The digital skill gap impacts people of all ages worldwide. While older individuals can learn digital skills in one way or the other, students should be provided opportunities to learn various digital skills that can help them throughout their lives. If students lack the basic digital skills in the current digital era, they will face challenges not only in school or the professional world but in every walk of life.
Digital skills are necessary to make use of the technology that we have available today. As technology starts to become more and more complex and integrated into various aspects of our daily lives, having digital literacy skills can provide you with an edge. Here are five essential digital literacy skills that children should be taught.
1. Navigating the Digital Landscape
Children or students should be able to know how they can navigate the internet and make the best of online resources. There are countless online resources available that can be of help to students and children. Children must be taught how they can make the best use of online digital resources, how to access 192.168.2.1/, how to take advantage of online learning and entertainment, and how to stay safe while navigating the internet
Plus, they must also be taught how to manage their digital footprint in the world of the internet, as everything you post may be seen by others. All of the aforesaid skills can help children navigate the internet properly and make the best use of it.
2. Research
Research is one of those things that has become important for everyone in this era. Students and children must be taught early how they can utilize online resources and information for research purposes. They need to be made to understand how research works, how they can look up information, and what type of information is reliable and credible for research.
Understanding how research works and how they can perform research on their own to gain valuable information using digital resources is important from a personal, academic, and professional standpoint.
3. Word and Excel Processing
Word and Excel are two software that found their use in almost every industry. It does not matter which field you belong to, basic word processing and spreadsheet skills are necessary for almost every job field out there. Therefore, children must be taught about the basic and advanced Word and Excel processing skills that can help them work on group projects, making documents, analyzing data, etc.
Some students are taught about using these applications to some extent, but in the current digital era, all the students must be taught how to maximally utilize these apps, as they are very important from a professional point of view.
4. Basic Cybersecurity Skills and Information
This is an important basic digital literacy skill that most people tend to overlook. The importance of cybersecurity in 2024 cannot be overstated. It has become clear to most of us that cyber-attacks are real and can happen to anyone if they are not cautious enough. Students and children must be taught about the importance of cybersecurity, why they should practice safe internet navigating habits, why and how they can secure their Bell modem, and how they can protect their data online.
They should also know how to spot any cyber security threats and avoid them. Teaching children the basics of cybersecurity will help them stay safe while they navigate the digital world.
5. Creating Presentations
Along with other skills, creating presentations is an important skill that is required throughout life. Whether you are a businessman, doctor, engineer, or belong to any other field, you should know how to create professional presentations tailored to specific audiences. Presentations are an important part of anyone’s professional career. Therefore, students should be taught to create professional presentations, which will help them present information in an organized way and also fulfill the requirements of many job positions.
