied and pasted onto a Word document
as a single image. For more clarity and trimming of the edges, the PowerPoint slide
could be copied and pasted to the Paint application and cropped before cutting and
pasting it onto a Word document. As an image, the diagram can be easily moved
around to different locations of the document.
Reproduction literacy is closely linked to ethical literacy, especially when combin-
ing existing pieces of work to create a digital artefact of your own. The individual
needs to know about copyright issues and the acknowledgement of where the text,
images, music or videos embedded into the created artefact comes from. Often, per-
mission from the original source is required. Students at all levels of education need to
be taught how to use digital technologies ethically to reproduce new digital artefacts.

6.5 Critical Literacy

In the conceptual framework shown in Fig. 6.1, digital literacy development is where
the three dimensions of cognitive, technical and social–emotional overlap. Each of
these dimensions is supported by multiple literacies, with critical literacy as the under-
pinning literacy in the development of these three dimensions of digital literacy.
140 6 Digital Literacy: The Overarching Element…

Critical literacy is the ability to analyse and critique the relationships between
texts, language, power, social groups and social practices. “Texts” in this context
include written texts, images, audios, music, songs, novels, conversations, movies
and other multimedia materials (Coffey, nd). Critical literacy involves ways of look-
ing at written and spoken texts, performance texts, visuals, audio and multimedia
materials to question the attitudes, values and beliefs that lie beneath the surface. As
there is a massive amount of digital information available to us, through the Internet
and other media outlets such as television and radio, developing skills to critically
analyse the multitude of “texts” to obtain meanings from them is an important part
of digital literacy education for students. As a useful guide to the understanding of
what critical literacy entails, The Ontario Ministry of Education (2009, p. 2) pro-
duced five key concepts:
1. All texts are constructions. What is written is the product of many decisions and
determining factors. Much of our view of reality is based on messages that have
been constructed in this way, with the author’s attitudes, interpretations and con-
clusions already built into the text.
2. All texts contain belief and value messages. Whether oral, print or visual media,
texts contain messages which reflect the biases and opinions of their authors/
creators; whether intentionally manipulative or not, this means that no text can
be neutral or value free.
3. Each person interprets messages differently. Demographic factors such as age,
culture, gender and socio-economic status as well as prior experience and knowl-
edge play a role in how we interpret a message.
4. Texts serve different interests. Most media messages are created for profit or to
persuade, but all texts are produced intentionally for a purpose. These interests
can be commercial, ideological or political.
5. Each medium develops its own “language” in order to position readers/viewers
in certain ways. Whether it is a TV program, website or novel, each medium cre-
ates meaning differently and each has distinctive techniques, conventions and
aesthetics.
To help students to critically evaluate texts, Luke (2000, p. 454) identified the
kinds of questions that students could ask:
• Coding practices: How do I crack this text? What are its patterns and conven-
tions? How do the sounds and marks relate, singly and in combination?
• Text-meaning practices: How do the ideas presented in the text string together?
What cultural resources can be brought to bear on the text? What are the cultural
meanings and possible readings that can be constructed for this text?
• Pragmatic practices: How do the uses of this text shape its composition? What
do I do with this text, here and now? What will others do with it? What are my
options and alternatives?
• Critical practices: What kind of person, with what interests and values, could
both read and write this naively and unproblematically? What is this text trying
to do to me? In whose interests? Which positions, voices, and interests are at
play? Which are silent or absent?
6.6 Developing Digital Literacy 141

These are useful guiding questions to help students to analyse the plethora of
digital information and resources that are presented in a variety of modes on the
Internet. Being able to critically analyse digital information helps the student to
develop balanced views and tread neutrally when encountering information, espe-
cially those conversations and opinions posted on the Internet about contemporary
issues such as global warming, genetically modified food and wars in countries.
Even “factual science” information would require similar critical scrutiny, for exam-
ple, the work written by an academic at a university may have different purposes and
values from that written by an organisation or an individual on a blog. As part of criti-
cal literacy, a search for some information about the author(s) is beneficial in order
to assess from his/her background and work, the position he or she holds in relation
to the texts expressed in the source and the possible biasness that could be present.
Critical literacy at the technical level requires the individual to be familiar with
the operational and cultural dimensions of new technologies and their associated
social practices and literacies (Lankshear and Knobel, 1998). There is a need to
know how each type of technology provides the capacity to shape the texts and what
the technological limitations are in presenting them. Texts on web pages that include
words, images, music, etc. convey meanings differently depending on how the mes-
sages are presented on the web pages. The messages are partly shaped by the previ-
ous social and digital experiences as well as the technical abilities of the creator.
In summarising, in the development of critical literacy, the skills and abilities
that students should focus on are the ability to:
• Examine meanings within texts by considering the creator’s purpose for the text
• Understand that texts are not neutral and that they represent the creator’s views
and may have silenced other points of view in order to influence the reader
• Make judgments of the credibility of information and its source(s)
• Question and challenge the ways in which the texts have been constructed
• Analyse the power of the language used
• Conduct multiple (alternative) readings of the same texts because people inter-
pret and create texts on the same topic according to their own beliefs and values
• Take an informed position on issues by clarifying their own attitudes and
values
• Take social action if opportunity provides

6.6 Developing Digital Literacy

The complexity of digital literacy with its various multiple literacies means that its
development in an individual is an ongoing process. Martin and Grudziecki (2006)
proposed that there are three levels in the development of digital literacy (see Fig. 6.3).
The first level, Digital Competence, is the foundational part of the development
and covers 13 processes (see Table 6.1, columns 1 and 2). The 2nd to the 13th pro-
cesses are aligned with the digital literacy framework of this chapter. These pro-
cesses range from developing skills in basic visual recognition to the more critical,
142 6 Digital Literacy: The Overarching Element…

Fig. 6.3 Levels of Digital Literacy Development (Martin & Grudziecki, 2006, p. 255)

evaluative and conceptual skills. The table shows the mapping of the multiple litera-
cies of Fig. 6.1 into the processes of the Digital Literacy Development model (col-
umn 3). It shows that critical literacy plays an important role in the processes of the
model. Martin and Grudziecki (2006) considered these processes as “more-or-less
sequential”. Skills and cognition developed for specific uses are taken to the second
level, Digital Usage.
At the Digital Usage level (Level II), the competencies developed in Level I are
applied within specific professional or domain contexts (e.g. work, study or leisure),
where the individual’s existing digital literacy and the requirements of the problem
or task shape the solution to the problem/task. In order to solve the problem or com-
plete the task, Martin and Grudziecki (p. 258) stated that:
the individual identifies a competence requirement. He/she may then acquire the needed
digital competence through whatever learning process is available and preferred. He/she
can then make an appropriate use of the acquired digital competence. The informed uses of
digital competence within life-situations are termed here as digital usages. These involve
using digital tools to seek, find and process information, and then to develop a product or
solution addressing the task or problem. This outcome will itself be the trigger for further
action in the life context.

At Level III, the Digital Transformation level, the digital usages attained in
Level II is expected to bring about changes such as innovation and creativity, at the
individual or group/organisational level. While transformation is not a necessary
condition of digital literacy, it is expected that digitally literate individuals are able
to achieve transformative experiences through the synthesis of new knowledge or
creation of a digital innovation.
There are no lock-step processes to the development of digital literacy at each
stage of development. The process does not have to be sequential or entrenched
within specific tasks. The pattern to developing digital literacy could be random
where individuals draw on whatever skills is necessary, including lower level
knowledge and skills, to develop or understand materials that are of higher order.
Embedding the development of digital literacy in context would be the best way of
achieving digital competencies for educators and their students.
6.6 Developing Digital Literacy 143

Table 6.1 Mapping of multiple literacies from Fig. 6.1 into Martin and Grudziecki’s (2006,
p. 257) digital competency processes
Level 1 digital competency processes Aspect of digital literacy
Process Descriptor (see Fig. 6.1) developed
Statement To state clearly the problem to be solved or task to be
achieved and the actions likely to be required
Identification To identify the digital resources required to solve a Critical literacy
problem or achieve successful completion of a task
Accession To locate and obtain the required digital resources Critical literacy
Branching literacy
Operational literacy
Information literacy
Evaluation To assess the objectivity, accuracy and reliability of digital Critical literacy
resources and their relevance to the problem or task Information literacy
Interpretation To understand the meaning conveyed by a digital Critical literacy
resource Multiliteracies (visual,
spatial, audio, linguistic,
multimodal)
Organisation To organise and set out digital resources in a way that Critical literacy
will enable the solution of the problem or successful Operational literacy
achievement of the task
Reproduction literacy
Integration To bring digital resources together in combinations Critical literacy
relevant to the problem or task Operational literacy
Reproduction literacy
Analysis To examine digital resources using concepts and Critical literacy
models which will enable solution of the problem or Information literacy
successful achievement of the task
Multiliteracies (visual,
spatial, audio, linguistic,
multimodal)
Synthesis To recombine digital resources in new ways which will Critical literacy
enable solution of the problem or successful Reproduction literacy
achievement of the task
Operational literacy
Creation To create new knowledge objects, units of information, Critical literacy
media products or other digital outputs which will Reproduction literacy
contribute to task achievement or problem solution
Multiliteracies (visual,
spatial, audio, linguistic,
multimodal)
Communication To interact with relevant others while dealing with the Critical literacy
problem or task Social–emotional literacy
Dissemination To present the solutions or outputs to relevant others Critical literacy
Social–emotional literacy
Multiliteracies (visual,
spatial, audio, linguistic,
multimodal)
Social–emotional literacy
Reflection To consider the success of the problem-solving or Critical literacy
task-achievement process, and to reflect upon one’s Social–emotional literacy
own development as a digitally literate person
144 6 Digital Literacy: The Overarching Element…

Apart from pedagogical benefits, digital literacy is important in technology-

enriched learning environments because it alleviates overloading the working mem-
ory with technical inabilities that will distract the mind from the central task of
teaching for the educator and learning for the student. The significance of the cogni-
tive load theory in technology-enabled learning and teaching is discussed in Chap. 4.

6.7 Conclusion

This chapter proposed that being digitally literate requires the holistic development
of a set of key skills that are technical, cognitive and social–emotional, where the
individual is able to:
• Technically operate basic aspects of hardware and software
• Search, locate and critically assess information for both the purposes of research
and content learning
• Select and develop competency in the use of the most appropriate technological
tools and their features to complete a task, solve a problem or create a product for
teaching (for the educator) or for the students to best demonstrate new
understandings
• Behave appropriately in social network and other online communities, ensuring
that the individual is protected from harm in these environments
The development of digital literacy in students is an inevitable part of education
in today’s contemporary society. The proposed framework for digital literacy in this
chapter shows the interdependency of a multitude of literacies that need to be devel-
oped. While the notion of Prensky’s (2001) “digital natives” is being debated in
academic circles, even those who oppose the concept would say that the young
people today are better handlers of technology, particularly within the areas of
mobile phone and social media usages (Downes, 2005). Many of these young peo-
ple would have a degree of digital literacy that they develop informally, as indicated
by Ito et al. (2008, p. 1–2):
In both friendship-driven and interest-driven online activity, youth create and navigate new
forms of expression and rules for social behavior. In the process, young people acquire vari-
ous forms of technical and media literacy by exploring new interests, tinkering, and “mess-
ing around” with new forms of media…Through trial and error, youth add new media skills
to their repertoire, such as how to create a video or customize games or their MySpace page.

While equipped with the technical capabilities indicated by Ito et al. (2008) and
the ability to use mobile devices to connect with friends online or follow an online
community of interest (e.g. Tweeter or RSS feeds), many students would still need
to be taught explicitly the cognitive and social aspects of using these devices and the
applications installed in them. Schools in particular should provide dedicated and
real time in class for students to learn these aspects of digital literacy through the
provision of authentic tasks that include relevant scenarios for the students to cri-
tique and problems to solve. Younger students should be encouraged to track their
6.7 Conclusion 145

own online activities over a period of time and keep a reflective journal or blog that
assess their own activities and identify issues encountered as well as potential issues
that could have arisen. This is similar to White’s (2013) call for a subject on Digital
Fluency in schools as a way to teach students to use the Internet effectively for
learning as well as address the skills gap required for twenty-first century function-
ing. He posited that such a subject will assist students to learn the skills in a struc-
tured manner as well as address the professional learning and pedagogical needs of
educators. Topics that White proposed for digital fluency for K-12 students are (1)
acceptable behaviour; (2) collaboration, communication, problem-solving and
research skills; (3) community involvement; (4) critical thinking; (5) design skills;
(6) digital commons and copyright; (7) ethics; (8) history of the Internet; (9) identity
and privacy; (10) project management; (11) safety; and (12) technology terms.
In education, most students are unfamiliar with educational technologies (i.e.
technologies for learning) or how to use them effectively. They would need to be
taught explicitly about these technologies and how to use them appropriately (Ng,
2012b). An implication is that educators will need to have a reasonably good level
of digital literacy in order to (1) help their students develop the skills and knowledge
needed to use educational technologies effectively and (2) prepare digitally based
curriculum materials that integrates the development of these skills and knowledge
into the students’ learning. For the educator, a systematic approach to building digi-
tal literacy skills and competencies, as described in the professional learning frame-
work in Chap. 2, would ensure the sustainability of the adoption of technology
in teaching. This sustainability ensures the purposeful use of technology to help
students learn effectively with digital technologies.
Digitally literacy ensures that students and educators are digitally wise (Prensky,
2011). Digital wisdom arises from the combination of “the mind and the digital”,
where digital tools are used to enhance the capacity of the human mind. The
best approach to developing digital literacy that leads to digital wisdom is to use
technology on a frequent basis.