Digital literacy is a concept that has always contrasted from other subjects like science and math for me. This is because throughout my education, it was not something that was emphasized to be important enough to merit its own distinction; instead it has always been covertly interwoven into the content of other courses. Digital literacy, however, is a fundamental aspect of education, which in the almost completely online nature of the current meta, is vitally applicable to almost every field of study.

Going through the BC Post-Secondary Digital Literacy Framework invoked a lot of reflection on this aspect of my education. The B.C. Post-Secondary Digital Literacy Framework is a comprehensive guide that was developed to improve and allow individuals to assess the digital literacy skills and knowledge of post-secondary students across B.C., by outlining essential skills and practices needed to navigate, create, and participate effectively and inclusively in digital environments across post-secondary communities.

The framework identifies 8 core competencies of digital literacy: ethical and
legal; technology; information literacy; digital scholarship; communication and
collaboration; creation and curation; digital wellbeing; and community-based learning. With clearly stated expectations catered to a variety of roles—students, instructors, graduates, and all digital citizens alike—each theme highlights an essential aspect of being digitally literate.

The emphasis on digital wellbeing struck a particularly deep chord with me. This skill affirms the significance of establishing boundaries with technology, carefully curating your digital persona, and placing a high priority on mental health in online settings in an age of information overload and algorithm-driven anxiety.

Digital literacy is a dynamic lifelong learning process that cannot be simply learned from a single guide or course. The digital world has evolved quickly and dramatically over its course, and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future; as the it evolves, our literacy needs to progress and conform with it. This framework gives educators and students the skills and mindset they need to navigate and co-create the digital futures we desire. It serves as a potent reminder that being digitally literate entails having traits that go far beyond the screen, such as knowledge, respect, inclusivity, and flexibility.

In a province as diverse and interconnected as British Columbia, this framework has the potential to be transformative—I find the receptiveness of the demographic to be the limiting factor, rather than the thoroughness and intuition of the framework.