Giving Students the Digital Tools to Succeed, Explained

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Giving Students the Digital Tools to Succeed

Educational Psychology · Chapter 11: Technology, Digital Tools, and the Future of LearningSection 11.3 · lesson 99 of 10010 min · free with a free account

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In this lesson

Digital literacy, the ISTE standards, assistive technology, and the divide beneath them.

  • Define digital literacy and distinguish it from fluency
  • Describe the seven ISTE Standards for Students
  • Explain assistive technology and Universal Design for Learning
  • Identify the three dimensions of the digital divide

Transcript

Everything said in the video, section by section (1,207 words). Read along, or search it.

Technology, Digital Tools, and the Future of Learning

The Digital Tools to Succeed

Ask a teacher whether their students are digitally literate. Most will say yes, and point at how fast the students type. That is not what the term means anymore. This section is about what it does mean, and what it takes to teach. We start with the definition, and why it counts as a literacy. Then the difference between using technology and leveraging it. Then the seven ISTE standards that organize the field. Then assistive technology, and the legal duty behind it. Then Universal Design for Learning, which generalizes that duty. Then the three dimensions of the digital divide. And finally digital citizenship, and the AI problem inside it.

Definition

Digital Literacy Is a Literacy

Digital literacy has moved far beyond basic computer skills. It now names a constellation of competencies. The ability to find, evaluate, create and communicate information. Using digital technologies effectively and responsibly. That includes critical evaluation of online information. It includes producing multimedia content, and data privacy awareness. It includes collaborative communication and computational thinking. And it includes the ethical dimensions of online participation. The American Library Association gives the standard definition. It requires both cognitive and technical skills, in their phrasing. That framing positions digital literacy as a literacy. As foundational to civic participation as reading and writing are.

Threshold Or Fluency

Using Technology, or Leveraging It

Researchers draw a distinction that matters for curriculum design. Digital literacy, in the narrow sense, is a threshold competency. The basic ability to navigate and use digital tools. Digital fluency implies something deeper. The ability to leverage technology creatively and critically. In service of complex goals the student defines. Here is why that distinction is pedagogical and not semantic. Instruction aimed only at threshold competency has a signature result. It produces students who can use technology as directed. But who cannot leverage it as a creative or analytical tool. Education systems increasingly recognize that fluency is what is demanded. By the modern economy, and by a functioning democratic society.

ISTE Standards

Seven Competencies for Students

The International Society for Technology in Education publishes standards. They describe what students should know and do with technology. The Standards for Students appeared in twenty sixteen. They were revised in twenty twenty-four, and name seven competencies. The Empowered Learner leverages technology for their own learning. The Digital Citizen understands rights and responsibilities online. The Knowledge Constructor critically curates information to build knowledge. The Innovative Designer uses technology to solve problems creatively. The Computational Thinker develops strategies for solving problems. The Creative Communicator communicates clearly using digital media. And the Global Collaborator works with others across geographies and cultures. Notice what is absent from that list. No keyboarding, no spreadsheet skills, no simple internet searches.

Classroom Example

Three Weeks, One Integrated Task

Here is one teacher building those competencies inside a subject. Mr. Osei teaches fifth grade. He designs a unit around the Knowledge Constructor standard. Students investigate a local environmental issue. Then they create a persuasive digital presentation. And the audience is the city council, not the teacher. Over three weeks they practice evaluating source credibility. They synthesize information from multiple perspectives. And they produce narrated slideshows with original photography. Look at what the single task develops at once. Information literacy, digital production skills, and civic engagement. That is what integration means, as opposed to a separate computer class.

Assistive Technology

A Legal Requirement, Not a Courtesy

Assistive technology has a broad definition and a narrow legal duty. It is any device, software or system that helps individuals with disabilities. Helps them participate more fully in educational and social life. The legal duty comes from the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. It mandates that teams consider assistive technology. And they must consider it for every student with a disability. That sits inside the free and appropriate public education guarantee. So this is a requirement, not a courtesy extended by a generous school. The range of tools is extraordinarily wide. Text-to-speech and speech-to-text software. Augmentative and alternative communication devices. Word prediction, graphic organizers, and captioning tools.

At A Glance

Assistive Technology in Education

A survey of the main categories, and who each one serves. Screen readers convert text to speech or Braille. They serve students with visual impairment. Text-to-speech reads digital text aloud in real time. It supports students with dyslexia or reading difficulties. Speech-to-text converts spoken words into written text. It supports motor impairments and dysgraphia. Augmentative and alternative communication devices go further. They enable communication for students with severe communication disability. Captioning tools provide real-time text transcription for hearing impairment. And graphic organizers visually structure ideas and relationships. Those help students with executive function challenges. Each category matches a specific barrier, which is the whole design logic.

UDL

Designing the Barrier Out From the Start

Universal Design for Learning takes the same idea further. It was developed by researchers at CAST. And it extends accessibility beyond formal disability designations. The framework has three parts. Multiple means of representation, meaning how content is presented. Multiple means of action and expression, meaning how students respond. And multiple means of engagement, meaning why they are motivated. Here is what that looks like in one assignment. Offer the content in video, in text, and in audio. Allow students to respond by essay, recorded video, or infographic. Provide choice of topic within a defined thematic boundary. The barriers are removed in advance, for everyone. That is the difference between designing for access and retrofitting it.

The Divide

Devices Are Not the Whole Problem

Digital equity is not simply a matter of handing out devices. Researchers identify three overlapping dimensions of the divide. The first is access. Whether students have devices and connectivity at all. The second is use. Whether students engage with technology in cognitively demanding ways. The third is quality. Whether the technology-enabled experiences are instructionally strong. Low-income students are more likely to face deficits in all three at once. Using technology mainly for watching and playing, rather than creating. Schools reach virtually every child in a community, which is leverage. Device lending, hotspot lending and parent education programs all help. Federal programs like E-Rate and Title Four A provide the resources.

Digital Citizenship

Norms for Behaving Well Online

Digital citizenship names the norms of behaving well online. Appropriate, responsible and ethical behavior in digital environments. Curricula organize it around a set of core competencies. Media balance and well-being. Privacy and security. Digital footprint and identity. Relationships and communication. Cyberbullying, and news and media literacy. And creative credit and copyright. These are not add-on topics bolted onto the real curriculum. Here is the evidence for treating them as core. A landmark study in twenty sixteen tested middle school students. Eighty-two percent could not distinguish an advertisement from a news article. Stanford researchers built a civic online reasoning curriculum in response. Ribble and Bailey identify nine elements, spanning law, health and security.

AI Literacy

The Frontier Schools Are Only Beginning

Generative AI has created an urgent and unresolved question. How do schools help students use these tools honestly? In ways that support learning rather than bypassing it. The answers are still being negotiated across institutions. But a few principles have emerged from early experience. First, blanket bans are generally counterproductive. They push AI use underground, where nobody can teach into it. They deny students the chance to develop critical AI literacy. And they ignore the professional environments students will soon enter. Disclosure and attribution norms are more sustainable than prohibition. AI literacy means understanding basic mechanics, without programming. Recognizing AI-generated content, and evaluating fairness and bias. What curriculum cycles cannot supply is the habit of asking the question. Is this right? Who is harmed? Who benefits?

About Educational Psychology at UPI Study

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Educational Psychology carries a NCCRS credit recommendation. These universities work with NCCRS; some are UPI Study's signed partners. ACE and NCCRS have over 2,100 cooperating colleges that will consider accepting credits; the final decision is with the universities.

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FAQ

Questions students ask us

About Giving Students the Digital Tools to Succeed

What is the difference between digital literacy and digital fluency?
Digital literacy, in the narrow sense, is the threshold ability to navigate and use digital tools, while digital fluency is the ability to leverage technology creatively and critically toward complex goals the student defines. Instruction aimed only at literacy tends to produce students who use technology as directed but cannot use it as a creative or analytical tool. Broader definitions of digital literacy also include evaluating information and producing content.
What are the seven ISTE Standards for Students?
The seven ISTE Standards for Students describe students as an Empowered Learner, Digital Citizen, Knowledge Constructor, Innovative Designer, Computational Thinker, Creative Communicator and Global Collaborator. Published by the International Society for Technology in Education in 2016 and later revised, they focus on using technology to learn, build knowledge, solve problems and collaborate, rather than on basic skills like keyboarding or simple internet searches.
What is assistive technology in schools?
Assistive technology is any device, software or system that helps students with disabilities participate more fully in school and social life. Examples include screen readers for visual impairment, text-to-speech for dyslexia, speech-to-text for motor impairments or dysgraphia, augmentative and alternative communication devices, and captioning for hearing impairment. Under IDEA, IEP teams must consider assistive technology for every student with a disability.
What are the three dimensions of the digital divide?
The three dimensions of the digital divide are access, use and quality. Access is whether students have devices and connectivity at all; use is whether they engage with technology in cognitively demanding ways, such as creating rather than only watching; and quality is whether technology-enabled learning is instructionally strong. Low-income students are more likely to face gaps in all three, so handing out devices alone does not close the divide.

About the Educational Psychology course

How many college credits is Educational Psychology?
Educational Psychology (Psychology 120) carries a NCCRS credit recommendation for 3 semester credits. ACE and NCCRS have over 2,100 cooperating colleges that will consider accepting credits; the final decision is with the universities.
How much does Educational Psychology cost and what is included?
$250, paid once, with lifetime access: all 100 video lessons, a practice quiz after each, the graded work and final exam, and an official transcript when you finish. Students who want several courses choose UPI Study PRO instead.
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UPI Study has signed partner agreements with universities such as Thomas Edison State University, University of the People and Charter Oak State College, and works with universities such as Penn State, SNHU and SUNY. ACE and NCCRS have over 2,100 cooperating colleges that will consider accepting credits; the final decision is with the universities. Use "Find my college" on this page to check yours.
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