Reflection Questions for Digital Literacy in Social Work
This post was written and edited by Nancy J. Smyth, Melanie Sage, and myself. It will be included in our forthcoming book, Teaching Social Work with Digital Technology, to be published by CSWE Press in 2018.
Given the complexities of digital and social technology in today’s world and its effects on individuals, communities, and organizations, we argue that social work educators should teach students a holistic literacy of technology to promote, digital literacy, that is, the skills and knowledge to use information and communication technologies (ICTs) to find, critique, create, and share content (Heitin, 2016). Many websites have assessments that purport to assess one’s digital literacy. However, upon closer look, it is clear that they are often very dependent on the context of the technologies discussed such as a specific type of software, web-based application or mobile device. A good example of this in higher education is when we teach students to use a learning management system (LMS) like Canvas or Blackboard and focus only on how to upload a document within the LMS without helping them understand that the skill of uploading applies to many web-based platforms. By using digital literacy assessments with such a narrow focus, it means they become obsolete quickly and are not relevant to all contexts such as how features of an app may look different on a smartphone compared to a laptop.
To help social work educators and practitioners understand their own digital literacies more deeply as well as help others such as students or workshop participants, we are presenting some questions that serve as a starting point for reflection as you consider teaching with technology, as well as helping students enhance their digital literacies. These questions are grounded in the work of Doug Belshaw and his book The Essential Elements of Digital Literacies. He has identified eight interconnected elements of digital literacies: Cultural, Cognitive, Constructive, Communicative, Confident, Creative, Critical, and Civic, and our questions are grouped around these elements. Here are some brief definitions of each element with some sample reflection questions for each element (a handout with all the questions is available later in this post):
Culture: Having knowledge and skills, applying personal and professional values, and being about to think critically and reflectively about the context and culture of digital and social technologies.
- What is the purpose of what I am seeking to do right now?
- How can I best organize my work (i.e. on specific devices, with specific apps) to meet my purpose, including managing my attention?
- What technology standards, legal standards, organizational policies and professional ethics come into play to shape how I implement my purpose (i.e. what I am seeking to do right now)?
Constructive: Having knowledge and skills to create digital content such as text, images and videos.
- Do I know how to share content between my devices?
- Am I knowledgeable about how copyright regulations are applied in digital environments?
Communicative: Having knowledge and skills, applying personal and professional values, and being about to think critically and reflectively about the content created and shared in digital formats.
- Who is my primary target audience for this communication?
- Am I able to translate key information into compelling messages and formats, such as visual, audio, and video?
Confident: Being able to think critically and reflectively about one’s ability to use digital and social technologies.
- What would help increase my confidence in navigating digital environments in general?
- What digital environments do I need to increase my experience with so that I feel more confident?
Creative: Having knowledge and skills, applying personal and professional values, and being about to think critically and reflectively about creating digital content that adds value.
- Am I able to create new content (through remixing or my own designs) to capture the attention and interest of my intended audience?
- Does my new content add value to the message I want to share with my target audience(s)?
Critical: Being able to think critically and reflectively about the quality, authenticity, and trustworthiness of digital content, software, hardware, websites, and other virtual environments.
- What websites and apps do I currently use to get my information?
- Have I used multiple strategies to verify the credibility of a digital source?
- Am I knowledgeable about how to use websites to use for fact checking?
Civic: Includes the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors that support participation in the larger society with digital and social technologies such as with political and social action, community-based organizations, government agencies, and social action.
- Have I developed robust, trusted digital social networks related to key advocacy goals?
- Do I know what steps to take in attempts to correct inaccurate information about me or my profession online?
- Am I able to successfully use my digital social networks to collaborate on advocacy efforts?
We agree with Belshaw (2014) that digital literacies are contextual. For example, if you are in a setting working with protected health information, questions would vary from those listed below. For this reason, these questions could never be exhaustive. However, they can provide a good starting place for personal reflection and professional growth for social workers and educators who uses technology competently and ethically. The best time to consider these questions is when you are considering adopting a new application, solving a tech-related challenge, or using a new device.
A PDF Handout of all the questions is available here: Digital Literacy Reflection Questions for Social Work
Please let us know if you have comments about these questions. If you used the questions to assess your own digital literacy, let us know how it worked, or if you think anything is missing. These questions are free to use under a Creative Commons License (2017) with attribution and no derivatives. This means that if you use these questions with students, employees, or workshop participants, you should use them as is with credit to the authors.
References
Belshaw, D. (2014). The Essential Elements of Digital Literacies. Retrieved from http://digitalliteraci.es/
Heitin, L. (2016, November 9). What Is Digital Literacy? – Education Week. Education Week. Retrieved from https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2016/11/09/what-is-digital-literacy.html
How to cite this blog post:
Hitchcock, L. I., Sage, M., & Smyth, N. J. (2018, July 2). Reflection Questions for Digital Literacy in Social Work [Blog post]. Retrieved from: https://laureliversonhitchcock.org/2018/07/02/reflection-questions-for-digital-literacy-in-social-work/
