Digital literacy refers to an individual's ability to find, evaluate, and compose clear information through writing and other media on various digital platforms. It is evaluated by an individual's grammar, composition, typing skills and ability to produce text, images, audio and designs using technology. The American Library Association (ALA) defines digital literacy as “the ability to use information and communication technologies to find, evaluate, create, and communicate information, requiring both cognitive and technical skills.” While digital literacy initially focused on digital skills and stand-alone computers, the advent of the internet and use of social media, has caused some of its focus to shift to mobile devices Similar to other expanding definitions of literacy that recognize cultural and historical ways of making meaning,digital literacy does not replace traditional forms of literacy, and instead builds upon and expands the skills that form the foundation of traditional forms of literacy.Digital literacy should be considered to be a part of the path to knowledge.
literacy is built on the expanding role of social science research in the field of literacyas well as on concepts of visual literacy,computer literacy,and information literacy.
Overall, digital literacy shares many defining principles with other fields that use modifiers in front of literacy to define ways of being and domain specific knowledge or competence. The term has grown in popularity in education and higher education settings and is used in both international and national standards.
Schools are continuously updating their curricula to keep up with accelerating technological developments. This often includes computers in the classroom, the use of educational software to teach curricula, and course materials being made available to students online. Students are often taught literacy skills such as how to verify credible sources online, cite web sites, and prevent plagiarism. Google and Wikipedia are frequently used by students "for everyday life research,"and are just two common tools that facilitate modern education. Digital technology has impacted the way material is taught in the classroom. With the use of technology rising over the past decade, educators are altering traditional forms of teaching to include course material on concepts related to digital literacy.Educators have also turned to social media platforms to communicate and share ideas with one another.New standards have been put into place as digital technology has augmented classrooms, with many classrooms being designed to use smartboards and audience response systems in replacement of traditional chalkboards or whiteboards.“The development of Teacher’s Digital Competence (TDC) should start in initial teacher training, and continue throughout the following years of practice”. All this with the purpose of using Digital Technologies (DT) to improve teaching and professional development.
Digital India is a campaign launched by the Government of India in order to ensure the Government's services are made available to citizens electronically by improved online infrastructure and by increasing Internet connectivity or making the country digitally empowered in the field of technology.The initiative includes plans to connect rural areas with high-speed internet networks.It consists of three core components: the development of secure and stable digital infrastructure, delivering government services digitally, and universal literacy launched on 1 July 2015, by India Prime Minister NarendraModi, it is both enabler and beneficiary of other key Government of India schemes, such as Bharatnet, Make in India, Startup India and Standup India etc.
Digital learning is any instructional practice that effectively uses technology to strengthen a student’s learning experience. Additionally Digital Learning can be used for professional learning opportunities for teachers and to provide personalized learning experience for students. Use of LCD, Projectors, Slides etc can be used to encourage teaching learning process and makes the classroom more interesting and attractive. Students can learn from anywhere and anytime with the help of mobile applications. Digital Learning increases the quality of education. In present times, the whole world is suffering from Covid-19 and the impact of the invisible pathogen is apparent in every corner of life whether it is business, economy, infrastructure, education etc. As we know the educational institutions are shut but the Digital Learning has paved the way of virtual learning through digital classrooms, thus benefited the millions of the students across the world. The focus of activity Digital Initiatives is to provide a support system for learning and gaining of computer literacy. Increase in attendance rates, decrease in dropout rates etc are ancillary benefits.
The Scheme was launched in December, 2004 to provide opportunities to secondary stage students to mainly build their capacity on ICT skills and make them learn through computer aided learning process. The Scheme is a major catalyst to bridge the digital divide amongst students of various socio-economic and other geographical barriers. The two types of ICT labs are as under:
