Why Should Digital Literacy Be Every Teacher’s Top Priority?

For teachers who have been working for a few decades in the field, the drastic changes in technology they have seen must have been quite a whirlwind ride.

Gone are the days of projectors, chalkboards, and paper lesson plans. As tech progresses further, it seems that the control that teachers had over their classroom, students, and the system is slipping. Enrolling in a structured Artificial Intelligence course can help educators bridge this gap, empowering them to confidently use technology to personalize learning, improve student outcomes, and stay aligned with modern educational standards.

Now that we have gone from teaching about technology to having to deal with students who know a lot more about it than we do, the question has moved from whether we should use tech in the classroom to how to do it effectively.

To unlock the things we may not know or understand and to remove the fear of the constantly evolving digital world, we have to face the changes upfront. This is why the key skill for educators to have now is digital literacy.

What exactly is Digital Literacy?

One may think digital literacy is about being able to use the technology currently available, like computers and phones, properly. While that is a big part of it, this elaborate skill requires you to know a variety of things.

In many ways, it’s just like being traditionally literate. As knowing how to read and write helps us use and create information, digital literacy helps us comprehend. create and deal with functions, applications, and content available in the world of technology.

Various schools, universities, and other education related instituions and groups have created their own framework for digital literacy. At its core is not only how to use the technology that is available effectively, but also becoming a cautious guide for students who are accessing the devices.

Here are the key requirements of digital literacy for teachers of primary and secondary education.

Technical Proficiency

The most fundamental layer of digital literacy is knowing how to use the hardware and software properly. This includes everything from knowing how to use a computer and tabs to using LMS or Learning Management Systems, and other crucial tools like Canva, or even something as simple as PowerPoint.

Remember that this is more than just knowing which buttons to push; you need to be able to integrate these tools into your workflow and be able to troubleshoot when something goes wrong.

Because tech keeps evolving, this aspect of digital literacy means you must become adaptable. Stay open to learning as newer tech surfaces.

Information Literacy

Every day, we are practically bombarded with new information. It is no longer enough to say we live in the age of information, but we live in a world where information is continual and ever-changing.

This is why we must grow our capacity to find, consume, analyze, digest, and retain the information we can acquire from various digital sources.

This means that your lesson plan and coursework are no longer limited to the books. You must get out there and find the latest knowledge available, but always make sure that the information is legitimate.

With the emergence of AI and its hallucinations, knowing if the information you have is accurate is more crucial than ever. This is when you must learn to use the best AI detector to determine whether the automated information is correct or hallucinated by AI.

Ethical Aspect

We are all digital citizens now, but this requires more than just learning technology and knowing how to use it right.

This means we must practice online safety. This includes maintaining digital etiquette, protecting your own and other people’s privacy, and understanding that things you do, say, and post online can be a lot more permanent than you think.

Learning the ethical aspect of being a digital citizen is only step one for teachers, because the next step entails teaching your students how to maintain ethics online.

We must remember that to ensure that the students keep a healthy digital footprint and become responsible grown-ups in this digital world, we must build their foundation of digital literacy.

So, what you learn, you must pass on to your students, to nurture their technology skills and socio-ethical presence online.

What Makes Digital Literacy Vital for Educators?

Adopting digital literacy won’t just make it easier for you to work; it can transform your classroom and ensure your skills as a teacher are always in demand, even during this AI boom.

Elevating Student Engagement and Making Learning More Effective

Let’s face it: Students now do not take digitally illiterate teachers seriously. What turns you from a bore to an icon is your teacher persona. And a teacher who is fluent in digital tools and up-to-date with information can transform a boring class into a dynamic experience.

Imagine this: while you are teaching kids about a historical site, you go to their website and access their virtual trips, or while taking a class on constellations, you use an app that can show you exactly where these stars currently are in the sky.

This kind of interactive class sky-rockets student engagement, and you win all the cool points while still effectively teaching them the subject you want them to learn.

Being able to use such tools to provide your students with a more hands-on education can actually help kids stay attentive in class and make them more prone to listening to you. This may sound funny, but asserting dominance in class can be crucial for the more rowdy and distracted children.

Knowing more than them about the digital world they are so obsessed with can harbor their respect for you, which is crucial if you want them to learn from you.

Providing More Personalized Education

As a teacher, you would always wish to be able to help each student at their own level of learning. Each learner is unique, and if how you deal with them is tailored to their specific learning needs, they will progress faster.

But if you take in the overall student-to-teacher ratio in a US public school, its around 15.3:1. This makes it almost impossible to attend to each specific student’s needs, unless you consider using AI tools.

There are education AI-assisted platforms that help you monitor and teach students, even when they are not in school. They can also actively collect performance and interaction data to help educators understand where the lack of assistance is.

AI tutors are also available 24/7 on some of these platforms, reaching students whenever they need help. Being tech-savvy can help you give access to students to such tools that can enhance their learning experience.

Future Prep

The ever-evolving job market needs people who are digitally savvy. Doesn’t matter if your students become chefs, plumbers, engineers, or even painters; they will all need to know how to use the various technologies that are being made available every other day.

By helping the children and adolescents learn digital skills, you would be creating a workforce that is prepared for the future.

These are life skills they will need throughout their careers and beyond, which is why it’s crucial for the teachers to be digitally literate, so that they can help the students become so too.

Actionable Ways for Teachers to Develop Digital Literacy

Mastering new technologies can be overwhelming. Most teachers have not grown up with such complicated yet sophisticated technology, and the speed at which newer digital tools are breaking into the market can be hazy.

You may feel like there isn’t enough professional development training or resources available. However, you need to take the task into your own hands, because in the online space, you can find the tutorials and articles that can help.

Here are a few practical steps you can take to improve your digital literacy.

Take Small Steps

You don’t have to take in everything all at once. The key is to retain the information. Pick one tool. and explore it. You can look up videos of use online, and make notes of how they used them. Once you get a deeper understanding of the tool, plan a lesson using it.

You should take some time to try it out during classes, like spending some time just to see if it helps learning or causes more issues. Sometimes tools are forced upon you; in such cases, just take a deep breath and try not to feel overwhelmed.

Even in such a case, start slowly, go through any instructions they may have provided, or look it up online. You can try asking LLMs like Chatgpt or watch video tutorials(there are video tutorials for everything these days!).

Take More Training

Whether provided by school or free online webinars, you need to get more hands-on learning. Many companies provide paid courses too, some of which are discounted for teachers. You need to really search and find them, but they are worth the trouble.

Getting training from experts can help you learn the tools faster, so that you can increase your skills as soon as needed. You can also get your colleagues involved and ask them to take training with you. You can also practice together, which can help elevate learning.

Final Thoughts

Digital literacy is a crucial part of a teacher’s skills now, due to the exponential growth of technologies, especially AI. Don’t think of technology as a wave that destroys your well-developed; ride the wave instead, and become a more skilled, employable educator. By enrolling in a well-structured Artificial Intelligence course, teachers can confidently adapt to emerging technologies, stay relevant in a competitive education ecosystem, and lead innovation in the classroom.

Being digitally literate means you get to learn and grow with your students. You must remember that how they present themselves digitally depends on what you teach them. You must guide them well and ensure they become respectable and responsible digital citizens. 

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