Digital literacy is emerging as a core educational goal as the world becomes more technology-oriented. Teachers need digital literacy skills to teach students how to use technology as a tool to improve skills, enhance quality of life, and drive education. Digital literacy involves understanding different digital media formats and sources, as well as skills like knowledge assembly, evaluating online content, searching the internet, and navigating hyperlinks. As digital technologies become more integrated into daily life, it is important for both students and teachers to gain these digital literacy skills to benefit from technology. However, digital literacy is not being heavily incorporated into the classroom despite students growing up with digital devices. Teachers need to look for ways to blend digital literacy with traditional teaching methods to better prepare students

1. Digital LiteracyChanging how educators teach

2. Digital Literacy is emerging as a core educational goal for a futures orientated worldNeed to use technology as a tool to:improve skills enhance quality of life to drive educationpromote well-being acrossall elements of society(The Smith Family, 2008).

3. There has been a shift from print to digital technologiesThe revolution in communication and information technologies has created new types of textual surface and hence, new literacies.Lanham believes that literacy has extended to “the ability to understand information however its presented.” (1997)

4. Paul Gilster:defined digital literacy as “the ability to understand and use information in multiple formats from a wide variety of sources when it is presented via computers and the internet.” Gilsteridentifies the four competencies of digital literacy as:knowledge assemblyevaluating information content searching the internetnavigating hypertext (1997)

5. With digital media becoming embedded within our everyday social, cultural and economic environments, it’s vital we gain these skills and gain from the benefits. Teachers need to have these skills not only for themselves but to be confident and deliver lessons to students so that they can gain these digital literacy skills.

6. A person who is digitally literate should be able to:Understand the different types of digital services and what content they offer Use basic programs to get connected and operate and utilize the various digital technologiesBe confident. Decipher complex images and sounds as well as the syntactical subtleties of words Be quick on their feet and able to go from one using one medium to another depending on the audience

7. Group ActivityOrientation: Who, What, WhenProblem: What is the main problem or situation that needs to be resolved?Solution: How is the problem going to be fixed?

8. Fanfictionhttp://www.fanfiction.net/

9. Teaching Strategies:Within a guided, modelled and independent framework

10. Digital Literacy – Crucial to Students Jukes and Dosaj (2006) says that “today’s generation has grown up in a digital landscape. For most of them, there’s never been a time in their lives when computers, cell phones, video game and the Internet haven’t surrounded them.” Corbel and Gruba (2004, p.1) state “for English teachers, there is a great urgency to look beyond traditional forms of print media in order to consider how we prepare students for careers that require active participation in the new literacies of the digital age. Therefore ICTs are the learning and teaching tool of the 21st century.”

11. Why isn’t digital literacy being heavily incorporated into our teaching curriculum for this generation of net savvy students?

12. Our own learning may result in students not reaching their full potential. Ljungdahl and March (2006, p.316) agree with this and suggest that “teachers need to look at the ways in which the emerging technologies can blend with traditional methods to influence and enhance students writing and learning. The application of technology can enhance the curricula in imaginative ways; it can address new dimensions to units of study and expand our notion of literacy.”

13. Teachers can incorporate digital literacy into the classroom through a variety of methods. Examples:Blogs Epals or KeypalsWeb quest

14. With such early interaction with digital literacies, one would think curriculum would be implemented earlier. Digital literacy is very interactive and engaging for students add provided them with knowledge for future endeavours in a highly interactive technology world.

15. Lankshear and Snyder (2000, p.38) state that “with the arrival of new communication and information technologies... challenges conventional ways of thinking about literacy in terms of text, as well as challenging our very idea of texts.”

16. ASI Solutions. (2008). What is Digital Literacy? Retrieved on July 28, 2009, from:,http://www.cegact.act.edu.au/public/content/ViewCategory.aspx?id=28Australian Government. (2009). What is digital media literacy and why is it important? Retrieved on July 20, 2009, from, http://www.acma.gov.au/WEB/STANDARD..PC/pc=PC_311470Corbel, C. & Gruba, P. (2004). Teaching computer literacy. Sydney, Australia: Macquarie University. Elearningpapers. (2009). How to strengthen digital literacy? Retrieved on July 30, 2009, from, http://www.elearningeuropa.info/files/media/media18513.pdf Google Books. (2009). New literacies: everyday practices and classroom teaching. Retrieved on July 30, 2009, from, http://books.google.com.au/books?id=cv3T9JIdBQMC&pg=PA21&lpg=PA21&dq=lanham+and+gilster+-+digital+literacy&source=bl&ots=_epiSmAhwC&sig=pEsYZhpWVOXUCYYKInJKJgdJPug&hl=en&ei=o5GISoP4HILe7AON_5DKAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2#v=onepage&q=&f=falseJan, L.W. (2009). Write Way: Modelling Writing Forms. South Melbourne, Victoria; Oxford University Press. Jukes, I., & Dosaj, A. (2006). Understanding digital children (DKs); Teaching & learning in the new digital landscape. (p.1) Retrieved on August 15th from: http://edorigami.wikispaces.com/file/view/Jukes+-+Understanding+Digital+Kids.pdf

17. Lankshear, C. & Synder, I. (2000). Teachers and techno-literacy: Mangaging literacy, technology and learning in schools. St Leonards, NSW, Australia: Allen & Unwin. Ljungdahl, L., & March, P. (2006). Information and communication technologies. In Winch,G., Johnston, R.R., Holiday, M., Ljungdahl,L., & March, P. (2006) Literacy; Reading, writing and children literature(316-331). South Melbourne, Victoria; Oxford University Press.National Curriculum Board. (2009). Shape of the Australian Curriculum: English. Retrieved on August 5, 2009, from, http://www.ncb.org.au/verve/_resources/Australian_Curriculum_-_English.pdfSocialTeach. (2008). Notes towards Digital Literacy. Retrieved on July 24, 2009, from, http://fraser.typepad.com/socialtech/2008/10/notes-towards-d.html The Smith Family. (2008). Helping Kids with Digital Literacy. Retrieved on July 28, 2009, from: http://www.thesmithfamily.com.au/site/page.cfm?u=197Waters, D. (2004). Rowling backs Potter fan fiction. Retrieved August 2, 2009, from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3753001.stm