Digital Literacy: An essential life skill in the present era

In the post pandemic era, digitalization has become more and more ingrained in our daily lives and the development of various industries. Within the digital environment, people are used to accessing media whenever and wherever they want. Instant-messaging, photo sharing, texting, social networking, video-streaming are all examples where youth have led the charge in new ways of engaging online.However, this enthusiasm masks a potential problem: although young people can learn Internet technologies at a lower cost, without guidance they are still amateur users of information and communication technology (ICT), which raises concerns about a generation of youth who are not fully digitally literate, yet are deeply immersed in cyberspace.

Therefore, the cultivation of digital literacy has become an important issue in youth education and social development. According to Terry Heick, theFounder and Director of TeachThought, said, "Digital literacy is about being able to make sense of digital media. This occurs through meaningful and sustainable consumption and curation patterns that improve an individual's potential to contribute to an authentic community". It encompasses a broader range of digital activities - everything from reading eBooks, to attending or organizing virtual meetings, to creating or watching short-videos, and many more.

Digital literacy has moved from being a luxury for the urban to becoming a day-to-day requirement, bridging the current information gap between and within different sectors of our country. Especially,e-learning has opened the door for girls and women living in the rural areas of Bangladesh to raise their knowledge levels on health and nutrition. Social media platforms have also provide opportunities for female nutritionists and doctors to share professional knowledge about Covid-19 and some other diseases.  As increasing numbers of businesses, services and even democratic processes migrate online, citizens who lack digital literacy skills risk being disadvantaged when it comes to accessing healthcare, government services and opportunities for employment, education and civic participation.

Digital literacy is as much a key part of learning about one specific field and learning how to study this field. Youth today can avail quality education throught remote learning, while saving up on both time and money. During the pandemic lockdown, when all the educational institutions were forced to stop, students, parents, teachers who were equipped with digital skills, managed to make the most out of their homebound times. Moreover, people who had expertise on certain digital skills like content creation, e-commerce, UX/UI design, digital marketing, etc. were able to avail remote jobs and earn money, when it became rather difficult for most others. Along with being an essential survival life skill, digital literacy can help us acquire digital well-being much easier than before.

Today, as most of the daily communication occurs through virtual platforms, the ability to use them properly to clearly express one's thoughts, ask relevant questions, maintain respect, and establish trust is just as essential as communicating in person. Besides, with digital skills people especially youths can access, manage, and produce information or contents in an ethical and sustainable manner, meanwhile cultivating knowledge, values and a whole range of critical thinking, communication and information management skills through all kind of online safety instructions and community guidelines.

If we look at some of the recent incidents that happened in our country, we can see how many malefactors carrying out different illicit activities abusing different social media platforms or messaging apps. Yet with good digital literacy, people can avoid or detect online misinformation and deal with varieties of negative issues such as cyber bullying with the help of official platforms or professional organizations.

So, whether you are a learner, teacher, business owner, or someone that uses technology for work, learning how to increase digital literacy can improve your life for sure. Digital literacy can be increased using verities of digital means. There are many public and private organizations as well as online platforms that are sharing information, arranging campaigns and trainings to equip us with digital skills.

Likee, for example, is one platform for creating and sharing short videos in the lines of contemporary trends. This platformhas been launching several campaigns, like "Knowledge Month" and "#steps2learn" and inviting creators from different industries like E-learning, healthcare and design to share their inspiration with the community. Such kind of campaigns create avenues for virtual learning and self-improvement, augmenting the scopes for digital literacy by large and positive margins.

Undoubtedly, digital literacy is one of the most essential skills to survive with competency and compatibility to the fast-paced contemporary world. In Bangladesh, being aligned with the ongoing efforts of the government to take the nation to its new technological heights, we all should do our best to be well equipped with digital literacy to meet the challenges ahead.