Digital Literacy
Digital literacy, what does it even mean and why do I need to know about it? Is it important?
Those are valid questions to ask. There is really no way to put it simply, so let’s talk about it.
What is Digital Literacy?
Digital literacy means having the skills you need to live, learn and work in a society where communication and access to information is increasingly through digital technologies.
Take for instance social media platforms, such as Facebook, Youtube and TikTok. These are all platforms that make social contact with others easier and contain a lot of information. I’m assuming you know most of those pretty well?
Many forms of contact with others have recently moved online.
You are able to work on these platforms because you are digitally literate. You know how to work with a computer and use it as a tool to gather more knowledge.
So why exactly is digital literacy important?
As we saw earlier, the current pandemic has pushed much of people’s lives into the online world. Having an online presence, for example to have a social media profile or not, is no longer a personal choice.
Since a lot of companies have started having employees work from home, it has for many people become a necessity to earn a living in our current society. Today nearly all jobs require at least some form of digital communication.
Next to businesses, schools have also moved a lot of their classes online. All of this only works on one condition, everyone participating must know how to use digital devices.
Take for example a mobile phone or computer, imagine how much more difficult it would be to find a job if you didn’t know how to use at least one of these.
“Digital natives”
Research has also shown that the sooner kids start to play around with digital devices, the more likely they are to develop higher digital skills later in life.
Kids who grow up around and with technology are called digital natives.
Being a digital native has a lot of advantages in a society where constant learning is important. It will for instance be easier for a digital native to look up information online. He already knows where to start looking and maybe knows a thing or two about checking sources.
Someone who is not a digital native (“digital immigrant”) often finds this process much harder.
What are the concerns for digital literacy?
Today we see that not everyone has equal access to digital devices. Also access to the internet is not a given for a lot of people in the world. The level of digital skills is just as unequal among the population.
Researchers from the European Union who wanted to see how digitally literate the citizens of Europe were, found that there are certain groups who are left behind and don’t get the chance to learn more about technology.
1. EDUCATION / INCOME
Oftentimes people that have a lower degree of education or a lower income, tend to also have a lower level of digital skills than the more educated and/or wealthier people.
This could be a problem in the futures. It is predicted that many lower paying jobs, such as manual labour, will be automated. This could make it very hard for people who didn’t enjoy a higher education, don’t have financial reserves and don’t have very advanced digital skills to find a job. Even more so in a market which needs more workers that can navigate various digital devices.
2. AGE
Next to your education and income level, there is also your age that plays an important role. We see that a lot of people, who are 55 years or older, are either not using digital tools,
or do not know how to use them very well. For many people aged 55 and above, finding a new job that guarantees long-term employment is no longer a major concern. With most of their careers already behind them, many of these people will enter retirement within the next 10 years.
However, they are also impacted by the digital divide. In today’s world we see an increasing trend in which governments and businesses such as banks, provide their services online. Doing things like banking and administration online, is becoming the norm nowadays. A lot of banks for instance are getting rid of their ATM machines on which you can transfer payments, in favour of e-banking. This allows the customer to transfer money from their own device at home. But what we see is that many older people do not know how to make bank transfers online or don’t even have a device at home that gives them this possibility.
3. GENDER
Finally, we also observe a gender gap in digital literacy levels. Especially among older generations the difference between men and women is quite large. In the age group of 55 and above, we see that men are twice as likely as women to have at least a basic level of digital skills.
However, looking at younger population groups, we do see that the difference between the digital skills of men and women become smaller. For instance, in 24 to 54-year-old individuals the amount of men and women that have at least basic digital skills is roughly the same.
It is important to note that in many surveys it is noted that women tended to underestimate their own digital skills, while men tended to overestimate theirs.
We also see a gender gap in the digital workforce. In 2018, eight out of every ten IT specialists in the EU were male. Since IT centred jobs will become more important in the future, it will be crucial that more girls get the chance to show off their digital skills.
So maybe now you understand why it is so important that everyone has some digital skills. We see that people already need these skills for a lot of different things in their lives and this will only become more important in the futures! I hope that one day everybody on earth gets the chance to learn more about the digital world and how to use it.
