Digital Fluency vs. Digital Literacy
Many students arrive at schools as digital natives, already having developed the ability to use a wide variety of technology. In fact, many educators find they can look to their students to problem solve when facing technological difficulties. What this means is that while students are generally adept at using technology, teachers need to shift their focus to guiding their students across the spectrum from technologically literate towards technologically fluency.
Literacy refers to knowing what tools to use and how to use them. Fluency however goes beyond that. Fluency goes beyond that, to be considered fluent one must be able to reliably produce a desired outcome. Just like most students arrive knowing what a book or pencil is and have some idea how to use them, they still need guidance become fluent in their uses.
Literacy refers to knowing what tools to use and how to use them. Fluency however goes beyond that. Fluency goes beyond that, to be considered fluent one must be able to reliably produce a desired outcome. Just like most students arrive knowing what a book or pencil is and have some idea how to use them, they still need guidance become fluent in their uses.
An effective way to imagine the difference between literacy and fluency is to consider language. Developing fluency is like learning a foreign language, to be literate in that language means that you have learned some phrases and can share some basic ideas, but to be fluent means the ability to create your own story and proficiently use the language in varying situations. Digitally fluent people are able create, re-mix, and share ideas through the use of technology. The key idea is the ability to produce content rather than simply use technology.
It is important to remember that literacy occurs on a spectrum and students don't simply become fluent after a lesson. It takes time, practice, and feedback just like any other area in a classroom. Furthermore, most research describes digital fluency as consisting of a number of key elements. While there are a variety of views on how many or what the key elements are, there are some commonalities. Essentially, digital literacy consists of critical thinking, selecting appropriate information, creativity, media awareness, collaboration, and global connectivity. |
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For our purposes we are following the Global Digital Citizen model. This model divides technological fluency into five areas: Solution Fluency, Information Fluency, Creativity Fluency, Media Fluency, and Collaboration Fluency. As one develops these five fluencies they ideally move towards being a Global Digital Citizen. A detailed explanation of this model is found under the Framework heading.