General Assembly Issue: Teaching Digital Literacy in the 21St Century

Shanghai Model United Nations XX 2018 | Research Reports

Forum: General Assembly

Issue: Teaching Digital Literacy in the 21st Century

Student Officer: Donna Qi

Position: President of the General Assembly

Introduction

In a world that is increasingly globalized and connected through the use of technology, digital literacy has become a vital skill to being an active global citizen. While literacy has traditionally been linked to being able to absorb and understand a given language and fully communicate in it using written language, with the rise of the digital world, there has been an influx of skills that are demanded of people in order to fully communicate with those around them, and if these newly needed skills are ignored, the inequity that children receive within their education will only grow. The importance of promoting education and literacy is recognized within the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, however, problems remain due to the gap in the educations received by those living in less developed countries and more developed countries, a lack of consensus of what digital literacy encompasses, and gauging the actual impact of these technologies on our everyday lives.

Although this issue may be perceived to be premature to consider because some areas do not have access to quality education yet, currently, more than 29 percent of the worlds children lack access to the internet. Due to the rapid pace of developing technologies this question must be considered and robust frameworks must be created in order to tackle this issue. There are many implications within this issue, as those who are limited by technology have less of a voice compared to their global peers, those who do not understand it may fall victim to scams and lack an understanding of cybersecurity, and they are deprived of their ability to learn more effectively.

Research Report Topic| Page 1 of 7 Shanghai Model United Nations XX 2017 | Research Reports Definition of Key Terms

Traditional Literacy

Traditional literacy across the globe has consistently centered around having command over a written language including being able to communicate and create using that language. Literacy rates today are still determined by who can use language both actively and passively.

Digital Literacy

Digital Literacy refers to the ability to use modern information and communication technologies to assess, create, and communicate to information. With the rise of new technologies, such as tablets, computers, EBook readers, full mastery of these skills have become vital as they coincide with our human technological development.

Technology

Technology refers to the development of tools, ideas, skills, and methods both using scientific knowledge and for the purpose of scientific knowledge as well as practical purposes

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDGs are seventeen goals that were agreed to by members of the UN General Assembly that their nations, along with the UN and relevant subsidiary organizations, will work towards and try to achieve by 2030. These goals encompass wide and prevalent issues within the world right now, such as poverty, climate change, energy, water, etc.

Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity refers to the defense against hardware, software, and data, all internet-connected systems, from cyber attacks. This is an important aspect to consider educating children about in the 21st century as these forms of attacks become ore prevalent.

Cyberbullying

Cyberbullying refers to the harassment of individuals in the cyber-sphere, whether that be through social media, instant texting platforms, etc. This is especially prevalent amongst teenagers and is a big problem that must be addressed when considering the issue of digital literacy.

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Background Information

History of Digital Literacy

As mentioned before, the onset of the concept of digital literacy has been very recent. While education initiatives led by the United Nations has not been and has been in place within the Sustainable Development Goals for a large number of years, it has only been very recently in which the landscape of what communication looks like has changed so drastically. With it, there have arisen many problems, such as cybersecurity threats, cyberbullying, and living in a world integrated with so much new technology as a whole. These problems have posed the problem of how to teach younger generations to be digitally literate, especially in a world that changes so rapidly and in which living conditions vary so dramatically. In recent years, there have been many efforts to integrate new education initiatives which have been developed following the creation of the new SDGs in 2015, but there have not been many specific programs that have been implemented. Frameworks such as Education 2030 have offered generic remarks on the topic, and research reports have begun being written about it by UNICEF, but there has not been a coordinated global effort to combat this issue of teaching digital literacy in the 21st century and the efforts have largely been localized, which risks widening the educational gap between less developed countries and more developed countries.

Major Countries and Organizations Involved

United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

UNESCO is a non-governmental organization and is a subsidiary of the United Nations (UN) which focuses on a wide variety of issues relating to culture, education, and sciences, and is working to contribute to fulfilling the UN Development Goals through its work. Due to its strong emphasis on ensuring that every individual has access to education, it has been at the forefront of the movement to encourage the skills related to digital literacy to be embedded within school curriculums, and has begun working with other member states, leading educators, and non-governmental institutions to achieve their related goals.

United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)

UNICEF is a non-governmental institution and a subsidiary of the United Nations. It’s primary goals have been to provide humanitarian assistance to children and mothers around the world, and in recent years, it has begun to shed a spotlight on digital literacy and encouraging all countries to help educate children in their country so they feel safer online. Beyond publicizing the actions of countries that have taken steps forward in ameliorating this issue, it

Research Report Topic| Page 3 of 7 Shanghai Model United Nations XX 2017 | Research Reports has been at the forefront of producing research on the experiences of children in the digital world and implementing programs such as ‘Connect My School’ in order to expose children who live in underprivileged areas to the digital world.

Cameroon

Cameroon is a Central African country that has been a part of a lot of the efforts led by UNICEF to begin connecting every child to the digital sphere. Due to violence in neighboring countries and the entire country’s lack of development, access to quality education as well as internet access is difficult to come by. However, through the ‘Connect My School’ program created by UNICEF, students across many schools in Cameroon are now gaining access to the internet and through it, the inequity between children growing up in developing and developed nation is slowly being bridged.

Montenegro

Montenegro is a Balkan country located near many Eastern European countries such as Serbia, Kosovo, and Bosnia Herzegovina. It has been notable for its efforts to curb cyberbullying through educational initiatives in tandem with UNESCO, which aims to increase the child’s digital literacy as well as their feeling of safety as they exist in the cyber-sphere.

Timeline of Events

Date Description of event

September 25, 2015 The Sustainable Development Goals for 2030 is set within the UN General Assembly in Resolution A/RES/70/1 November 2015 Education 2030 Framework for Action is established and adopted

UNESCO’s international conference on ‘Literacy in a digital world’ is held September 8, 2017 in Paris

Relevant UN Treaties and Events

• Education 2030: Incheon Declaration and Framework for Action, 22 May 2015 (ED- 2016/WS/28) • The State of the World’s Children 2017: Children in a Digital World, December 2015 • A Global Framework of Reference on Digital Literacy Skills for Indicator 4.4.2, June 2018 (UIS/2018/ICT/IP/51)

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Previous Attempts to solve the Issue

Due to the recent realization of this issue across the world, and the only recent drastic changes that have come as a result of cyber development, this issue has not been explored very deeply or specifically by the United Nations through resolutions. Currently, there has been an influx of research reports on the percentage of children who are not exposed to the cyber- sphere at all, which has been led by UNESCO and UNICEF. As mentioned before, UNICEF has also recently developed a program operating currently in Cameroon that could potentially be implemented in less economically developed countries (LEDCs) to boost digital literacy and for children to be exposed to more efficient and effective forms of learning. Montenegro has partnered with UNICEF in developing an educational game which has specifically targeted another issue related to digital literacy, which is online violence and cyberbullying. Both of these current actions taken in order to combat this issue showcase how diverse and complex of a concept digital literacy is. Beyond these specific approaches, there has also been more general approaches stated in frameworks such as Education 2030, which focuses broadly on the Sustainable Development Goal of providing quality education globally. This framework has stated one of its goals as being providing a minimum level of proficiency in digital literacy skills, but has not provided any robust plans in terms of how nations might achieve that. That being said, in recent years, there has been an increased focus on this issue as International Literacy Days have now begun to focus on both traditional literacy and digital literacy, plans involving education have begun to encompass digital learning, and individual member nations have been more engaged with leading educators to tackle problems specific to them in terms of digital literacy, whether that is cybersecurity, basic internet access, or cyberbullying.

Possible Solutions

Due to how multi-faceted this issue is and how different nations face different problems within the broader topic of digital literacy, there must be a range of solutions that has to be considered. First, the internet and technology must be made available to citizens who are a part of LDCs in order for them to be able to learn. This can be bolstered by UN-led programs similar to the ‘Connect My School’ that is being implemented in Cameroon, and the increased presence of well-trained educators to help students integrate technology into their learning. There is also the possibility of donating used technology, especially from prominent companies who have spearheaded the technological revolution, and implementing exchange-service programs between well-established technology companies to teach underprivileged children. However, while all of this is important and should be incorporated into current educations that exist across LDCs, what is fundamental is first developing a robust education system so

Research Report Topic| Page 5 of 7 Shanghai Model United Nations XX 2017 | Research Reports that children are being educated in the first place and so changes to the curriculum which promote digital literacy can be applied effectively.

Within more developed countries, there also has to be well-trained educators present in order to educate children on cyberbullying and how to protect themselves against cyber attacks as there is a large population of children who do not feel safe with their online presence and may also be victimized by those seeking to exploit them. This can be bolstered by developing a training program for people to become certified in educating children about digital skills. Similarly, teachers themselves must be taught how to use digital skills for the sake of teaching so that more students are exposed to these skills. While digital literacy skills must be developed and honed at a national and international level it also has to be developed and acknowledged within individual communities and recognized as a priority, which can be done at local community centers. MDCs also have well-developed curriculums and comparatively more resources, so standards should be developed nation-wide as to what qualifies as a digital education and there should be literacy tests in order to determine how well a student has grasped the content. There also has to be an increased emphasis in curriculums pertaining to how they can avoid cyber attacks and retain their own cyber security, and the appropriate safety training sessions for these skills must be initiated.

Bibliography

“A Brief History in Digital Literacy.” EdTech Digest, 2 May 2012, edtechdigest.com/2012/05/01/a-brief-history-in-digital-literacy/.

“A Global Framework of Reference on Digital Literacy Skills for Indicator 4.4.2.” UNESCO, June 2018, uis.unesco.org/sites/default/files/documents/ip51-global-framework-reference-digital- literacy-skills-2018-en.pdf.

“Education 2030: Incheon Declaration and Framework for Action.” UNICEF, UN, May 2015, unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0024/002456/245656e.pdf.

“For Every Child | a Digital Bridge.” UNICEF, 10 Dec. 2017, www.unicef.org/sowc2017/index_101721.html.

Heitin, Liana. “What Is Digital Literacy?” Education Week, Editorial Project in Education, 20 June 2018, www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2016/11/09/what-is-digital-literacy.html.

“International Literacy Day 2017.” UNESCO, 2 July 2018, en.unesco.org/themes/literacy- all/literacy-day.

“Montenegro.” UNICEF, 16 Oct. 2017, www.unicef.org/montenegro/campaigns_31500.html.

“Sustainable Development Goals .:. Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform.” United Nations, United Nations, sustainabledevelopment.un.org/?menu=1300.

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“UNESCO in Brief.” UNESCO, 1 Oct. 2018, en.unesco.org/about-us/introducing-unesco.

[]. “10 Steps to Strengthen Digital and Media Literacy.” Government Technology: State & Local Government News Articles, Emergency Management, www.govtech.com/education/news/10-Steps-to-Strengthen-Digital-and-Media- Literacy.html.

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