What is Digital Literacy?
Digital literacy is the ability to navigate, evaluate, and create within the digital world using a combination of technical skills, critical thinking, and ethical judgment. According to current educational and research perspectives, such as those from UNESCO and the US Department of Education, it encompasses ethical participation in digital spaces (digital citizenship), awareness of privacy and data security, and the ability to utilize technology to collaborate, learn, and contribute positively to one’s community. In short, digital literacy refers to the ability to find reliable information, utilize digital tools effectively, and engage responsibly in online spaces.
Practicing digital literacy involves taking concrete actions: verifying the accuracy of information from media outlets and AI tools, understanding how algorithms influence the content we see, recognizing when media has been edited or manipulated, and safeguarding our privacy and data. It also means engaging with others respectfully, understanding the impact of our digital footprints, and using technology to learn, collaborate, and contribute to our communities.
In essence, digital literacy is not just about being online; it is also about being informed and responsible. It’s about being intentional, informed, and responsible while we are. It gives us the practical knowledge to move confidently through digital spaces and the foundation for developing digital discernment.
What is Digital Discernment?
Digital discernment is the capacity to use technology and navigate the digital world with direction, integrity, and purpose. It’s a form of digital wayfinding, or an inner compass that helps us orient ourselves amid constant information, influence, and distraction.
Where digital literacy equips us with the skills to move through digital spaces—to search, post, and participate—digital discernment gives us the wisdom to decide where to go, whom to trust, and what truly matters. It’s the difference between simply moving and moving with meaning.
Practicing digital discernment means being aware of how digital environments shape our attention, behavior, and beliefs and choosing to engage with intention rather than impulse. It involves evaluating sources, questioning algorithms and incentives, setting boundaries that protect focus and well-being, and aligning our digital actions with our deeper values and goals.
In essence, digital discernment is what makes a person a wayfinder in the digital age: someone who doesn’t just follow the flow of information but charts a deliberate course through it, guided by curiosity, critical thinking, and conscience.
Why Digital Discernment + Digital Literacy are Critical K-12 Skills
Today’s students are digital natives, but being born into a connected world doesn’t automatically mean they know how to navigate it safely or wisely. In fact, one study using a framework developed by Cambridge University found that American adults failed to identify a third of fake headlines. Minors were able to distinguish real from fake headlines with even less accuracy. This underscores a critical gap: students are fluent in technology, but not necessarily in how to think critically, act ethically, and engage healthily within it.
Digital discernment directly supports students’ well-being. The endless scroll, notification loops, and social comparison cycles that dominate social platforms can erode focus, confidence, and self-worth. Teaching digital discernment helps young people slow down, reflect, and reclaim agency over their attention. In doing so, students build skills that are foundational to mental health and self-regulation and that support them to thrive in their personal, academic, and future professional lives.
Digital literacy, on the other hand, cultivates informed citizens capable of thinking independently and evaluating information critically. In an era of deepfakes, AI-generated content, and viral misinformation, these skills are essential to preserving truth, trust, and ethical civic engagement. Students learn not only what to believe, but why. Combined with critical thinking skills taught across disciplines, students also grow capable of articulating their reasoning for trusting information using evidence and logic.
Both skills also strengthen core academic outcomes: Digitally literate students can filter, evaluate, and synthesize online information, making them skilled researchers and communicators. Those who have developed digital discernment can use technology for responsible, intentional enjoyment and to enhance their learning while maintaining academic integrity. They also gain competencies that serve them beyond school, from responsible social media use to digital collaboration in college and careers. Together, digital discernment and digital literacy form the foundation for healthy, informed, and empowered participation in the digital age.
Tips for Teaching Digital Discernment + Digital Literacy Across Grade Levels
Building these capacities doesn’t require overhauling a curriculum. It’s about teaching and reinforcing positive habits and reflective practices in everyday learning. Here’s how educators can scaffold both skills developmentally across the K-12 experience:
Grades PreK-5: Awareness + Habits
- Start with self-awareness. Encourage students to notice when and why they use technology. Simple exercises, such as tallying the daily number of times they reach for their phones or discussing online versus offline feelings, foster early digital mindfulness.
- Play “Fact or Fiction” games. Use image-based activities like those from Wayfinder’s Digital Literacy Packet to help students identify altered photos or misleading posts, sparking curiosity and discussion about truth online.
- Model healthy use. Teachers can normalize putting devices away during certain activities and explaining why. As young students look to the adults in their lives as exemplars of “normal” living, your modeling can help them grow to understand and expect deliberate and meaningful technology use.
Grades 6–8: Exploration + Reflection
- Discuss influence and identity. Activities like Wayfinder’s “Unpacking Influencers” help students recognize how algorithms and social media personalities shape preferences, opinions, and self-image.
- Introduce bias and credibility. Have students analyze different news headlines or social posts, identifying trustworthy vs. questionable sources.
- Create friction points. Teach strategies like “no-scroll zones,” turning off nonessential notifications, or modeling a “purpose before you post” rule.
Grades 9–12: Critical Engagement + Agency
- Deepen media analysis. Engage students in case studies of misinformation and AI-generated content. Ask them to evaluate sources, cross-check facts, and articulate how digital media shapes public perception.
- Connect to civic responsibility. Explore how digital choices affect communities through activism, environmental impact, or combating disinformation.
- Foster student leadership. Encourage teens to design their own digital citizenship campaigns, mentor younger peers, or create media that promotes healthy online behavior.
Teaching for the 21st Century
Digital discernment and digital literacy aren’t optional add-ons to education today. They’re essential survival skills for a generation growing up in a world where technology mediates almost every experience.
By embedding these skills across grade levels, educators can help students cultivate balance, integrity, and independence, empowering them to thrive both online and offline. Explore digital literacy activities for students here.
