Skip to navigation Skip to main content

Understand this general capability

Digital Literacy

Introduction

Digital literacy encompasses the knowledge and skills students need to create, manage, communicate and investigate data, information and ideas, and solve problems. It assists students to work collaboratively at school and in their lives beyond school. 

 

Digital literacy involves students critically identifying and appropriately selecting and using digital devices or systems, and learning to make the most of the technologies available to them. Students adapt to new ways of doing things as technologies evolve, and protect the safety of themselves and others in digital environments. 

Structure

The Digital Literacy learning continuum is organised into 4 elements, as shown in Figure 1:

  • Practising digital safety and wellbeing  
  • Investigating
  • Creating and exchanging
  • Managing and operating. 
Figure 1: Digital Literacy elements
Practising digital safety and wellbeing

 

This element is organised into 3 sub-elements:

  • Manage online safety – students develop the appropriate technical, social, cognitive, communicative and decision-making skills to address online risks. They recognise the content risks that they face online, such as hurtful user-generated content, and the strategies involved in dealing with them.
  • Manage digital privacy and identity – students recognise the importance of controlling and shaping their own digital identity. They create and curate their online identities to positively tell their stories, while recognising how personal use of digital media may have implications for their digital footprint.
  • Manage digital wellbeing – students consider the nature and impact of digital tool use. They develop understanding that behaviours such as excessive screen time, digital workload, distraction and multitasking can have an impact on their health, work productivity, wellbeing and lifestyles. They understand the benefits and risks of digital participation in relation to health and wellbeing outcomes.

 

Investigating

 

This element is organised into 3 sub-elements:

  • Locate information – students curate information from digital resources. They effectively use research strategies to locate information and other resources. Students articulate their information and content needs, and effectively navigate information and content they encounter.
  • Acquire and collate data – students understand how data can be generated and how to process data based on statistical understanding. They create or use algorithms to recognise significant patterns and improve decision-making processes. They explore relevant data sets, and read, manage and process data from a variety of sources.
  • Interpret data – students create and build knowledge by analysing data and communicating its meaning to others, using various data visualisation tools. They present patterns, trends and analytical insights from data to facilitate problem-solving and decision-making.

 

Creating and exchanging

 

This element is organised into 3 sub-elements:

  • Plan – students use digital tools to plan and manage a process that considers design constraints and risks.
  • Create, communicate and collaborate – students execute plans for the design of digital content and to develop, test and refine models to create original products. Students recognise different types of peer-to-peer communication and collaboration strategies, tools and formats, and decide which methods are most effective for individual or collaborative goals.
  • Respect intellectual property – students understand the ethical and legal responsibilities around ownership and remixing of digital content; for example, plagiarism, copyright, fair dealing and licensing. They demonstrate responsibility and respect for others by protecting their own digital creations and crediting others’ content when appropriate.

 

Managing and operating

 

This element is organised into 3 sub-elements:

  • Manage content – students interact with information and data, save content using appropriate and logical conventions, and retrieve content from personal, networked and cloud spaces.
  • Protect content – students identify potential threats and implement relevant cyber security practices, such as using secure passwords. They use technology without compromising their data and devices.
  • Select and operate tools – students apply technical knowledge and skills to select, use and troubleshoot appropriate digital tools. They develop an understanding of hardware and software components, and the operations of appropriate digital systems, including their functions, processes and procedures. 

 

Key connections

General capabilities support and deepen student engagement with learning area content and are best developed within the context of learning areas.

 

English develops students’ ability to use digital tools to communicate and collaborate, and read and access information. They use a range of tools to create and edit digital and multimodal texts and presentations. They select and evaluate sources, and respect intellectual property. They consider the suitability of information, audience and online safety when using digital tools.  

In Humanities and Social Sciences, students develop digital literacy when they locate, process, analyse, evaluate and communicate historical, geographic, civic, economic and business information. Students access and use digital literacy, including spatial technologies, as an investigative and creative tool. They seek a range of digital sources of information to resolve inquiry questions or challenges of historical, geographic, civic, economic and business relevance, being aware of intellectual property. They critically analyse evidence and trends, and critique source reliability. Using digital literacy, students present and represent their learning, and collaborate, discuss and debate to co-construct their knowledge. They plan, organise, create, display and communicate data and information digitally, using multimodal elements for a variety of reasons and audiences.  

 

Students enhance their digital literacy by exploring the increasing use of technology and the effects of technologies on people and places, and civic, economic and business activity. They learn about and have opportunities to use social media to collaborate, communicate and share information, and build consensus on issues of social, civic, economic, business and environmental significance, while using an awareness of personal security protocols and ethical responsibilities. 

Health and Physical Education enhances digital literacy by helping students to safely access online information and services to manage their health and wellbeing. Students develop understanding of the role digital tools play in their lives and relationships. They explore the nature of digital tools and the implications for establishing and managing relationships.  

 

Students learn about ethical online behaviour, including protocols and practices for using digital tools for respectful communication. Students use digital tools for communicating, collaborating, creating content, seeking help, accessing information and analysing movement performances. They use a range of digital tools to analyse, measure and enhance movement performances. Students access and critically evaluate health information, products and services using digital tools. They also use digital tools to develop personalised plans for nutrition and physical activity participation. 

 

 

Languages develops students’ digital literacy capability as they use a range of digital tools to access and create information, ideas and perspectives in multimodal texts. Students develop understanding of how they can use digital tools to access diverse language-speaking communities and authentic texts. They evaluate and analyse information in digital formats and develop understanding of their intended audience, purpose and context. 

In Mathematics, students develop an understanding of digital literacy and related skills when they investigate, create and communicate mathematical ideas and concepts using automated, interactive and multimodal technologies. They draw on digital literacy skills to perform computations; construct graphs; conduct probability simulations; collect, manage, analyse and interpret data; experiment mathematically; share and exchange information and ideas; and investigate and model concepts and relationships. Digital tools with numerical, financial, graphical, spatial, symbolic and statistical functionality, such as spreadsheets, graphing software, statistical software, dynamic geometry software and computer algebra software, can engage students, enable them to work on complex and sophisticated problems, and promote understanding of core concepts.  

 

Students develop digital literacy as they operate and manage digital systems and practise digital safety and wellbeing while investigating, creating and communicating. In particular, they use digital literacy to access information; collect, analyse and represent data and information; model and interpret concepts and relationships; and communicate science ideas, processes and information.  

 

Digital tools such as animations and simulation software can support student understanding of abstract phenomena, as they give opportunities to view phenomena and test predictions that cannot be investigated through practical investigations in the classroom.  

 

Digital Technologies explicitly supports the development of digital literacy across the curriculum. Together, Digital Literacy and Digital Technologies give students the opportunity to become discerning users, productive creators, critical analysts and effective developers of digital solutions. Digital literacy is context dependent and involves students developing the knowledge and skills needed to learn effectively in the digital world. Development of digital literacy allows students to operate and manage digital systems and practise digital safety and wellbeing while investigating, creating and communicating. As students develop digital literacy skills, they build their understanding of how to utilise digital tools when designing digital solutions. While specific elements of Digital Literacy are addressed in Digital Technologies, concepts and skills are consolidated and extended across all learning areas and subjects including Design and Technologies. 

 

In Design and Technologies students learn how to operate specific digital tools to help them realise their design ideas. This occurs, for example, when investigating needs or opportunities, or researching and analysing information. It also occurs when they generate and communicate design ideas, processes and solutions (from basic drawing and modelling programs to computer-aided design or manufacture, rapid prototyping and creating simulations). And also, when they develop plans, schedules and processes; and collaborate online to create innovative and enterprising designed solutions. 

 

Digital Literacy can be developed in each of The Arts subjects through:  

 

  • experiencing arts works that are created or accessed using digital tools
  • making arts works using available digital devices, tools or production techniques 
  • using digital tools and online or networked spaces and environments for sharing and engaging with arts works, artists and audiences 
  • using digital tools to develop skills and practice (individual and collaborative). 

 

 

Resources

Downloads

General capabilities documents and glossaries are available on the downloads page.

General capability downloads