The Digital Literacy Deficit: A Call to Action in Caribbean Education

© Dr. Denise J Charles 2021

            Can you imagine at the height of 20th Century Education, teachers being considered relevant if they were not masters of the core elements or the 3R’s – Reading, Writing and ‘Rithmetic? Our embracing of literacy and numeracy as critical components of a sound education in the 20^th Century was borne out in the attention paid to training teachers in mastering the teaching of reading, writing, comprehension, and numeric competency. Of course, the addition of other core content areas like Science and Social Studies, particularly in the Caribbean, still required literacy as an entry level component for understanding and interpreting knowledge in those domains.

            Fast forward to the 21^st Century and we have a global, digital environment, which is steadily dictating and redefining the pace and very texture of our lives in every sector (business, finance, dating, worship, shopping, travel, social engagement) yet in the Caribbean, there seems to be no comparable embracing of this new core 21^st Century literacy. As traditional literacy formed the core of what teachers knew and did previously, the demands of the 21^st Century, now require that Digital Literacy (DL) redefines what teachers know, how teachers are trained and what they do and are able to transfer to their students to equip them for life and work in the 21^st Century (Forutanian, 2021). Add to this, the necessity of various permutations of online learning since the COVID-19 pandemic and we have an even greater reason to get it right with respect to DL development.

            As 21^st Century educators in the Caribbean, we must, therefore, ask ourselves three critical questions:

1. What is digital literacy and why does it matter?
2. Why have we downplayed the critical importance of digital literacy development in education?
3. How can we fix the digital deficit to build relevance in our 21^st Century educational systems at all levels?

What is Digital Literacy and Why Does it Matter?

              Digital literacy remains for many, a nebulous construct based on a wide range of definitions and applications found in the literature. Despite this seeming complexity, however, we can appreciate that as a construct, it provides “new and extended perspectives on traditional literacy and positions and redefines these ideas within a digital context” (Charles, 2019).  While there remains the perception today that our 21^st Century students as digital natives connect easily in digital environments (Prensky, 2001, 2009) there are also acknowledged challenges with students defining and evaluating such information (Claro et al, 2018). In other words, DL is more than a basic familiarity with the use of technology but represents a set of defined competencies in a range of areas which, nonetheless, work together to render the individual “digitally literate”.

             DL is defined as “The ability to use information and communication technologies to find, evaluate, create, and communicate information, requiring both cognitive and technical skills” (ALA Digital Literacy Taskforce, 2011 para, 1). It represents much more than the skill-based capacity to use ICT tools but is the utilization of social and sense-making competencies, required for effective communication and collaboration in the digital age (Lemos and Nascembini, 2016). According to Eshet-Alkalai (2004) Digital Literacy includes “a large variety of complex, cognitive, motor, sociological and emotional skills which users need in order to function effectively in digital environments” (p.93).

            This type of literacy matters because we live in a world of expanded knowledge generation and of rapid digitization. The knowledge economy has exploded because of internet technology and consequently, 21^st Century citizens must be equipped with the tools to judge information veracity, instead of being slavish consumers of whatever is found online. So while digital access is as much a core need of the 21^st Century as access to books was in the 20^th Century, DL moves beyond mere access, to require that individuals are also equipped “to use digital technology and communication tools appropriately” to “manage, integrate, analyze and evaluate information, construct new knowledge, and create and communicate with others.” (BC’s Digital Literacy Framework, n.d. p.1).

            This new literacy matters because it equips individuals with the skills to understand their role in a digital world. This is from the levels of appropriate information use to skill development in communication, collaboration, innovation and creation. This new role includes understanding the ethics to guide digital use, and the need to preserve a sense of balance and digital well-being in an age which seems consumed by more and more technological demands. DL in summary, does begin with access but extends to higher order socio-cognitive skills and competencies, which lead to digital creation, collaborative enterprise and a redefining of values to emerge a 21^st Century digital citizen.

Why is Digital Literacy still Downplayed as the New Literacy?

                Technology integration in education is by no means new, yet in many respects, it has for many years been treated like the proverbial stepchild. While early reform initiatives in Barbados in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s championed the inclusion of computer technology including the basic training of teachers in the technical skills related to technology use (Ministry of Education, Youth Affairs and Culture, 2000) it remained for many years an optional addition to the education paradigm. Those teachers with an affinity for the technology would obviously lean towards using it, while for others it may have been viewed as an unnecessary burden which was not required for them to get the job done.

                With an absence of empirical evidence to assess teacher attitudes in Barbados towards technology integration, however, it may be instructive to make reference to some of the known challenges to the use of technology in education and the related stunting of DL development in the 21^st Century. While technology integration and DL are not terms which should be used interchangeably, it should be understood that the digitally literate teacher is more likely to integrate technology (Falloon, 2020). Having said that, it is perhaps unfair to lay the blame for a down-play of digital literacy solely at the feet of individual teachers. Educators have for years been exposed to components of technology use and integration in education, without knowledge of the over-arching multi-layered construct of DL (JISC, 2015).  

                As a new 21^st Century literacy DL demands system wide attention and planning at both the macro levels (Ministries of Education) and at the institutional or school level. In contrast to an ad-hoc approach to technology use or one which merely focusses on technical skills development, DL is all encompassing and speaks to the wide array of competencies needed by both students and teachers, as well as to the digital practices of leaders, if their institutions are to thrive and increase relevance in the 21^st Century.

                As a new literacy, DL comes with costs which will require both financial and human resource investment and support. Attention must be paid to pertinent issues like re-training of teacher trainers, the re-training of teachers, the re-calibration of leadership paradigms, the need to access and leverage technical resources (Charles, 2019) and ultimately the need to re-organize the curriculum so that it is oriented towards promoting this new literacy. This is no easy feat and will require a re-calibration and integration of several layers in education, inclusive of policy and planning at the macro levels, the role of teacher-training, as well as Principal and teacher buy-in, at the institutional level.

How can we fix the digital deficit to build relevance in our educational systems at all levels?

Fixing the digital deficit can hopefully begin with consideration for implementing these series of steps:

• Educational authorities should examine the current research and seek to understand how the current digital revolution and the related digital disruption, are impacting all sectors. This is necessary as such an investigation can cause a prioritizing of digital competencies to meet national development goals which should speak to how our educational system will respond to national needs and deficits in the area of DL and technology
• At the macro level, a DL framework should be developed to establish objectives, benchmarks for success and to guide system wide application and evaluation. This is also relevant as pertains to online, blended and hybrid approaches to student engagement.
• DL competencies and digital skills development should be linked or mapped to critical national industries like finance, the arts and creative sector, sports, science, tourism, education and the wide range of technical and vocational areas, so that the economic and development value of DL competencies/skills, can be evaluated
• Educational authorities should plan for the integration of Digital skills development and the promotion of DL in all teacher training programmes, inclusive of the requisite re-training for all teacher trainers and Education Officers who must interface with Curriculum Development
• Planning for sustainability of digital access and development should be encouraged through built private sector partnerships between Educational authorities and Digital Innovation Companies, particularly those which specialize in educational solutions
• DL competencies and skills should be integrated across all curriculum areas (Primary to Secondary) which speaks to required training for all Principals and Curriculum leaders (HOD’s), as implementation and evaluation at the institutional level will also be necessary
• New paradigms for leadership of schools which focus on DL development and the openness of leadership towards digital innovation, (Digital Leadership) should be encouraged and incentivized at the institutional level

References

ALA Digital Literacy Taskforce, (2011). What is digital literacy? Retrieved from http://www.dla101.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/what-is-digilit-2.pdf

BC’s Digital Literacy framework., (n. d.). Retrieved from https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/education/kindergarten-to-grade-12/teach/teaching-tools/digital-literacy-framework.pdf

Charles, D. J. (2019). Exploring the digital literacy practices and perspectives of higher education leaders and the implications for digital leadership: A phenomenological study. Doctoral thesis.

Claro, M., Salinas, A., Cabello-Hutt, T., San Martin, E., Preiss, D., Valenzuela, S. and Jara, I. (2018).  Teaching in a Digital Environment (TIDE): Defining and measuring teachers’ capacity to develop students’ digital information and communication skills. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2018.03.001

Eshet-Alkalai, Y. (2004). Digital literacy: A conceptual framework for survival skills in the digital era. Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia, 13 (1), 93-106

JISC, (2015). Digital capabilities. The 6 elements defined. Retrieved from https://digitalcapability.jiscinvolve.org/wp/files/2015/06/1.-Digitalcapabilities-6-elements.pdf

Falloon, G, (2020). From digital literacy to digital competence: the teacher digital competency (TDC) framework. Springerlink. Retrieved from https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11423-020-09767-4

Forutanian, S. (2021). Digital literacy, competence, identity and intelligence: The four teachers essential skills in 21st Century. International Journal of English Language Studies (IJELS) DOI: 10.32996/ijels. Retrieved from https://al-kindipublisher.com/index.php/ijels

Lemos, G. & Nascembini, F. (Eds.). (2016). ELINET Position paper on digital literacy. Retrieved from http://www.elinet.eu/fileadmin/ELINET/Redaktion/Amsterdam_conference/ELINET_Position_Paper_on_Digital_Literacy.pdf

Ministry of Education, Youth Affairs and Culture, (2000). Curriculum 2000: Rationale and guidelines for curriculum reform in Barbados. Ministry of Education, Youth Affairs and Culture, Barbados.

Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants. On the Horizon, 9 (5). Retrieved from http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.pdf

Prensky, M. (2009) H. Sapiens digital: From digital immigrants and digital natives to digital wisdom, Innovate: Journal of Online Education: 5 (3) Article 1. Retrieved from http://nsuworks.nova.edu/innovate/vol5/iss3/