Draft: Digital literacy strategy
Digital literacy is an important set of skills that are needed to use the internet effectively in the information age. Wikimedia projects can play an important role in helping individuals and groups to develop these skills in both formal and informal settings. Wikimedia UK is well placed to make a significant contribution in this area. Therefore it is important that the charity develops an appropriate digital literacy strategy that fits in with our wider educational activity.
Definition of digital literacy
"The European Commission uses the following definition ‘the confident and critical use of ICT for work, leisure, learning and communication" European Commission report DigEuLit (2006).
See: Digital literacy.
How Wikimedia projects can help develop digital literacy
Copyright
Practical guidelines about what is acceptable and what is not acceptable particularly for community groups in receipt of public fund who have to sign an angreement that they follow copyright laws. The development and delivery of this could be quite attractive to the Heritage Lottery Fund, Art for All, the Community Archives Heritage Group, and other organisations that work with community groups. It would provide an opportunity to explain how Wikimedia Commons works, encourage use of our material, and even encourage people to make their photos available on Commons.
Evaluation, credibility, sourcing
Mozilla's take on Web Literacy
The Mozilla community have been working on developing a web list of key elements which they feel contribute to digital literacy. Important questions to ask:
- How do the range of contribution types relate to the map
- How do the range of 'use' types relate to the map
- What activities do we have to teach against these sorts of web literacy standards
- What are the important practices Wikimedians engage in (these might be collections of actions), how do they relate to the standard, how do they relate to Wikimedia badges (or, already in existance, barnstars, etc)