eLearning Skills 2030: Digital Literacy

Create, consume and collaborate digitally now

As machines become more accurate and intelligent, we humans will have to hone our skills. One of your primary responsibilities as a Learning & Development leader is to hone your skills and ensure that you enable staff to four sets of skills essential to thrive in 2030. I’ve put together a series of articles titled eLearning Skills 2030 to explore the essential skills to help you future-proof your career and lead your team. This article examines the skills of digital literacy, why it’s critical, and what actionable steps you can take today to improve.

What is digital literacy?

Digital literacy is a broad and evolving term, leading many subject matter experts to define it differently. The American Library Association defines digital literacy as “the ability to use information and communication technologies to find, evaluate, create and communicate information, which requires cognitive and technical skills.” The Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation (OECD) [1] defines digital literacy as one of the fundamental basic skills for 2030, providing students and the workforce and transformative competencies. I like the sharp definition of digital literacy from the Western Sydney University in Australiastating that digital literacy means “having the skills you need to live, learn and work in a society where communication and access to information and knowledge are increasingly taking place through digital technologies such as platforms, social media and smart devices.”

As such, digital literacy is vital to our ability to thrive in an increasingly digital world. Digital literacy refers to the why, who and who, while digital literacy refers to the what and how. For example, digital skills focus on which tool to use (e.g. Twitter or Linkedin) and how to use it (create a profile, comment, connect with others, etc.). Digital literacy focuses on the underlying questions of why you should use Linkedin instead of another platform, how would you use it to expand your network and what are the opportunities (e.g. creating a professional platform, learning from others) and risks ( e.g. , bots or fake Linkedin profiles) to do this.

Why is digital literacy critical?

During our lifetime, the vital importance of digital literacy was undeniably underlined during the two years of the coronavirus pandemic. During the pandemic, while the world came to a standstill and we isolated ourselves in our homes, we could only communicate, work and buy goods and services through digital technology. Digital literacy has helped us navigate this unprecedented change and new environment that is largely dependent on digital technologies. As organizations navigate hybrid workplaces, digital literacy skills are even more important.

How can you strengthen your digital literacy?

In this article, we offer five tactics to improve digital literacy. Three tactics relate to your individual literacy, and they are based on the Associate Dean of North Carolina State University Hiller Spiers framework: 1) find and consume, 2) create, and 3) communicate and share. The fourth tactic focuses on your ability to lead digital literacy within your organization based on research from Rasmussen University [2] related to managing teams working together in a digital environment. The fifth and final tactic involves building a learning culture within your organization with digital literacy.

1. Finding and consuming digital content

A critical digital literacy skill is your ability to independently research and solve problems on the job. Can you define the business problem and together find credible sources of information to solve the team problem? Can you adapt to a dynamic technical landscape? Can you distinguish the valuable digital content from noise and even deep counterfeits? These are essential skills related to fining and consuming digital content that you need to strengthen.

2. Create digital content

Renee Hobbs, a professor of communications studies at the University of Rhode Island, explains that content creation is a fundamental element of digital literacy. It includes creating emails, articles, blogs, videos, courses, social media posts and podcasts, among other content types. Creating value-added digital content means your content is clear, easy to understand and adds value to your team and your organization.

3. Communicate and Share Digital Content

The American Library Association points out that communicating and sharing digital content can be a powerful tool for an informed, vibrant, engaged organization and community. It can also be potentially dangerous, so as a leader you have a responsibility to model communication and share best practices and help your organization provide the necessary barriers to the creation and sharing of digital content.

4. Manage team collaboration in a digital environment

As organizations transition to a hybrid workplace and explore how to optimize working from home and the office, a team’s ability to use multiple technologies effectively in a mixed environment becomes critical to success. As a digitally literate leader, you must be fluent in and navigate the various technologies so you can manage and lead your team’s digital collaboration.

5. Promote a continuous learning culture

In addition to strengthening your digital literacy skills, you should also promote digital literacy learning within your organization by leveraging a continuous learning culture. Research by Tsedal Neeley and Paul Leonardi in Harvard Business Review [3] reveals that organizations are preparing their people for a new digital organizational culture and providing the systems and processes to support them to perform better. In the book “Forward-looking learning” [4]I wrote chapter four on defining a learning ecosystem, why leaders should focus on fostering a learning ecosystem in their organizations, and how to do it.

A learning ecosystem is a symbiotic environment where employees interact with each other and with the knowledge content, data and technologies around them to facilitate, develop, deliver and share learning experiences based on the governance guardrails established by the wider organization. In a related article, I discuss that to build a sustainable learning culture that aligns learning with business performance outcomes; you must lead the way by fostering trust, creativity and dedication in your team; by aligning learning metrics, strategy and resources with the CEO plan; and finally by cultivating continuous improvement in L&D and throughout your organization.

Conclusion

Digital literacy is an essential skill in an increasingly digital workplace, and as a leader it requires the ability to independently research and solve problems, create digital content, and share and communicate it effectively. In addition, you have the responsibility to manage the digital collaboration of your team. As digital technologies continue to evolve, foster a culture of learning in your organization so that the next generation of leaders can thrive in 2030 and beyond.