The New Digital Divide: Are you digitally fluent?

     Many of the young students I work with can sound out words, and read sight words.  They are literate, to an extent.  They stumble over words, laboriously applying the phonics rules we've drilled into their cute little heads, and then have no idea what they just read because it took so long for them to decode the words.  They aren't fluent yet.

     After years of doing basic searches on Google, selling and buying on eBay, Facebooking, using Word and Excel, etc., I consider myself to be fairly digitally literate.  But then sometimes, I try to use some piece of software, or a new app, and I'm completely baffled.  For example, last week, I tried to use Microsoft Sway for a class assignment.  I was immediately confused-"What is this? Why do I need it? What is it supposed to do anyway? Why can't I make this work? How did this video get here?"  In other words, I go from feeling like I have a pretty good grasp on using technology to feeling like I must be ready for the old folks home because I can't figure something out that kids are supposed to be able to use.  All of that to say, I may be digitally literate, but I'm realizing that I'm not as digitally fluent as I would like to be.  I can use and figure out new technology as long as what I'm doing is similar to something I've already done.  Ask me to do or understand something entirely new, and I'm suddenly feeling like that first grader who struggled through a paragraph only to have no idea how to answer the comprehension questions.

     Digital fluency is part of the digital divide.  The digital divide used to refer to those who had access to computers and technology versus those who did not.  The "haves" vs the "have nots". Now, most people have access to many types of technology on a daily basis-laptops, tablets, smart phones, video game consoles, Apple TV, etc. Even my 70 year old mother has a Facebook profile, after all. Today, the digital divide has more to do with the types of tech you have access too, and whether you have high speed internet or not.  Many families can't afford broadband, and there are still rural areas where the service is hard to get.  This presents issues for students trying to turn in homework, or unemployed people who can't fill out online job application forms.  This still, is a "have-have not" issue.

     However, there is a component to the digital divide that doesn't really have to do with the "haves" and the "have nots." Digital fluency can affect the rich or the poor, city or country dwellers, and the young or the old.  A person can have lots of gadgets and devices, and not understand how to utilize all of their functions.  You can have the fastest internet connection around, but if you don't know how to do an advanced search engine search for your research needs, you won't have much luck.  A student can think he's a pro on the computer, but if he doesn't know how to determine a good internet source from a bad one, then he's not as fluent as he needs to be either.

     So what's the answer? Teaching, training, and learning from mentors-but other than that, I don't know.  Now, if you'll pardon me, I'm going to go ask my teenagers to teach me how to use Snapchat-although I still don't understand the point of sending someone a picture that disappears....

     Would you like to hear more about the digital divide? Click on the link below to see W531's Voice Thread on the subject.

Voice Thread on the Digital Divide