Digital Literacy: A Conceptual Framework for Survival Skills in the Digital Era

This article discusses the term "digital literacy" and describes it as being more than just the ability to use software or digital devices, but that it encompasses a wide variety of skills (cognitive, emotional, motor, sociological) the user must possess. The article talks in-depth about five types of digital literacy: photo-visual literacy, reproduction literacy, branching literacy, information literacy, and socio-emotional literacy.
Photo-visual literacy is used with young children (online games, photo-visual books) as well as adults (type-writing skills). In my field classroom I have seen a lot of photo-visual literacy in the form of online games. The students in my second grade class go to the computer lab everyday where they are encouraged to play interactive online games that require them to match pictures with words in oder to figure out the answer. I think it is important that educators as well as students are familiar with this type of digital literacy in order to effectively use it in the classroom. Research with with this type of digital literacy shows that adults were not as able as young children in decoding photo-visual literacy.
I noticed that several of the five forms of digital literacy talked about in the article showed that young children were more capable and comfortable using digital technology than adults. However, with socio-emotional literacy, which focuses on cognitive ability and experience, adults were more skilled. Socio-emotional literacy deals with the Internet, chat rooms, discussion groups, e-mail, etc. Because of the unpredictablitly and uncertainty of reliability in this digital form, users have to be extra careful not to be tricked, scammed, or slipped a virus. Cyberspace may be risky for users who are immature or are not up to speed with the "rules of the game." (This form of digital literacy is the most complex form discussed in this article because it requires the user to be familiar with the Internet, e-mail, chat rooms, etc. It also requires the user to be critical, questioning, mature, and familiar with other types of digital literacy like information literacy and branching literacy.
As a future educator, I think it is important to teach students the dangers and benefits of socio-emotional literacy so that they are able to use it effectively and smartly. Because younger students have grown up with this age of digital technology, they are more able and comfortable using it. It is important to make sure that students are familiar with these five types of digital literacy because digital technology is only going to increase over time.
(Eshet-Alkalai, Digital Literacy: A Conceptual Framework for Survival Skills in the Digital Era.)