Digital literacy and technological skills

Overview

Under the EdTech Masterplan 2030, one of the key strategic thrusts is to strengthen the development of students’ digital literacy and technological skills. This is to ensure that students are well-equipped with the digital competencies to thrive in an increasingly technology-saturated future.

Digital literacy

Digital literacy is defined as a set of knowledge, skills and dispositions that would help our learners be confident, critical and responsible users of digital technologies.

MOE’s National Digital Literacy Programme was launched in March 2020 for our schools and Institutes of Higher Learning. Under the programme, students will acquire digital skills across four components in the “Find, Think, Apply, Create” framework.

Digital competencies

Under the EdTech Masterplan 2030, the “Find, Think, Apply, Create” framework is further unpacked into 9 digital competencies to support deepening of digital literacy in schools.

9 Digital Competencies

1. Digital Safety & Security
   Understanding of online behaviour and awareness of how to protect oneself in the online space.
2. Digital Responsibility
   When navigating the online space, demonstrate respect for oneself and others, and practise safe, responsible, and ethical use.
3. Digital Knowledge Currency
   Keep up-to-date with technological developments and the use of digital resources, as part of learning for life.
4. Computational Thinking
   Employ computational thinking together with technological tools to solve problems, e.g. when developing and testing solutions.
5. Digital Information Management
   Employ effective strategies to locate information and resources, and exercise discernment by evaluating the accuracy, credibility, and relevance of information. Distil and synthesise essential content from the often large amount of information available online.
6. Digital Communication, Collaboration & Participation
   Leverage digital platforms and tools to communicate ideas, connect with others, and contribute constructively to a common goal.
7. Data Competencies
   Read, understand, interpret, manipulate, analyse, and present data in meaningful ways.
8. Device & Software Operations
   Understand how devices and software work in order to use them effectively and productively.
9. Coding & Programming
   Utilise a variety of digital methods such as block-based programming, text-based programming, or prompt engineering to create digital artefacts, or to develop, test and debug solutions.

Technological skills

Technological skills refer to the ability to understand and use specific technologies to solve problems and achieve practical goals.

As a start, we will focus on artificial intelligence (AI) literacy, to equip our students to understand what AI is, to identify and explain its potential benefits, limitations, and risks, and to be able to leverage AI tools effectively for learning and for their daily lives.