Communicating in the 21st Century: Digital Literacy & Global Digital Citizenship
Course | Introductory | Module | 1
“The Internet is becoming the town square for the global village of tomorrow.”
~ Bill Gates
Introduction: Communicating in the 21st Century
In 2024, about 66% of the world’s total population has access to the Internet. It is hardly surprising, then, that we consider the digital world to be a truly global community. However, this has not always been the case.
From the first computer-based networks of the 1960s to the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) in recent years, our digital world has always been marked by change. And, as these technologies continue to evolve, how we communicate online will need to follow suit.
This means that we will need to be able to adapt to new forms of communication on a regular basis. We will also need to feel comfortable in our digital environments, and to uphold our responsibilities as members of a growing international community.
It is with this in mind that we can begin to explore the ideas of digital literacy and global digital citizenship. Promoted by the United Nations as part of their Sustainable Development Goals, these key concepts will help us recognise the importance of adapting to changes in how we communicate in the 21st century.
Concept 1: Digital Literacy
Given that online technology plays such a significant role in our daily lives, our ability to use this technology is viewed as a very important skill. However, there is much more to the skill of digital literacy than first meets the eye.
Just as literacy usually refers to our ability to read and write, digital literacy can also refer to our ability to communicate online. In line with this, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) defines digital literacy as the ability to “understand…communicate [and] evaluate information safely…” online.
This means that digital literacy involves much more than our ability to use technology like computers or mobile devices. Instead, it requires that we make active decisions about the communication we receive and send online. Luckily, at Communication Mindfulness, this is precisely the type of active decision-making that we promote through our holistic approach to online safety!
Concept 2: Global Digital Citizenship
We all know that to be the citizen of a country means we have certain rights. We also know that we have certain responsibilities, and that we should obey local laws.
The idea of global digital citizenship is not much different. To make it easier to understand, we can break this concept up into two parts:
- Digital Citizenship: At its simplest, everyone who is able to use the internet regularly and efficiently can be thought of as a digital citizen. However, being a digital citizen also means that we have certain responsibilities to uphold, including protecting the rights of others and behaving respectfully online.
- Global: This may now seem more obvious. Unlike being the citizen of one country, being a digital citizen means that we are a member of a world-wide community of individuals with whom we can communicate.
So, by looking at this concept as a whole, we can see that we are all part of a global community of digital citizens.
This is very important, as it means that we are all responsible for behaving respectfully, legally and safely online. Just as a good citizen would respect the rights of others in their community, we need to learn to respect the rights of others online.
It is for this reason that we should think about online safety as a two-way-street: we should protect both ourselves and others online, even when doing something as simple as sending a text message!
Conclusion:
Over the course of this article, we have developed our understanding of what digital literacy and global digital citizenship are, including how they should inform our behaviour online. In the next article, we will discover how we can combine our understanding of these key concepts with that of communication mindfulness to arrive at a more holistic approach to online safety.