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Doug Belshaw: 8 Elements of Digital Literacy

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Doug Belshaw: 8 Elements of Digital Literacy

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Published on

A presentation to the Association of Independent Schools of New South Wales (Australia) ICT Managers Conference 2011.

Since this presentation, I've written an e-book entitled 'The Essential Elements of Digital Literacies' that you may want to check out: https://gum.co/digilit

1. 1. THE ESSENTIALELEMENTS OFDIGITAL LITERACIES DOUG BELSHAW DOUGBELSHAW.COM

2. 2. THE ARGUMENTIN ONE SLIDE1. THERE ARE 8 ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF DIGITAL LITERACIES2. DEFINITIONS NEED TO BE CO-CREATED TO HAVE POWER3. GET STARTED! (THERE'S PLENTY OF RESOURCES TO HELP YOU)

3. 3. OVERVIEW WHAT ARE DIGITAL LITERACIES? 5-STEP PROCESS MODEL 8 ELEMENTS OF DIGITAL LITERACIESDIGITAL LITERACIES IN YOUR CONTEXT CONCLUSION

4. 4. #DIGILIT @DAJBELSHAW

5. 5. PART IWHAT AREDIGITAL LITERACIES?

6. 6. SAME WORDDIFFERENT MEANING

7. 7. DIFFERENT WORD CC BY-NC-SA sparkiebluesSAME MEANING

8. 8. DO WE EVENKNOW WHATLITERACYIS, ANYWAY?

9. 9. Literacy is a characteristic acquired byindividuals in varying degrees from just abovenone to an indeterminate upper level. Someindividuals are more or less literate thanothers but it is really not possible to speak ofilliterate and literate persons as two distinctcategories." (UNESCO, 1957)

10. 10. AUTONOMOUS IDEOLOGICAL"[Literacy as] independent "[Literacy as] an activeof and impartial towards relationship or a way oftrends and struggles in orienting to the socialeveryday life." and cultural world."(Street, 1984) (Lankshear, 1999)

11. 11. MEDIALITERACY

12. 12. INFOCOMM

13. 13. DIGITALKOMPETANSE

14. 14. DIGITALMEDIALITERACY

15. 15. INFORMATIONLITERACY

16. 16. DIGITALMEDIALITERACY

17. 17. ACADEMICSLIKE THEIRUMBRELLATERMS CC BY Pink Sherbert Photography

18. 18. Text"Digital literacy is a complex and contested term. It is often understoodas the ability to participate in a range of critical and creative practicesthat involve understanding, sharing and creating meaning with differentkinds of technology and media." (2010:3) http://futurelab.org.uk/resources/school-approaches-developing-students-digital-literacy

19. 19. TextWhat are digital literacies? Planning activitiesHow does it relate to my practice? Activities for the classroom http://futurelab.org.uk/resources/digital-literacy-professional-development-resource

20. 20. PART II5-STEPPROCESS MODEL

21. 21. TextResources created for Becta before it was abolished. http://www.timmuslimited.co.uk/archives/117

22. 22. 5-step process model:Define, Access, Understand & Evaluate, Create, Communicate http://www.slideshare.net/TabethaNewman/digital-literacy-literature-review-from-terminology-to-action

23. 23. 8C s http://www.slideshare.net/TabethaNewman/digital-literacy-literature-review-from-terminology-to-action

24. 24. C s Q. WHAT KIND OF TOOLS8 ARE HELPFUL HERE? WIKIPEDIA FLICKR MS WORD http://www.slideshare.net/TabethaNewman/digital-literacy-literature-review-from-terminology-to-action

25. 25. PART III8 DIGITAL LITERACIESOF ELEMENTS

26. 26. Cu Cg Cn CoCultural Cognitive Constructive CommunicativeTHE 8 ELEMENTSOF DIGITAL LITERACIESCf Cr Ct CiConﬁdent Creative Critical Civic

27. 27. Cu CulturalTHE 8 ELEMENTS"The nature of literacy in a culture is repeatedlyredefined as the result of technologicalchanges." Hannon (2000)

28. 28. Cg CognitiveTHE 8 ELEMENTS"Functional internet literacy is not the abilityto use a set of technical tools; rather, it is theability to use a set of cognitive tools." Johnson (2008)

29. 29. Cn ConstructiveTHE 8 ELEMENTS"[Digital literacy is] the awareness, attitude andability of individuals to appropriately use digitaltools...in order to enable constructive social action." DigEuLit project, quoted in Martin (2006)

30. 30. Co CommunicativeTHE 8 ELEMENTS"Digital literacy must therefore involve a systematicawareness of how digital media are constructed and ofthe unique rhetorics of interactive communication." Buckingham (2007)

31. 31. "Modern society is increasingly looking to [people] whocan confidently solve problems and manage their ownlearning throughout their lives, the very qualities which ICTsupremely is able to promote." OECD (2001)THE 8 ELEMENTS Cf Conﬁdent

32. 32. "The creative adoption of new technology requires teacherswho are willing to take risks... a professional culture that isdominated by a prescriptive curriculum, routine practices... anda tight target-setting regime, is unlikely to be helpful." Conlon & Simpson (2003)THE 8 ELEMENTS Cr Creative

33. 33. "Once we see that online texts are not exactly written orspoken, we begin to understand that cyberliteracy requires aspecial form of critical thinking. Communication in the onlineworld is not quite like anything else." Gurak (2001)THE 8 ELEMENTS Ct Critical

34. 34. "The ability to understand and make use of ICT - digitalliteracy - is proving essential to employment success, civicparticipation, accessing entertainment, and education." Mehlman (2007)THE 8 ELEMENTS Ci Civic

35. 35. Cu Co Cultural Cg Cn Communicative Cognitive ConstructiveRANK THESE IN ORDER OF IMPORTANCE Cr Ct Cf Creative Critical Ci Conﬁdence Civic

36. 36. "And, whilst it may be possible to produce lists of the componentsof digital literacy, and to show how they fit together, it is notsensible to suggest that one specific model of digital literacy willbe appropriate for all people or, indeed, for one person over alltheir lifetime. Updating of understanding and competence will benecessary as individual circumstances change, and as changes inthe digital information environment bring the need for new freshunderstanding and new competencies; as Martin (2006a) puts it,digital literacy is "a condition, not a threshold"." (Bawden, 2008)

37. 37. GESTURESJoão Machadohttp://vimeo.com/7338692

38. 38. SHOULDWE TEACH(CONCEPTUAL)SHORTCUTS?

39. 39. PART 4DIGITAL LITERACIESIN YOUR CONTEXT

40. 40. DIGITAL LITERACY PRACTICES CHANGE CC BY-SA [nev]EVEN IF YOU DON'T QUITEUNDERSTAND THEM CC BY-NC-SA Alain Bachellier

41. 41. JOI ITO now (formerly of Creative Commons, Executive Director of MIT Media Lab)WHAT DODIGITAL LITERACIESDEPEND UPON?

42. 42. CC BY chwalker01 CC BY queefette LOLCATS AN INTERNET MEMECC BY zebedee.zebedee

43. 43. CC BY queefette CC BY-NC-SA dantekgeek WHICH ELEMENTS ARE INVOLVED HERE?CC BY zebedee.zebedee WHAT IS PRESUPPOSED?

44. 44. T 'S W H RE? ARADIUS OF H EINTEREST RADIUS OF OPPORTUNITY

45. 45. TA L ES IG I RACIINDIVIDUAL D LITEINTEREST EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS

46. 46. WHICHDIGITAL LITERACIES PRACTICESSHOULD THE AVERAGE14 YEAR-OLDBE FAMILIAR WITH?

47. 47. WE NEED TO DEVELOP SOCIALSKILLSIN ALL 4 ZONES (EDITING)PROCEDURAL CRITICAL ? ? INDIVIDUAL

48. 48. CONCLUSIONHAS YOUR PERCEPTIONOF DIGITAL LITERACIESCHANGED?(NOT STRAIGHTFORWARD, ARE THEY?)

49. 49. THE ARGUMENTIN ONE SLIDE1. THERE ARE 8 ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF DIGITAL LITERACIES2. DEFINITIONS NEED TO BE CO-CREATED TO HAVE POWER3. GET STARTED! (THERE'S PLENTY OF RESOURCES TO HELP YOU)

50. 50. DOUG BELSHAWDOUGBELSHAW.COM

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Essential Elements of Digital Literacies

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Published on A presentation to the Association of Independent Schools of New South Wales (Australia) ICT Managers Conference 2011. Since this presentation, I've written an e-book entitled 'The Essential Elements of Digital Literacies' that you may want to check out: https://gum.co/digilit 1. THE ESSENTIALELEMENTS OFDIGITAL LITERACIES DOUG BELSHAW DOUGBELSHAW.COM 2.

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Digital literacy 1: What digital literacies?

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learning, technology, education, steve, wheeler, social media, internet, mobile, school, teachers

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Connected learning integrates personal interests, supportive relationships, and access to opportunities. It is learning in an age of abundant access to information and social connections that grows from the diverse interests and assets of young people.

Meet Maria: A Connected Learner

Elements of Connected Learning

The research is clear: Learning is irresistible and life-changing when it connects personal interests to meaningful relationships and real-world opportunity.

Spotlight: YOUmedia Chicago

YOUmedia, a youth digital makerspace in Chicago's main downtown public library, embodies the values and elements of connected learning.

YOUmedia centers on digital media production such as music, art, poetry and journalism. Young people can "hang out socially, mess around with new projects and geek out" in areas of specialization when they want to take the leap. Librarians and mentors organize showcases, support the production of various projects and broker connections to other opportunities in their interest area.

Youth who participated at YOUmedia saw clear results.

Feeling emotionally and physically safe and a sense of belonging

Becoming more involved in the chosen interests they brought to YOUmedia

Improving in at least one digital media skill

Improving academic skills: better communication with adults and improved writing ability

Understanding more about opportunities available to them after high school

Elements of Connected Learning Environments

Connected learning does not rely on a single technology or technique. Rather, it is fostered over time through a combination of supports for developing interests, relationships, skills, and a sense of purpose.

Educators have been putting connected learning into practice through a wide range of networks and organizations, in both formal and informal environments.

Educator Networks

The National Writing Project, Young Adult Library Services Association and the Consortium for School Networking have embraced the connected learning framework. Click [here] to learn more about connected learning in teaching practice, and [ here ] for connected learning in libraries.

Connected Learning In Action

Programs and organizations designed around connected learning are serving young people around the country and world.

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About Connected Learning - Connected Learning Alliance

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Connected learning combines personal interests, supportive relationships, and opportunities. It is learning in an age of abundant access to information and social connection that embraces the diverse backgrounds and interests of all young people.

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Introduction

Today's youth are often called "digital natives" by adults because of the seemingly effortless way they engage with all things technological. It's easy to see why: young Canadians live in an interactive, "on demand" digital culture where they are used to accessing media whenever and wherever they want. Instant-messaging, photo sharing, texting, social networking, video-streaming and mobile Internet use are all examples where youth have led the charge in new ways of engaging online.

But this enthusiasm masks a potential problem: although young people don't need coaxing to take up Internet technologies and their skills quickly improve relative to their elders, without guidance they remain amateur users of information and communications technology (ICT), which raises concerns about a generation of youth who are not fully digitally literate, yet are deeply immersed in cyberspace. Therefore, "it is not... enough to assume that young people automatically have all of the skills, knowledge and understanding that they need to apply to their use of technology. All young people need to be supported to thrive in digital cultures; they need help making sense of a rapidly changing world of technology which gives them access to vast amounts of information, which is infused with commercial agendas and which for many reasons can be difficult to interpret."[1]

In order to be literate in today's media-rich environments, young people need to develop knowledge, values and a whole range of critical thinking, communication and information management skills for the digital age. As increasing numbers of businesses, services and even democratic processes migrate online, citizens who lack digital literacy skills risk being disadvantaged when it comes to accessing healthcare, government services and opportunities for employment, education and civic participation.[2] Nor is digital literacy confined to the parts of the curriculum that traditionally deal with technology: "Digital literacy is as much a key part of learning about history and learning how to study history, and learning about science and learning how to study science, as it is about learning about ICT and learning the skills of using ICT. Indeed, possessing digital literacy is an important set of life skills to complement and extend the skills and knowledge already taught in school."[3]

A basic question, then, is what exactly is digital literacy?

This section looks at the various aspects and principles relating to digital literacy and the many skills and competencies that fall under the digital literacy umbrella.

What is Digital Literacy?

Digital literacy is more than technological know-how: it includes a wide variety of ethical, social and reflective practices that are embedded in work, learning, leisure and daily life.

Globally, the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) frames its benchmarks for digital literacy around six standards: creativity and innovation; communication and collaboration; research and information fluency; critical thinking, problem solving and decision making; digital citizenship; and technology operations and concepts.[4]

Digital Literacy Model

This model[5] illustrates the many interrelated elements that fall under the digital literacy umbrella. These range from basic access, awareness and training to inform citizens and build consumer and user confidence to highly sophisticated and more complex creative and critical literacies and outcomes.[6] There is a logical progression from the more fundamental skills towards the higher, more transformative levels, but doing so is not necessarily a sequential process: much depends on the needs of individual users.

Use, Understand, Create

Traditional definitions of literacy have focused on skills relating to numeracy, listening, speaking, reading, writing and critical thinking, with the end goal being developing active thinkers and learners who are able to engage in society in effective and meaningful ways.[7] These skills are needed for full participation in digital society as well, but they are only part of a larger set of skills and competencies that are required.

Competencies for digital literacy can be classified according to three main principles: Use, Understand and Create.

Userepresents the technical fluency that's needed to engage with computers and the Internet. Skills and competencies that fall under "use" range from basic technical know-how - using computer programs such as word processors, web browsers, email and other communication tools - to the more sophisticated abilities for accessing and using knowledge resources, such as search engines and online databases, and emerging technologies such as cloud computing.

Understand is that critical piece - it's the set of skills that help us comprehend, contextualize, and critically evaluate digital media so that we can make informed decisions about what we do and encounter online. These are the essential skills that we need to start teaching our kids as soon as they go online.

Understand includes recognizing how networked technology affects our behaviour and our perceptions, beliefs and feelings about the world around us.

Understand also prepares us for a knowledge economy as we develop - individually and collectively - information management skills for finding, evaluating and effectively using information to communicate, collaborate and solve problems.

Create is the ability to produce content and effectively communicate through a variety of digital media tools. Creation with digital media is more than knowing how to use a word processor or write an email: it includes being able to adapt what we produce for various contexts and audiences; to create and communicate using rich media such as images, video and sound; and to effectively and responsibly engage with Web 2.0 user-generated content such as blogs and discussion forums, video and photo sharing, social gaming and other forms of social media.

The ability to create using digital media ensures that Canadians are active contributors to digital society. Creation - whether through blogs, tweets, wikis or any of the hundreds of avenues for expression and sharing online - is at the heart of citizenship and innovation.

As Douglas Belshaw puts it, "Digital literacies are transient: they change over time, may involve using different tools or developing different habits of mind, and almost always depend upon the context in which an individual finds herself."[8] Given how quickly and frequently our media world is evolving, developing and maintaining one's digital literacy is a lifelong process. The specific skills that are needed will vary from person to person depending on their needs and circumstances - which can range from basic awareness and training to more sophisticated and complex applications. What remains constant, however, are the key concepts that apply to all networked media and are relevant to students - and adults - at all ages.

Key Concepts of Digital Literacy

MediaSmarts' conception of digital literacy incorporates the five key concepts of media literacy (Media are constructions; Audiences negotiate meaning; Media have commercial implications; Media have social and political implications; and Each medium has a unique aesthetic form) and supplements them with five more key concepts that reflect the added dimension of networked interactivity. These key concepts of digital literacy apply to traditional media as well, with the difference being that while the aspects they describe are relatively rare in traditional media, they are dominant in digital media. Communicating these concepts is essential for enabling students to transfer their learning to different contexts: for example, teaching students to authenticate information for assignments may motivate them to do this for schoolwork, but they may not see the need to do so in other situations. When young people understand how the networked nature of digital media makes it possible for anyone to create online content, however, this helps them to understand why this is important.

As with the key concepts of media literacy, key concepts for digital literacy are essential both in providing a common language for theorists and educators and in being a guiding principle for teachers in a rapidly changing technological landscape. Whatever the topic, tool or platform, the purpose of digital literacy education is to communicate these key concepts to students in a way that's appropriate to their age and context.

1. Digital media are networked.

Unlike traditional media, there are no one-way connections in digital media. In traditional media, content only flowed one way: producers created it, then sold or licensed it to distributors who then brought it to you. In digital media, by contrast, you're no longer the final link in a distribution chain but a node in the middle of an infinite network. You can share content with other people as easily as a producer or distributor shares it with you. Collaboration and dialogue are the norm, rather than solitary creation and broadcasting.

These links are always at least two-way, even if you're not aware of the ways you're sending data. This means that everyone and everything is linked to everything else. As a result, the barriers to participation are much lower than in traditional media and anyone can publish content and find an audience. This means that users can interact with peers and celebrities at the same time, and also has important implications when we need to authenticate information or recognize a source's bias and point of view. The networked nature of digital media also makes it possible for formal and informal communities to develop online, whose norms and values are created by their members.

2. Digital media are persistent, searchable and shareable.

Digital content is permanent: everything that is transmitted is stored somewhere and can be searched for and indexed. When considered together with the concept that digital media are networked, this means that most of this content can also be copied, shared or spread at a trivial cost. Even things that are apparently temporary (like Snapchat photos) can be copied, and are almost always stored on the platform's servers.

Because it's persistent, digital content is mostly consumed asynchronously: we typically react or reply to something at a time other than when it's posted, and reactions to our reaction will also come at a later, usually unpredictable time. This can make digital media hard to turn off, since a reaction - or a chance for us to respond to something - may come at any time.

3. Digital media have unknown and unexpected audiences.

Because digital media are networked and digital content is shareable, what you share online may be seen by people you didn't intend or expect to see it. Your ability to control who sees what is limited: both content creators and traditional gatekeepers and distributors have much less power to control what happens to it once it's posted. This can make it difficult to manage audiences, and there is always a risk of context collapse when what was intended for one audience is seen by another. As well, you may be sharing content that you're not aware of with audiences you don't know about, such as cookies and other tracking tools that record information about who you are and what you do when you visit a website.

4. Digital media experiences are real, but don't always feel real.

Being networked means that all digital media are, to at least a certain extent, interactive: we are never just passive viewers but always a part of what's happening. Because it's interactive we often respond to things online as though we are really there, but most of the cues that tell us how we and others feel are absent. One result of this can be "empathy traps," features of networked interaction - such as a feeling of being anonymous, or the absence of cues such as tone of voice or facial expressions in the people we interact with - that prevent us from feeling empathy when we normally would, and these traps can make us forget that what we do online can have real consequences. For the same reasons, it can be very difficult to determine someone's actual meaning and motivation when interacting with them online, a phenomenon popularly known as "Poe's Law."

Partly because of this, and also because of the lack of physical presence online (we may not even entirely feel we're "in" our bodies, as we're usually sitting and immobile when using digital media), it's easy to forget that laws, morals and rights still apply online. The norms and values of the online communities we're part of can also affect our own personal norms and values, as the values of our offline communities do.

Taken together with the lowered barriers to publication discussed above, this can also mean that the people and images we interact with online affect us as much or more than images in traditional media because they are (or seem to be) our peers. The images of ourselves we create online have an extra impact on us because they embody who we imagine (or wish) ourselves to be.

5. How we respond and behave when using digital media is influenced by the architecture of the platforms, which reflects the biases and assumptions of their creators.

One of the most fundamental insights of media literacy is that the form of a medium influences how we "read" or experience a text. While this remains true in digital media, the network effect means that the architecture of a platform - everything from the user interface we interact with to the algorithms that determine how it delivers content to us - affects not just the meaning and message of digital media but also our own behaviour when using them. On the most fundamental level, for example, the networked nature of digital media creates a centripetal effect, as hyperlinks encourage us to move to other texts and platforms. danah boyd describes this architecture in terms of "affordances," which "do not dictate participants' behavior, but they do configure the environment in a way that shapes participants' engagement."[9]

As with traditional media, these influences are not natural or neutral: they reflect the beliefs, unconscious biases and unquestioned assumptions of their creators. Sometimes these values will be consciously applied: if a platform's designers consider freedom of speech their top priority, then protections from hate speech and harassment will be an afterthought at best - which will influence who feels free to speak and what kinds of conversations happen. But unconscious attitudes can be at play, too, such as an "engineering mindset" that sees no problem with showing different job listings for Black and White users, or with delivering an ever-narrower feed of news that you're sure to agree with if that's the most efficient and effective way to advertise to you. As is almost always the case, commercial considerations are also key: a platform that makes money from user engagement will naturally encourage interactions that produce the most intense engagement, no matter the content or tenor of those interactions.

There is often an interplay between the influence of platforms and users' own needs, as can occur in traditional media as well. Teens may choose to post casual photos on Snapchat and more formal ones on Instagram, for instance, based on how they see the two platforms serving their purposes differently, but they are also being influenced by the structure of those platforms: Snapchat, where photos are temporary by default, creates an expectation of being casual and "fun," while Instagram's persistent feed promotes the careful maintenance of a public-facing profile.

Where Does "Digital Citizenship" Fit In?

Digital Citizenship is "character education" in a networked world. As one teacher puts it:
One of the big mission statements and themes of our school is building character today for communities of tomorrow, so we are always tying things back into good character and how we want to be perceived by others; how we want to treat others; and how we want others to treat us... technology provides one more way to teach it, one more way to make it relevant to students. [10]
Being a critically engaged user and consumer of media is an essential part of active citizenship in the 21 st century: we use media to inform ourselves, to help shape our opinions, to interact with our communities and to make our voices heard.

Models for digital citizenship are generally framed around elements such as rights and responsibilities, participation or civic engagement, norms of behaviour or etiquette, and a sense of belonging and membership.[11]

Digital citizenship is closely aligned to civics in a traditional sense, where understanding digital media and being able to use it is becoming a vital part of active citizenship. As media messages dominate our political debates and tools such as Facebook and Twitter are used for activism and organizing political movements around the world, it's increasingly important for young people to be able to view media critically and be prepared to be engaged digital citizens who contribute to their communities in a positive way. To do so, they need the full range of skills we associate with media and digital literacy to be able to know and exercise the rights they hold as consumers, as members of online communities, as citizens of a state and as human beings.

Fostering Digital Literacy in the Classroom

Many teachers are using technology in their classrooms to support different learning styles and to engage students: what's missing are guidelines to help them do this in ways that promote innovative thinking and collaborative work, promote ethical practices, and strengthen their own professional development.

Teachers interviewed by MediaSmarts identified several key factors that limit the ability of educators to help students build digital literacy skills. They also offered some solutions to these problems, including the need to:

provide students with authentic learning opportunities that are enhanced through technological tools;

position teachers as facilitators and co-learners, instead of "drill and kill" experts;

focus teacher training on how to use technology to enhance learning and meet curricular outcomes; and

create reasonable policies and less restrictive filters in schools so that teachers can better help students develop and exercise good judgement.[12]

Technology has shifted the traditional classroom paradigm that positions the teacher as the expert. This can be hard for many educators to accept, but it's not necessarily a bad thing. In our quickly evolving technological world, we are all learners, and teachers who are willing to share responsibility with students are more likely to be comfortable - and effective - in a networked classroom.

This is where our education system can benefit from models in the youth engagement sector, where young people are acknowledged as decision-makers, partners and agents of social change, and adults assume the role of trusted guides and lifelong learners alongside youth.[13]

One of the supporting principles of Manitoba's Continuum Model for Literacy with ICT is the gradual release of responsibility from teacher to student.[14] According to this principle, teachers act as facilitators and guides who provide scaffolding to help students develop higher-level critical and creative thinking and deeper understanding relating to ICT as they gradually become more autonomous users of networked technology.[15]

This principle fits well into effective programs for digital literacy and digital citizenship that:

are holistic, building links between school, home and the community and taking into account both online and offline opportunities for engagement and empowerment;

are evidence-based;

are proactive, as opposed to reactive;

position digital technology as a right and a responsibility;

reinforce positive and pro-social uses of technology;

provide a wide range of tools and resources;

focus not just on safety, but also on the whole range of digital literacy skills and competencies;

are built upon traditional aspects of character and moral education as well as a broader interpretation of civics education;

are child-centred and youth-led - building on the reality of young people's lives and providing real and authentic experiences;

foster a gradual release of responsibility towards independent practice by youth - working with youth in building resilience, finding solutions and promoting positive engagement with technology; and

position adults as supportive mentors and facilitators.

MediaSmarts has drawn on the work of academics and educators across the country to develop a curriculum framework to ensure that students from Kindergarten to Grade 12 can receive a comprehensive digital literacy education. This framework consists of lessons, classroom activities and other teacher resources that translate the five key concepts into specific digital literacy skills that are essential for each grade level. These skills are grouped into seven categories:

Ethics and Empathy: This category addresses students' social-emotional skills and empathy towards others as well as their ability to make ethical decisions in digital environments when dealing with issues such as cyberbullying, sharing other people's content and accessing music and video.

Privacy and Security: This includes essential skills for managing students' privacy, reputation and security online, such as making good decisions about sharing their own content, understanding data collection techniques, protecting themselves from malware and other software threats, and being aware of their digital footprint.

Community Engagement: Resources in this category teach students about their rights as citizens and consumers, and empower them to influence positive social norms in online spaces and to speak out as active, engaged citizens.

Digital Health: Digital health skills include managing screen time and balancing students' online and offline lives; managing online identity issues; dealing with issues relating to digital media, body image and sexuality; and understanding the differences between healthy and unhealthy online relationships.

Consumer Awareness: These skills allow students to navigate highly commercialized online environments. They include recognizing and interpreting advertising, branding and consumerism; reading and understanding the implications of website Terms of Service and privacy policies; and being savvy consumers online.

Finding and Verifying: Students need the skills to effectively search the Internet for information they need for personal and school purposes, and then evaluate and authenticate the sources and information they find.

Making and Remixing: Making and remixing skills enable students to create digital content and use existing content for their own purposes in ways that respect legal and ethical considerations, and to use digital platforms to collaborate with others.

Browse our digital literacy curriculum framework.

Digital Literacy Across the Curriculum

Digital education has a place in nearly every course and subject. You can see our Curriculum Charts to get specific information on how each of our lessons and resources meets the curriculum of different courses in your province or territory. Here are some ideas to get you started:

English Language Arts: This subjectis where media literacy expectations have most often been found, and those apply to digital media as well. Some of the most important implications of our key concepts - like the idea that anyone can publish online - make traditional media literacy skills more important than ever, but also require more up-to-date ways of recognizing advertising, for example, and the ways that we're susceptible to bias.

Digital tech also provides enormous opportunities for creative media production. We need to take advantage of those opportunities, while also making sure that our students understand the ethical issues involved in it - as well as their own rights as media creators.

Social Sciences: Finding and verifying information is at the heart of social science. Teachers can explore the use of the Internet for research, including access to uncensored information and alternative news sources. As with English, students can also learn to distinguish bias, misinformation and propaganda in online content. In more advanced classes like anthropology and psychology, students can learn how the values of their online communities are shaped and how the features of online environments shape our behaviour.

Civics: Digital platforms are the new arena for both online and offline civic participation, and digital technology also offers students a chance to participate as full citizens in a way that they can't offline. Teaching them to be an active part of their online communities - as well as to use digital tools to be involved offline - is essential to prepare them to be fully engaged citizens when they're older.

Careers: Students will need to learn that what they post online might be around for a long time - and that they have some control over whether that reflects well or poorly on them. As well, digital literacy skills such as communicating clearly, collaborating remotely and managing information will be some of the most important and longest-lasting job skills when students graduate.[16]

Health and Personal Development: Because digital tech is so central to young people's lives, no subject may need to integrate digital literacy more than health. Traditional health topics like body image and sexual health education need to incorporate digital literacy key concepts, as well as digital health issues such as "fear of missing out" that are caused by persistence, shareability and asynchronous communication.

Young people's self-image is influenced by the photos of their peers - and themselves - that they select, and often edit or manipulate, so carefully. As well, the line separating them from the celebrities they admire - whose images are very definitely Photoshopped - is largely gone, as they all participate in the same platforms like Instagram. Beyond just body image, young people need to be able to ask questions about the ideals of masculinity and femininity that they feel pressured to fit into on social media.

Young people's health can also be affected by some of the features of digital media like persistence and shareability, which can make it very hard to log off and give the haunting feeling of "fear of missing out" - the idea that your friends are having a good time online without you.

Finally, students need to understand some of the effects we've discussed that digital media can have on relationships, as well as how to deal with them, and to understand how ideas like respect and consent apply in the online context.

The Arts: As more and more artistic production is created or distributed through digital media, arts courses also need to reflect the impacts of digital technology, such as how platform architecture influences aesthetics and self-presentation, and the effects of networked technology on arts industries and communities. The Internet has definitely been a mixed blessing for most arts industries, but students need to understand those changes - and be able to see what changes are coming - if they're considering careers in the arts.

Technology and ICT: Technology courses themselves need to adopt a wider view of digital literacy and go beyond a focus on technical skills - which are likely to be obsolete within a few years after students graduate - to a more critical understanding of digital technology, and should expand from a focus on using technology to include understanding and creating as well.

[1] Alexander, B., Adams Becker, S., and Cummins, M. (2016). Digital Literacy: An NMC Horizon Project Strategic Brief. Volume 3.3, October 2016. Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium.
[2] Hobbs, Renee (2012). "Hobbs: Info literacy must be a community education movement." http://www.knightcomm.org/hobbs-info-literacy-must-be-a-community-education-movement/
[3] Hague, C. and Williamson, B. (2009). Digital Participation, Digital Literacy, and School Subjects: A Review of the Policies, Literature and Evidence. Bristol: Futurelab.
[4] International Society for Technology in Education (2007). iste.nets.s: Advancing Digital Age Learning. Iste.org/nets.
[5] This figure is based on models from the Report of the Digital Britain Media Literacy Working Group. (March 2009), DigEuLit - a European Framework for Digital Literacy (2005), and Jenkins et al., (2006) Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century. http://www.newmedialiteracies.org/files/working/NMLWhitePaper.pdf
[6] Jenkins, H. et. al. (2006). Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21 st Century. MacArthur; Chicago Ill. p 4.
[7] Combes, B. (2010). How much do traditional literacy skills count? Literacy in the 21st century & reading from the screen. http://www.slideshare.net/IASLonline/literacy-skills-challenged
[8] Belshaw, Douglas A.J. (2012). What is 'digital literacy'? A Pragmatic investigation, Durham theses, Durham University.
[9] danah boyd. (2010). "Social Network Sites as Networked Publics: Affordances, Dynamics, and Implications." In Networked Self: Identity, Community, and Culture on Social Network Sites (ed. Zizi Papacharissi), pp. 39-58
[10] Young Canadians in a Wired World, Phase III - Teachers' Perspectives at http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/corporate/media_kit/upload/YCWW-III-Teachers-Perspectives_EN.pdf
[11] Collier, A. (2011). "Making the Case for Digital Citizenship." Slideshare presentation. http://www.slideshare.net/annecollier/making-the-case-for-digital-citizenship-111104
[12] Young Canadians in a Wired World, Phase III - Teachers' Perspectives at http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/corporate/media_kit/upload/YCWW-III-Teachers-Perspectives_EN.pdf
[13] Youth Infusion. "Continuum of Change". http://www.youthinfusion.com/
[14] Government of Manitoba, Ministry of Education, Citizenship and Youth (2006). A Continuum Model for Literacy with ICT Across the Curriculum. www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/tech/lict/index.html
[15] Ibid.
[16] Moran, G. "These Will be the Top Jobs of 2025 (And the Skills You'll Need to Get Them.)" Fast Company, March 31 2016. https://www.fastcompany.com/3058422/these-will-be-the-top-jobs-in-2025-and-the-skills-youll-need-to-get-them

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This section looks at the various aspects and principles relating to digital literacy and the many skills and competencies that fall under the digital literacy umbrella. The relationship between digital literacy and digital citizenship is also explored and tips are provided for teaching these skills in the classroom.

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I am lucky to know some amazing teachers. I know teachers who are throwing open the doors of their classrooms and partnering with community organizations, libraries, and museums to expand students' learning opportunities. I know teachers who are flipping the hierarchical teacher-student relationship on its head to allow students to take the lead in their learning. I know teachers who are linking their students to networks that discuss and take action on the most pressing issues of the day.

When I ask these teachers why they are making these innovative moves in their practice, they tell me they feel compelled to do so in order to prepare their students for the interconnected world in which we now live. They recognize that schools cannot continue to use 20 th century approaches in our 21 st century society. They want students to be active, engaged, and passionate scholars and citizens, and they know that intellectual agility needs to be cultivated.

These teachers are embodiments of an educational approach called connected learning. Connected learning highlights the importance of connecting academic learning to what students are passionate about and giving them opportunities to make things related to these interests in collaboration with networks. Though it does not require the use of technology, it notes the expansive possibility for connection that new media provides.

The Educator Innovator network has been documenting the work of educators using the connected learning approach across the country, from the LRNG Challenge to the Connected Learning Alliance. These resources are a huge source of inspiration and a showcase of powerful learning in action.

But, having once been a new teacher myself, I began to realize that these resources can also be a bit intimidating. These teachers all seem so amazing - magical, even. They make incredible learning happen and their students seem constantly enthralled. Doubts can begin to creep in for us mere mortal teachers - could I ever do something like this? Surely these teachers are far more skilled and successful than I could ever be.

And, then it hit me - understanding the why of connected learning is easy; understanding the how is much more complicated. Teachers need opportunities to see the process through which their colleagues decide to go out on that limb for the first time and experiment with new ways of thinking and doing. In order to increase the spread and impact of connected learning, it is urgent that we begin to articulate a model of connected teaching.

Pockets of teachers and teacher educators are beginning this generative work. One burgeoning example is the Connected Learning in Teacher Education group - you can learn about its origins here and access their progress here. I've also been experimenting with giving pre-service and in-service teachers opportunities to experience connected learning themselves through my own practice.

I've also been talking to teachers and combing through existing resources to try to pinpoint some of the key moves that need to be made to embrace connected learning in practice. In almost all of my exploration, teachers who have experimented with connected learning have identified for me key moments in which they turned their back on what they had previously internalized about what it meant to be a teacher and took a chance on something new. I think that it is crucial to identify the ingrained assumptions of what a teacher does and who a teacher is so that we can then deconstruct them and build something new.

Here are some of the assumptions about teaching that I've uncovered in my conversations:

Teachers work (mostly) alone and (mostly) with one subject area.

Teachers possess the knowledge and skills that students need to be taught.

Teachers control the learning experience - its design, implementation, and evaluation.

Teachers need to maintain a divide between the classroom and the wider world.

Teachers need to keep their identities out of the classroom.

All of us have likely acted upon these assumptions at one time or another - they are deeply baked into our psyches as educators. Teachers who have begun to challenge these assumptions engage in alternative practices that begin to help us articulate the commitments of connected teaching. These commitments and practices include:

COLLABORATION: Connected teachers work collaboratively.

CURIOSITY: Connected teachers bring an inquiry mindset to classroom practice.

COURAGE: Connected teachers give up some of their control over the learning experience.

CIVIC ENGAGEMENT: Connected teachers engage their students in public life.

CARE: Connected teachers share their interests and learning with their students.

Teachers need opportunities to cultivate these commitments in order to transition from conventional to connected forms of teaching. The process is certainly not easy or linear - we all will find ourselves wobbling at times - but, being transparent about it is the step to radical transformation of practice.

I have compiled a collection of resources from across the Educator Innovator network that highlight the work of trailblazing educators embodying each of these connected teaching commitments. You can find it here. I hope that it spurs conversation about ways that all of us can make small moves in our own practice to become more connected teachers and offer our students transformative learning opportunities.
Banner illustration by Nicole Mirra

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From Connected Learning to Connected Teaching: A Necessary Step Forward - Connected Learning Alliance

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I am lucky to know some amazing teachers. I know teachers who are throwing open the doors of their classrooms and partnering with community organizations, libraries, and museums to expand students' learning opportunities. I know teachers who are flipping the hierarchical teacher-student relationship on its head to allow students to take the lead in their learning.

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European DigComp 2.0 - the Conceptual Reference Model

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European DigComp 2.0 - the Conceptual Reference Model

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Three Models of Digital Literacy by the New Media Consortium 

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Three Models of Digital Literacy by the New Media Consortium 

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Welcome to All Aboard! Are you keen to improve your digital knowledge, skills or confidence? If so, we'd love to help. All Aboard is a national project that aims to empower learners, teachers, and anyone who uses technology to support their work, their study, or other aspects of living in a digital age.

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Broadening Pedagogical Practices in a Participatory Culture

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Broadening Pedagogical Practices in a Participatory Culture

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A Few Moments with Henry Jenkins
Over the last three decades, Henry Jenkins, Provost's Professor of Communication, Journalism and Cinematic Arts at USC, has distinguished himself as a scholar of new media and participatory culture studies. Already this year, Jenkins has released two books on participatory culture, Spreadable Media: Creating Value and Meaning in a Networked Culture and Reading in a Participatory Culture: Remixing Moby-Dick in the English Classroom. Flows of Reading is a complementary online offering to the latter print book, designed to inspire teachers and students to think about reading texts in more participatory ways. Jenkins also serves as principal investigator of Media Activism Participatory Politics (MAPP), a project of the MacArthur Network on Youth and Participatory Politics (YPP), and is a plenary panelist at this month's DML conference. We spent a few moments with Jenkins to see how the definition of participatory culture has evolved since his first white paper on the subject was published in 2006. You write in Spreadable Media, "As people push DIY media making as the be-all and end-all of participatory culture, they risk reducing other kinds of participation." Are we putting too much pressure on youth to be creators?
There has been a lot of discussion lately about youth finding voice. Some people are starting to argue that we are stressing voice too much, and not stressing listening and engagement enough. If we are going to build an environment where young people's voices are taken seriously, we also have to build an environment where young people are actively listening and responding to what each person is creating. Building upon the original MacArthur white paper, Project New Media Literacies has laid out the four C's - connect, create, collaborate, and circulate - which are integral parts of the overall cycle of participatory culture. Collectively, they describe an ongoing process of creative expression and communication that can be embedded effectively in both in-school and out-of-school settings.

Focusing on circulation and the choices that go along with circulation - what the book calls appraisal -- places a new emphasis on those close-reading skills that teachers have traditionally wanted to promote in the classroom. How do we evaluate the quality of information or cultural expression? What is meaningful to pass along? Both individually and collectively, we impact the agenda of the society by what media we choose to pass along and what media we create. We have to take ownership of the information we pass along within our community so that we are not guilty of spreading misinformation, conspiracy theories, or slander. These choices are really fundamental and are directly tied to media literacy.
Can you give an example of a teacher welcoming participatory practices into his/her classroom in a meaningful way?
For our newly released book, Reading in a Participatory Culture: Remixing Moby-Dick in the Classroom, we took the ideas from the MacArthur white paper and translated it into a curriculum, which we tested in six different schools around the U.S. We tested the curriculum in a variety of contexts - public and private schools, both wealthy and low-income. As a result, we got a lot of powerful stories of what can happen when this stuff is done well.

There was a school in Indiana that had banned Wikipedia altogether, not simply because the teachers were suspicious of the quality of information on Wikipedia, but also because some of the students had done bad things on Wikipedia using school computers. The school principal was anxious about the accountability of that. But we were able to open up a space for one class to use Wikipedia in relation to teaching Herman Melville, and the young people were encouraged to try to update the Wikipedia entry on Moby-Dick based on the things they were learning. This being Wikipedia, there's a robust vetting process of all of the information that is posted, so they got a certain amount of pushback from other Wikipedians. They had to figure out how to actively defend the choices they were making. In the process, they learned a tremendous amount about what research is. Research is not simply facts in a book, but it is an ongoing dialogue between people who bring different kinds of information and different criteria together. We saw that as a huge success in terms of bringing participatory culture into the classroom.
What led you to the story of Moby-Dick in particular?
It started because I met a remarkable man, African American playwright and educator Ricardo Pitts-Wiley, who was working with incarcerated youth and getting them to read Moby-Dick. He asked them to reimagine who these characters would be in the 21st century. Through a collaborative process, a story emerged that was not focused on the whaling trade, but on the drug trade. It's the story of a charismatic female gang leader bent on vengeance for personal injury, and vengeance comes at the expense of dealing drugs and making money for the group. Her crew struggles to figure out how far they should follow her into the mouth of Hell and into acts of gang violence given their own priorities.

This is an essential dilemma that spoke very powerfully to these incarcerated youth. These youth were applying the same skills to this literary text, the great American novel, as a fan fiction writer would apply to Harry Potter or any other media franchise. These are kids who read well below their grade level, and they were able to read this very difficult novel that many of us abandoned in high school because it was too hard.

At the heart of this project is the idea of remixing - learning to think critically about text by creatively reworking its core materials. As we are teaching educators about what remix means, we are also helping young people think about historic models of authorship in a new way. Reading in a networked world means reading with a mouse in one hand and a book in the other so that you can connect your reading and forms of participation in very real ways. We want youth to see the classics not as dead texts, but as living texts that contemporary writers can reimagine and young people can imagine differently by asking fundamental questions and creating new stories. This approach to remix nevertheless requires enormous respect for the original work. It also requires close reading skills, research skills, and attention to the cultural context the work comes out of.
Does the connected learning model have the potential to be the missing puzzle piece linking participatory culture to youth civic engagement?
The connected learning model helps us understand how informal participation in our recreational lives, such as pursuing interests online, can be scaffolded by mentorship at each learning stage - outside school, after school, and inside school. All of those constituencies allow youth to connect the kinds of skills that are being acquired in school to their personal interests in a way that allows them to navigate those spaces better.

What we have noticed about effective peer-based learning initiatives outside of school in gaming communities and fan communities is that they are places where adults and youth often work side-by-side without a hierarchy. Instead, their common interests and mutual contributions shape their interactions with each other. If we look at the fan fiction world, there are young people who are mentors for older people because they have particular skills and knowledge, but they are also learning from those older people things about their own experiences, which is really helpful for them not only in writing fan fiction, but in all issues in their lives. Those become spaces of mutual mentorship.

Those relationships change fundamentally as mentorship gets pulled into a school setting where teachers have to maintain discipline. What results is a clear separation between teacher and student. Some of the work PLAY has been doing has been to try to think about how we create an environment of co-learning inside the classroom, which is participatory and has a more informal set of relationships between adults and youth around shared interests that is essential for youth to help shape what takes place inside the classroom.
How are groups such as the Harry Potter Alliance and Dream Activists changing the current civic narrative?
Part of what we discovered in our MAPP research is that many of the young people involved in these kinds of activist groups were culturally active in some way but not politically active. Their strength was in making things - clothes, videos, mash-up memes, or fan stories. They started to play around with these activities, but they didn't see themselves as especially political. A lot of that has to do with language of traditional politics. It's hard to find an entry point into politics if you aren't one of the student government kids.

What these organizations have done is conducted politics in a different language to help young people find these points of entries and learn about these issues in powerful new ways. Nerdfighters are telling kids to join in "fighting against world suck." That's not the language they are hearing from government officials on a Sunday morning news show. This is the language that speaks peer-to-peer among youth who might know already how to do things online but don't know how to do things civically online.

Many of these groups have training sessions to help young people figure out how to tell their stories more effectively, how to mobilize their personal experiences or stories that matter to them in ways that connect to real world issues, which hopefully move other people towards action. These are things that can be translated more broadly into the classroom. The more we teach the skills through the classroom, the more effectively young people are going to be in engaging in participatory politics.
How has your own experience growing up as a fan influenced the work you do?
I've been a fan for a long as I can remember. It informed the way I thought about what reading is. Fans are incredibly gifted readers. They are highly motivated, read with a passion for the material, and are socially connected. To read as a fan is to be part of a community of readers. Often, when I write about communities of readers, I recall the community of Star Trek fans, which I was part of as a kid, or I think about the fellowship that grew up in my neighborhood around monsters movies and magazines - we watched the films, we built monster models, we play acted in the backyard, we drew pictures, we practiced make-up and costume design, and we imagined making Super 8 movies together.

We were active consumers of these stories and strongly connected with developing a sense of mastery over them, but also saw them as a resource that we could recreate in our everyday lives. One of the great things of Famous Monsters of Filmland for me was it actively encouraged us to appropriate and perform these characters. They had guides for costuming, for amateur filmmaking, for model building. For me as a kid, this was a model of an active, creative, social form of reading that has inspired almost everything else I have done ever since. Being a fan shapes not only the essays and books I write within the Fan Studies paradigm, but also informs my ideas about participatory pedagogy because I have seen so many powerful examples of creative and active reading in fan cultures through the years.

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Broadening Pedagogical Practices in a Participatory Culture - DML Hub

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Over the last three decades, Henry Jenkins, Provost's Professor of Communication, Journalism and Cinematic Arts at USC, has distinguished himself as a scholar of new media and participatory culture studies. Already this year, Jenkins has released two books on participatory culture, Spreadable Media: Creating Value and Meaning in a Networked

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Digital capability is the term we use to describe the skills and attitudes that individuals and organisations need if they are to thrive in today's world.

At an individual level we define digital capabilities as those which equip someone to live, learn and work in a digital society.

At an organisational level we need to look beyond the capabilities of individuals and consider the extent to which the culture and infrastructure of an institution enables and motivates digital practices.

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Digital capability is the term we use to describe the skills and attitudes that individuals and organisations need if they are to thrive in today's world. At an individual level we define digital capabilities as those which equip someone to live, learn and work in a digital society.

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In her blog post, "Digital Pedagogy: Is there too much Technology in the Classroom, for Top Hat, Ford, a computer science faculty member, states that many instructors feel that by using "electronic elements in their teaching, they are practicing digital pedagogy." Ford argues that this couldn't be further from the truth. In order for technology to be incorporated effectively, there needs to be a purpose to it, and it should not be done for its own sake.

Ford uses the example of a blog entry. She asks:

She also argues that if an instructor is "going to implement a new technology or digital component into your classroom, it doesn't mean that students will ultimately feel more connected to the subject and thus learn more." She emphasizes that there is no point of incorporating something into your teaching just for the sake of having it.

She offers three suggestions for effectively incorporating Digital Pedagogy

1. Focus on Collaboration: Employers today feel like the ability to work together is extremely important in employees, therefore when instructors choose technologies that facilitate the development of these skills, it is truly beneficial. This can add a dimension to group work that helps students build the necessary soft skills.

2. Design for inclusion: ensure that the technology being incorporated allows everyone to participate. Be mindful of the digital divide, and that not all of your students are tech savvy.

3. Works Towards Class Participation: Engaging tools work the best.

Her final word of advice is to "Take the time to think about what you are trying to accomplish and look for the best technology fit that is both easy for you and the students to learn and also will help you achieve your goal. "

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Research guides: Digital Pedagogy - A Guide for Librarians, Faculty, and Students: Digital Pedagogy - Best Practices

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In her blog post, "Digital Pedagogy: Is there too much Technology in the Classroom, for Top Hat, Ford, a computer science faculty member, states that many instructors feel that by using "electronic elements in their teaching, they are practicing digital pedagogy." Ford argues that this couldn't be further from the truth.

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2. Digital Commerce is the electronic buying and selling of goods and focuses on the tools and safeguards in place to assist those buying, selling, banking, or using money in any way in the digital space. Career and technical education use the tools of technology to show students the path for their future.

3. Digital Communication and Collaboration is the electronic exchange of information. All users need to define how they will share their thoughts so that others understand the message. For students struggling to understand their place in the world, technology can help them find their own voices and express themselves.

4. Digital Etiquette refers to electronic standards of conduct or procedures and has to do with the process of thinking about others when using digital devices. Teachers can include Digital Etiquette as part of the classroom rules or academic goals. Whether in the classroom or online, being aware of others is an important idea for everyone.

5. Digital Fluency is the process of understanding technology and its use. The better educated or "digitally fluent," students are, the more likely they are to make good decisions online, like supporting others instead of making negative comments. Digital literacy includes the discussion of media literacy and the ability to discern good information from poor, such as "fake news" from real news.

6. Digital Health and Welfare refers to the physical and psychological well-being in a digital world. Technology provides many opportunities and enjoyment, but knowing how to segment use with the needs of ourselves and others is key to a healthy, balanced life. Educators, especially in 1:1 schools or classrooms need to ask the question of how much screen time is appropriate for students. Common Sense media has developed a guide on this topic.

7. Digital Law refers to the electronic responsibility for actions and deeds and has to do with the creation of rules and policy that address issues related to the online world. Just as in the real world, the online world has had to create structure to protect those using these digital devices from harm. Support for issues such as cyberbullying and sexting are available from School Resource Officers and other school counsel. Administrators need to come up with positive approaches to these issues in their schools and districts.

8. Digital Rights and Responsibility are those requirements and freedoms extended to everyone in a digital world. This area of Digital Citizenship is about helping students understand that when they are provided opportunities, such as the access to the Internet and use of online products, they need to be diligent in helping others as well, such as informing adults of potential problems. Educators must help students understand that protecting others both online and in the real world are essential skills to have.

9. Digital Security and Privacy is the electronic precautions to guarantee safety. Viruses, worms and other bots can be passed along from one system to another just like an illness. When using devices in school or at home, understanding and being aware of attacks and how to prevent them are important skills for today and into the future.

Check out Amanda Brace's site - Ed Tech Endeavours - 9 Elements of Digital Citizenship Podcasts

S3 Framework (Safe, Savvy and Social)

Digital Citizenship classifies nine foundational elements in the following three guiding principles: Safe, Savvy and Social (or S3). The tenets of S3 are a way to support, as well as reinforce the framework of the themes of digital citizenship. Each theme/element encompasses three levels of support (Safe, Savvy and Social) which could (or should) be taught as soon as our children can first pick up a device and start to interact with it. The first guiding principal; Safety, focuses on protecting yourself and protecting others and creates the base of digital citizenship. The next is Savvy in which focuses on the concepts around educating yourself and connecting with others. These concepts build upon the concepts of Safety. And finally, the Social guiding principle commits to helping everyone make decisions exemplifying our commitment to respect ourselves and respect others. It is here that we fully realize the possibilities of the online experience.

Safety - Protecting Digital Citizens [being protected from or unlikely to cause danger, risk, or injury to yourself or others]

Technology is changing students coming to our schools which in turn moves education. The tools that have been provided to students and faculty are making tasks such as creating or sharing information (e.g., a document, presentation or video) much more streamlined. While technology affords users new opportunities the issues that occur are often are the lapses of judgment when the tool is not fully understood. These problems happen with moving to new and different tools that knowledge and rules are not fully established by those who use them. This is an attempt to apply older concepts to new ideas, which do not exactly fit. Now is the time to make the shift to how we will be utilizing the technology for the future. It is important that educators now begin making alterations to how technology is viewed and integrated into the classroom. The knowledge we share today will be passed along to the next generation.

Savvy - Creating Educated Digital Citizens [wisdom and practical knowledge; the understanding to make good judgments]

In many school or district mission statements or goals there is often some mention of "being lifelong learners". So what does this mean in the age of digital learning? The growth and changing nature of technology teaches everyone that we can never stop learning. And with the opportunities that these tools provide why would anyone? Technology has opened the possibilities of how to learn new skills and our responsibility to understand and maximize the potential of these tools. There has been an expectation that children innately understand technology since they were born in a time of expanding digital information. Children do show a willingness to use these technologies where adults may approach with more anxiety. It has also been discovered that device and app developers are creating these technologies to make them intuitive, "so that even a child could use." ​

- Educate Yourself/Educate Others

Social - Respecting Yourself as a Digital Citizen [creating cooperative and interdependent relationships and understanding of others]

When discussing the topic of digital citizenship, digital health, digital safety or whatever it may be called in your school or district there are certain universal themes that seem to surface and be at the heart of the issue. Whether it is through topics of cyberbullying, viewing (or posting) inappropriate content, or plagiarism these and other topics of concern that are discussed most among parents and educators. This section geared towards the "social" element defines the general topic of digital citizenship and its main elements of discussion. Humans are social by nature. People choosing to group with others like themselves in cities, states, and countries. As members of a community we tend to connect with those like us. This can be the difficult aspect of trying to interact with others online, everyone is given the opportunity to join this thing called the Internet and even though we try and stay with those most like us, it is almost impossible not to bump into others that want to try and change our minds, our beliefs.

- Respect Yourself/Respect Others

Go to the Progression Chart Page to learn more about implementing these elements into the classroom.

Language Translations of Nine Elements
Portuguese Translation - Nove Elementos da Cidadania Digital

http://www.miudossegurosna.net/nove-elementos-da-cidadania-digital.html (HTML Version)

http://miudossegurosna.net/MSNN-NOVE-ELEMENTOS-DA-CIDADANIA-DIGITAL-v1.pdf (PDF Version)

Italian Translation - I 9 elementi della Cittadinanza Digitale

http://ilgeekinblu.blogspot.it/2014/06/i-9-elementi-della-cittadinanza-digitale.html

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2. Digital Commerce is the electronic buying and selling of goods and focuses on the tools and safeguards in place to assist those buying, selling, banking, or using money in any way in the digital space. Career and technical education use the tools of technology to show students the path for their future.

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Digital Citizenship Education: A conceptual model

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Digital Citizenship Education: A conceptual model

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These pillars therefore support a development model of digital citizenship and highlight elements of sense making practices framed by enabling policy and successful monitoring and evaluation (M & E) methodology. Between these "framing" pillars, the actors - from teachers and learners to content and policy makers - and the resources and infrastructure available, will play a major role in the level of success achieved.

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Common Sense Education Digital Citizenship

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Common Sense Education Digital Citizenship