Reimagining Children’s relation to Digital Literacy

Background  

The ongoing pandemic has altered many of our society’s long-lasting systems. From rolling lockdowns, to multiple viral testing when travelling, to the evolution of the virtual workplace; a majority believes civilization will never go back to the way it was (Boynton, S, 2021). A definite area where there were significant persistent changes was in the manner education was delivered to children. In fact, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF, 2021) 77 million children around the world were still out of school by September 2021; a full 18 months into the pandemic. This push to move schooling online has exacerbated the growing issue of children’s relationship to the evolving online environment and highlighted the importance of an overhaul in the digital literacy model.

There is already an assumption about children being “digital natives”, a term coined by Prensky (2001) which compares learning the online environment as one would an innate language and thus being naturally fluid with its concepts. However, research has proven time and time again the fallacy of this myth (Kirschner & De Bruyckere, 2017). Even though children have demonstrated an ease with technology and the online environment due to their omnipresence growing up, they still require guidance from their teachers and parents on safe and healthy digital practices. The Prensky (2001) analogy to learning an innate language is however valid as being a native speaker does not necessarily involve being able to critically analyze a piece of information. Moreover, the online environment includes several additional elements, from social media, to online addiction, to misrepresentation, and basic online security making it more comprehensive and complex than a language.

A modern and reimagined digital literacy model should understand and address not only the benefits and best practices of online citizenship, but the barriers, and the supporting skills as wells. For instance, children need to develop critical thinking skills in order to be able to identify misinformation or potentially dangerous online interactions (Silverman, 2016). They also need to be aware of the dangers and digital addiction, issues with differentiating the real and virtual world, and possible health problems linked overuse of devices (Çelebioğlu et al., 2020). Finally, children should be equipped with physical skills on how to care for their devices in a sustainable manner and how to properly d

Figure 1: Digital Cultural Evolution Model

isconnect from the online world and care for their mind and bodies. It is time for a cultural evolution to develop healthy, safe, ethical and meaningful use of educational technology and to foster digital citizenship in the younger generation.

Proposed Model

Figure 1 displays the proposed model for the cultural evolution. Of note, the word “evolution” and not “revolution” was chosen to harness the model. The difference between the two concepts resides in the speed of the process and the transformation of previous norms. Revolutions generate rapid and structural changes while evolutions involve progressive changes with a transition from simple to complex systems (Coccia, 2018). The education domain benefits from generations of lessons learned and evolution; it should not be rejected but deliberately guided to take into account the digital environment in a comprehensive manner. Hence, its position at the base of the model to recognize the successes of the past. To start, we recommend an initial information session and an interactive workshop for learning communities as one of the primary events of the model. The session would provide participants with data and recommendations to stakeholders as to the reasons the digital education must evolve. The workshop would include breakout sessions between the stakeholders where they would discuss how they see their role in the changes to the digital education domain. The collaborative approach would provide voice, choice, and agency (Goriss-Hunter, 2021) to participants leading to a greater ownership and will ensure a cultural transformation takes place.

The four pillars of the design represent the stakeholders to implement the cultural changes. The shift will require the involvement of students, parents, teachers, as well as the institution to effect changes. The students have an active role to play as they are the purpose of the shift and will need to keep the evolution going and they in turn become parents or join the institution. The teachers need to adapt to the changing digital environment not only in teaching techniques but also in mindset. The parents have a very important role as they not only have to grow themselves as parents, but also must maintain the cultural change at home for it to be staying. Finally, the institution as a whole must be ready with appropriate changes in practices and infrastructure to support a meaningful evolution.

At the top of the model, we can find the three goals in the mindset we are trying to instill with the cultural evolution. The Critical Mindset relates to students’ ability to use judgment when accessing information online. A critical mind is paramount in dealing with potential online misinformation (Silverman, 2016). The Safety Mindset involves identifying the dangers and barriers of the digital environment to include such things as online addiction, the digital footprint and responsible social media use, as well as a safe digital conduct. Finally, the Reality Mindset is a reminder that only reality is real and the importance of life-balance, physical activity, real-world connections. The three mindsets create a balanced Trinity for the careful and mindful use of the online environment while still allowing to benefits from its many bounties.

Conclusion

There world may well be experiencing a digital revolution, which was only accelerated with the ongoing pandemic. However, the education domain has steadily improved throughout the past centuries and the digital environment should be integrated to the education tradition and not seek to overthrow it. A comprehensive model; involving all the stakeholders and understanding the necessary balance between reality, safety, and the online world; will allow children to learn and grow with digital literacy in safe, sustainable, and meaningful way.

 

References

Boynton, S. (2021, March 10) Most Canadians think “normal life” won’t return until 2022 or beyond: Ipsos Poll. Global News Canada. https://globalnews.ca/news/7687306/canada-coronavirus-normal-ipsos/

Çelebioğlu, A., Aytekin Özdemir, A., Küçükoğlu, S., & Ayran, G. (2020). The effect of Internet addiction on sleep quality in adolescents. Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing, 33(4), 221–228. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcap.12287

Coccia, M. (2018) What are the characteristics of revolution and evolution. Journal of Economic and Social Thought, 5(4), 288–294. http://www.kspjournals.org/index.php/JEST/article/viewFile/1789/1772

Goriss-Hunter, A., Sellings, P. & Echter, A. (2021) Information Communication Technology in schools: Students Exercise “Digital Agency” to Engage with Learning. Tech Know Learn. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10758-021-09509-2

Kirschner, P. A., & De Bruyckere, P. (2017). The myths of the digital native and the multitasker. Teaching and Teacher Education, 67, 135–142. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2017.06.001

Prensky, M. (2001). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants Part 1. On the Horizon, 9(5), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1108/10748120110424816

Silverman, C. (2016, November 16). This analysis shows how viral fake election news stories outperformed real news on Facebook. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/craigsilverman/viral-fake-election-news-outperformed-real-news-on-facebook [Crossref]

United Nations Children’s Fund (2021, September 15). Schools still closed for nearly 77 million students 18 months into pandemic. UNICEF. https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/schools-still-closed-nearly-77-million-students-18-months-pandemic-unicef