From Digital Literacy to Digital Competence: documents, analyses, suggestions, frameworks Antonio Cartelli1, Katherine Maillet2 1.

University of Cassino, Italy 2. TELECOM & Management SudParis, Paris, France cartan@unicas.it, Katherine.Maillet@it-sudparis.fr Abstract After a short description of the influence of IT and ICT on today society the most common definitions for the literacy involving IT and ICT are reported: information literacy, media literacy and digital literacy are the definitions emerging from the international literature. The proposal of the digital competence as one among the key competences for lifelong learning is then reported and, at last, a short discussion on the teachers competences follows. Key words: digital competence, digital divide, digital literacy, information literacy, knowledge society Introduction It is straightforward to note that IT and ICT influenced information management and communication in mankind since their first appearance; there is also general agreement on the deep changes that new technologies induced in the representation of reality, on knowledge structures and learning construction. May be the great influence the above changes had on human beings induced the change in the appellation of information society, mostly centred on the management of information, into the new one of knowledge society; now a greater importance is attributed in fact to the development of new skills and the construction of new knowledge. As a consequence of this revolution the term knowledge society describes the environment subjects are immersed in for building effective knowledge, developing meaningful learning and reaching wisdom. The awareness of a wider and deeper use of IT and ICT instruments and processes has to face the difficulties that people have in the access to information and in the construction of new knowledge. These phenomena, usually known as digital divide, have been widely studied both to obtain a better definition of the phenomenon and to develop the right strategies for the overcoming of the difficulties; the most important result until now obtained can be synthesized in the three items reported below, each of which depicts a different aspect of digital divide (Kling 1998, Bind 2005, Lvy 1997, Guidolin 2005): 1) the lack of technology, which is responsible of the gap between people who can access the communication and computing instruments and those who cannot, 2) a more complex perspective, by which technology has only a part of blame, relevant but not exclusive, in the definition and featuring of the digital divide; the gap derives now from preexisting differences between people who can use the technology and those who cannot, 3) at last there is the gap between those who master content management and the meta-cognitive use of IT and ICT (information, knowledge, know how etc.), and those who dont. As a conclusion, the problems people have in the access to information depend not only on the lack of technology, but on many other different gaps, like the cultural, educational and psychological ones; furthermore, the problem of the access to information is strictly intertwined with its critical and conscious use. At last it has to be remarked that new technologies make a bit more complex the panorama of understanding reality and building new knowledge because: 1. people are now submerged by a great amount of information, often redundant, 2. the filtering and selecting mechanisms of information are poor and sometimes inefficient,

3. the information overload generates trouble conditions and shifting in the subjects interpretation frames (Wurman, 2001). The phenomena described above have all the features of a pedagogical emergency all over the world and especially in Western countries, where the systematic use of IT and ICT permeate everyday life. As an example the case of e-learning is reported here; it is now growing, in fact, the number of the scientists who are studying e-learning contexts with a special attention to: 1. whether students performances depend from their learning styles or not, 2. how much students performances depend from teaching/tutoring styles, 3. the influence that evaluation and assessment information systems like e-portfolios have on students behaviour. From digital literacy to digital competence The analysis of digital divide led many scholars to study IT and ICT learning models in students and, more generally, in every kind of people and to develop conceptual models for the description of new literacy involving IT and ICT. By looking at the panorama of the definitions today available one can find: information literacy, IT and ICT literacy, media literacy and the most recent digital literacy. In what follows a summary of the above definitions is reported. The Committee on Information Technology of the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board on the US National Research Council (1999), first posed the question and published the report Being fluent with Information Technology. As a consequence of this work educational institutions were explicitly invited to propose to the students special training activities to develop the abilities specifically needed for the information society. The Association of College and Research Libraries (2000) proposed the following definition for information literacy: the set of the skills needed for individual development in modern-day societies; they also described the features of these skills. The UNESCO (2002), defined media education as the education allowing people to develop the understanding of the means of communication used in their society and setting them along the path for the acquisition of the necessary skills needed in relation to others. The main consequence of this perspective is that these skills are considered an essential part of the civic training. The ETS (2002) by working on the International ICT Literacy Panel developed a framework within which it defined ICT literacy and provided the foundation for the design and conduct of large-scale assessments and diagnostic tests. For ETS the ICT literacy has the following meaning: digital technology, communications tools, and/or networks, to access, manage, integrate, evaluate and create information in order to function in a knowledge society. Tornero (2004) while comparing the above proposals outlined that the basic differences among them can be grouped in the following two categories: - Scope: The ACRL proposal refers to information in general, regardless of the means through which it may be accessed; UNESCO refers to the means of communication in a broader sense; ETS confines itself to digital means; - Framework of applicability: UNESCO makes its proposal within a framework of democratic society, and therefore within a collective context; the ACRL and the ETS make their proposals within the framework of individual competence, which is cognitive and technological. Table 1 below synthesizes the different points of view on digital literacy (Tornero, 2004): Table 1: Synthesis of the different proposals for ICT literacy
Processes Selection Access Access: be familiar with way of gathering informaETS Framework UNESCO Media Education Ability to select Access: real possibility of accessing the media and Association of College and Research Libraries Recognize and determine the extent of the information that is needed Efficient access to the information required

Integration/ Evaluation

tion Integrate/ Evaluate

producing with them Interpretation: of the messages and their values Analysis: critical abilities towards the media Identification: of the sources to understand intentions and objectives

Evaluate the information and its sources Incorporate the selected information into the base of knowledge Use the information effectively on the basis of an established objective Classify, store, manipulate any information gathered or generated Restructure and generate information

Management

Manage by applying a classification diagram

Creation/ Production

Create: generate information

Access to production using the media

Further definitions and frameworks have been proposed for digital literacy; for example: it is the ability to locate, organize, understand, evaluate, and create information using digital technology. It involves a working knowledge of current high-technology, and an understanding of how it can be used. Digitally literate people can communicate and work more efficiently, especially with those who possess the same knowledge and skills. The most comprehensive definition for digital literacy has been given by A. Martin (2005). Together with the members of the European research project DigEuLit he belonged to, the following features for digital literacy were hypothesized: - it is the expression of the ability of successfully compelling digital actions in everyday life; - it is specific for every subject and his/her lifestyle; - it is more general than ICT literacy and includes different kinds of literacy, from information literacy to media literacy and visual literacy; - it is based on the acquisition and use of information, on the knowledge of techniques, on personal skills etc. As a consequence Digital Literacy is the awareness, attitude and ability of individuals to appropriately use digital tools and facilities to identify, access, manage, integrate, evaluate, analyse and synthesize digital resources, construct new knowledge, create media expressions, and communicate with others, in the context of specific life situations, in order to enable constructive social action; and to reflect upon this process. In these last years the concept of competence looked more suitable with respect to literacy due to the active involvement of subjects features in the process of knowledge construction. By following Morin (2000), for example, the different levels of human actions from the lower to the higher and depending or not on the possession of competences, can be synthesized in the following statements: to know , to know what to do and to know how to be Differntly from Morin, Le Boterf (2000, 2001a, 2001b) said that competence is the involvement in action of all human resources (knowledge, skills, capability etc.) and not only the whole set of those resources; it is to know how to act (or react) in a given situation, in a given context, to obtain a performance which must be evaluated from other people. Probably on the above considerations the European parliament and its council (2005) proclaimed a recommendation for the lifelong learning; within this document eight competences were proposed as the key competences for the right citizenship in the knowledge society, among them the digital competence, the fourth in the list, is defined as follows: Digital competence involves the confident and critical use of Information Society Technology (IST) for work, leisure and communication. It is underpinned by basic skills in ICT: the use of computers to retrieve, assess, store, produce, present and exchange information, and to communicate and participate in collaborative networks via the Internet. The main features for the digital competence are:

a) the sound understanding and knowledge of the nature, role and opportunities of IST in everyday contexts: in personal and social life as well as at work. This includes main computer applications such as word processing, spreadsheets, databases, information storage and management, and an understanding of the opportunities of Internet and communication via electronic media (e-mail, network tools) for leisure, information sharing and collaborative networking, learning and research, b) the understanding of the support that creativity and innovation can receive from IST, to be aware of issues around the validity and reliability of available information and the ethical principles of the interactive use of IST, c) skills like: the ability to search, collect and process information and use it in a critical and systematic way, assessing relevance and distinguishing real from virtual while recognising the links. Individuals should have skills to use tools to produce, present and understand complex information and the ability to access, search and use internet-based services; they should also be able to use IST to support critical thinking, creativity, and innovation. The use of IST requires a critical and reflective attitude towards available information and a responsible use of the interactive media. The interest in engaging in communities and networks for cultural, social and/or professional purposes also supports this competence. School, Teachers and the acquisition of digital competence All over Europe many curricula and programs have been made to introduce computing and IT/ICT in the school at the different levels. Furthermore the interest of European governments and public institutions for education and teaching have been often manifested by means of teachers professional acquisition and development. As an example V. Reding said that they (teachers) are at the very heart of the educational policy debate. Enhancement of teachers training is thus an integral part of the work program on the future objectives of education and training systems up to 2010, which was approved by the Barcelona European Council on 15-16 March 2002. The team of Eurydice, the European network for education, analyzed teaching professional features in the various countries and wrote many reports on them (Eurydice 2002a, 2002b, 2002c, 2003, 2004). The results of Eurydices study dwelt upon many aspects of teaching profession but, for the aims of our discussion, only teachers initial training and lifelong learning will be discussed here. First of all Eurydices reports describe the changes in the skills needed from teachers because of the influence on everyday life and consequently on the school of the following aspects: - technology development, with the great role it plays on learning environments and on the way people build new knowledge (i.e., formal, non formal and informal contexts are continuously changing and are influenced from technology and its evolution), - lifelong learning (a need in knowledge society) and the possible development of new ways of interacting between school and adults education, - everyday school living, often influenced from multi-cultural phenomena and depending from the behavior of school staff and local regulations (i.e., local autonomy), - the right for all citizens to the highest levels of education, with the well known problems of the integration of diversely able people and of the management of heterogeneous groups of students. As regards teachers education and training the Eurydices reports make a separation between the pre-service and in-service phases. In the first case the comparative analysis of the university courses all over Europe shows that only ICT basic courses (mostly basic computer science courses) are explicitly reported in teaching curricula. Other topics like school management, the integration of students with special needs, working with multicultural students groups and the management of students behaviors are not equally considered in the different countries and very often are not explicitly included among what has to be taught to future teachers. Secondly, the Eurydices reports

state that there is a very little sensitivity for the teachers in-service training, notwithstanding the frequent changes in regulations affecting national educational systems. At last Eurydices reports notice that in all countries very little or no attention is devoted to teachers updating activities, notwithstanding they highly impact on professional evolution and are very important for the career progression (in more than 50% of the European countries teachers career is influenced from updating activities). If Eurydice reports give a snapshot of teachers needs and situations from the point of view of national institutions it is very interesting to note that there is substantial agreement between those reports and the opinions from the teachers. Many surveys state in fact that teachers are conscious of the great changes in their profession due to the complexity of todays social and educational contexts and many among them will like to acquire the right instruments to win the challenges of contemporary society but will expect a recognition for their efforts. Bibliography
1. ACRL (2000). Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education. Chicago (Illinois): Association of College & Research Libraries. 2. Bind, J. Cotbett, J. & Verity, B. (2005). 21st-Century Talks: Towards Knowledge Society. UNESCO. 3. Committee on Information Technology Literacy (1999). Being fluent with information technology. Washington (DC): National Academy Press. 4. Educational Testing Service (2002). Digital Transformation. A framework for ICT literacy. A report from the ICT Literacy Panel. Princeton (NJ): ETS. Available online on Dec 04th 2008 at http://www.ets.org/Media/Tests/Information_and_Communication_Technology_Literacy/ictreport.pdf 5. European Parliament and Council (2005). Recommendation on key competences for lifelong learning. Available online on Dec 4th 2008 at http://ec.europa.eu/education/policies/2010/doc/keyrec_en.pdf 6. Eurydice, The information network on education (2002a). Reforms of the teaching profession: a historical survey (1975-2002) / Supplementary report, The teaching profession in Europe: Profile, trends and concerns. General lower secondary education. Available on line on Dec 4th 2008 from http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/Eurydice/showPresentation?pubid=067EN 7. Eurydice, The information network on education (2002b). The teaching profession in Europe: Profile, trends and concerns. Report I: Initial training and transition to working life. General lower secondary education. Available online on Dec 4th 2008 from http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/ressources/eurydice/pdf/0_integral/037EN.pdf 8. Eurydice, The information network on education (2002c), The teaching profession in Europe: Profile, trends and concerns. Report II: Supply and demand. General lower secondary education. Available online on Dec 4th 2008 from http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/ressources/eurydice/pdf/0_integral/034EN.pdf 9. Eurydice, The information network on education (2003), The teaching profession in Europe: Profile, trends and concerns. Report III: Working conditions and pay. General lower secondary education. Available online on Dec 4th 2008 from http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/Eurydice/showPresentation?pubid=077EN 10. Eurydice, The information network on education (2004), The teaching profession in Europe: Profile, trends and concerns. Report IV: Keeping teaching attractive for the 21st century. General lower secondary education. Available online on Dec 4th 2008 from http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/Eurydice/showPresentation?pubid=043EN 11. Guidolin, U. (2005). Pensare digitale. Teoria e tecniche dei nuovi media. Milano: Mc Graw-Hill. 12. Kling, R. (1996). Computerization and Controversy: Value, Conflicts and Social Choices. San Diego (CA): Academic Press. 13. Le Boterf, G. (2000). Comptence et navigation professional. Paris:Les ditions d'organisation. 14. Le Boterf, G. (2001a). Ingnierie et valuation des competences. Paris:Les ditions d'organisation. 15. Le Boterf, G. (2001b). Constuire les comptences individuelles et collectives. Paris: Les ditions d'organisation. 16. Lvy, P. (1996). L'intelligenza collettiva. Per un'antropologia del cyberspazio. Milan (Italy): Feltrinelli. 17. Martin, A. (2005). DigEuLit a European Framework for Digital Literacy: a Progress Report. Journal of eLiteracy, vol. 2, pp. 130-136. Retrieved online on Dec 04, 2008 from http://www.jelit.org/65/01/JeLit_Paper_31.pdf Morin, E. (2000). La testa ben fatta. Riforma dell'insegnamento e riforma del pensiero. Milan: Raffaello Cortina. 19. Tornero, J. M. P. (2004). Promoting Digital Literacy: Final report (EAC/76/03).Understanding digital literacy. Barcelona: UAB. Retrieved online on Dec 04, 2008 from http://ec.europa.eu/education/archive/elearning/doc/studies/dig_lit_en.pdf 20. UNESCO (2002), Recommendations addressed to the UNESCO. Youth Media Education conference. Seville, 15-16 February 2002.

18.

21. Wurman, R. S. (2001). Information Anxiety 2. Los Angeles: Hayden/Que