Title: Clarifying the term “Digital Literacy”
Course: FLO MicroCourse - From Digital Literacy to Digital Fluency OER > Section: Start here

Clarifying terminology usage

The Handbook of Research on Literacy and Digital Technology Integration in Teacher Education discusses the definition of “digital literacy”: “The definition as to what constitutes digital literacy is a contested area and there is no one set definition” (Keengwe & Onchwari, 2020, p. 30). Therefore, the definition of “digital fluency”, or “Being Digital” is:

Students and staff will use digital technologies effectively to improve the flexibility, efficiency and timeliness of communication, administration and facilitation of relevant learning tasks. Traditional learning methods will be supported, supplemented or replaced by the most effective digital resources, content and tools and new opportunities for engaging students with the global community (Fox, 2019, p. 10).

There are literally over 100 competencies that fall under the label “digital literacy” (BC Ministry of Education, 2021). This FLO course focuses on those that will help us facilitate learning with educational tools.

Also, I am using the term “educational tools” to refer to software applications that support learning. I feel the term “app” refers to the simple application software we download on our phones, which is very limiting to the range of educational potential. “Educational tools” can also include hardware such as wireless presenters, document cameras, smartboards, etc. but this FLO course is limited to software making it more accessible to a much wider audience.