Formal Blog Task 6: Childhood and digital literacy in the digital age

Why should teachers care about digital literacy and childhood in the digital age?

The handbook, Digital Literacy across the curriculum (FutureLab 2010), gives a very helpful insight into the role of digital literacy across the school and help teachers to understand how and why digital literacy is important for children in the digital age.

They define that for children to be ‘digitally literate’ they must be able to share meaning through communicating, collaborating and by knowing how and when is best to use different digital tools, this emphasises a mixture of, not only, skills but; competencies and an awareness of the implications of the uses of technology. They also credit digital literacy as an entitlement for all children. It is something all children have the right to access and therefore it is the teacher responsibility to provide the opportunity to become digitally literate to all children.

They believe it must be an entitlement because for children to become effective members of the digital age in which we live. Digital literacy is the tool that allows children to take advantage of a wealth of opportunities. A major part of digital literacy is what they define as digital ‘savvyness’, the ability to understand when is best to use technology and its limitations.

They state how this is even more essential due to the fact that children are already classed as ‘digital native’ (Buckingham and Willet) they have been born into the digital society and have grown up with. They concur with Ito (2009) who states “We can’t put the genie back in the bottle. Young people today expect to be able to appropriate and circulate media for their own self-expression.” Children have been accustomed to the world of technology so it is important that this is reflected in the primary curriculum.

The handbook challenges teacher and policy makers to ensure that young people are taught to gain understanding and benefit from their engagement with technology and to foster a positive attitude to digital literacy in the classroom. They identify, in relation to research, that there can develop a ‘participation gap’ where children who are unable to participate in the digital world at school and home can become unaccustomed to the digital society we live in.

Bibliography

Ito, M (2009). Media literacy and social action in a post-Pokemon world. A keynote address for the 51st NFAIS Annual Conference.  www.itofi sher.com/mito/publications/media_literacy.html

Buckingham, D and Willett, R (eds) (2006). Digital Generations: Children, young people and new media. London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers

FutureLab. (2010) Digital Literacy across the Curriculum. [online] http://www2.futurelab.org.uk/resources/documents/handbooks/digital_literacy.pdf (Accessed: 25/03/14)