The impact of not being digitally literate on adults and young people

In true Computer Geek style, "Hello World"!

This blog entry has been written as part of my work towards a Digital Literacy Practitioner Qualification and, whilst it is primarily aimed at satisfying one assessment, it has served to make me look at my own definition of digital literacy and why it is so critical to every single child, young person and adult today.

Our cohort's Padlet page looked like this:

Created with Padlet

Clearly this shows many similarities between sub-groups - let's look at some of them:

Working life

It is clear that employers are demanding more from their employees (and applicants) with digital literacy skills climbing higher on the list of essential criteria in Person Specifications. Virtually all businesses employ some form of digital technology and, therefore, those without the requisite skills and experience will face being almost unemployable or, at best, only employable in low level jobs. Those with limited digital literacy skills who have some limited access to internet services but be unaware of the ways one can use digital technologies to search out new employment opportunities by refining job searches based on existing employment experience. Those without requisite digital skills to secure employment will end up in low paid jobs with very little hope of career progression. 

Similarly, those without digital literacy skills are less likely to be making effective use of technology available to them in work. Indeed, as we've seen in earlier assessments, it's not just about using an entire computer store full of technology, it's about using digital skills effectively:

This void in digital skills is highlighted in the 2013 Prince's Trust Digital Literacy Report where these key points are identified:

One in 10 unemployed young people (10%) cannot send their CV online, while more than one in six (17%) believe they would be in work today if they had better computer skills.
A quarter of unemployed young people "dread" filling in online job applications and one in 10 admit they avoid using computers.

Interestingly, far from being Digital Natives, the Report finds that one in ten unemployed youngsters (10%) are embarrassed by their lack of computer skills, while more than one in six (17%) admit they do not apply for jobs which require basic computer skills.

The survey conducted for this report also found that more than one in 10 young people (12%) do not think their computer skills are good enough to use in the job they want, while almost one in five unemployed young people (18%) claim to feel this way

(Source: https://www.princes-trust.org.uk/about_the_trust/what_we_do/research/digital_literacy_research_2013.aspx)

Economic impact

Being on low income (as low level jobs invariably offer low-level wages) means that those lucky enough to find employment will be unlikely to have access to a wide range of technologies - often having access to the more basic mobile technology which has no access to the internet. This would mean that they would be unable to access online commerce services (e.g. online shopping, banking and insurance services) this forcing them to continue to source goods and services from traditional high street outlets. 

It is widely known that similar products and services can be sourced at greatly discounted prices online. 

Indeed, of those living in households earning less than £11.5k per annum, 47% did not use the Internet compared to only 4% of those with an annual income of over £30k (ONS Data 2011) 

Of those with internet access,77% are not working - one has to ask is this a chicken and egg situation?
(Source: http://www.litrg.org.uk/Resources/LITRG/Documents/2012/05/digital_exclusion_-_litrg_report.pdf) 

People with good ICT skills earn between 3-10 per cent more than people without such skills (Source: Digital Inclusion: Economic and Social Benefits for Individuals 2011 http://api.ning.com/files/j*HJrIewtncmqYidVJWjR5j3XzTGmQAAkzmx15VMUXVh2FmQZIcaJh1B9j4*i3HCXYA28k4IkKL9p0JyokfzIdPgmzYoJeJH/04.DigitalInclusionEconomicandSocialBenefitsforIndividualsandWiderSocietyEnglish.doc accessed 20:46 8th July 2015)

On a wider scale, businesses (which, after all, are run by people) have been found to be lacking in the digital skills department. the Lloyds Bank UK Business Digital Index 2015 found some staggering facts:

• On average, 30% of organisations across the UK lack Basic Digital Skills.
• 23% of SMEs lack Basic Digital Skills, around 1.2 million
• 58% of Charities lack Basic Digital Skills
• SMEs with a high level of digital maturity are more than a third more likely to report an increase in turnover in the past two years compared with those firms that are the least digitally able
• Charities with a high level of digital maturity are twice as likely to report and increase in funding in the past two years
• Three quarters of SMEs (75 per cent) are investing no money at all at in skills.
• Those charities at the lowest end of the digital skills spectrum reported an increase in doubts as to how websites (78 per cent) or social media (83 per cent) could help increase their funding
• Just 13% of organisations use their website for e-commerce
• One-quarter (25%) of all organisations surveyed believe digital is ‘irrelevant’ to them.

Clearly, whilst individuals need to develop their skills to make them more competitive in the employment market, businesses must also take responsibility for their own digital skills (and those of their workforce). Failure to act will have significant impact on the economic sustainability of British industry.

Google have highlighted this case study as an example of making full sue of digital skills to develop and grow a business:

"Julie   Deane   founded   The   Cambridge   Satchel   Company   from   her  kitchen   table   in   2008   with   capital   of   just   £600.   She   set   up   a   basic  website  at  little  cost and  with  no  prior  training.  Within six  months,  her    turnover  was  £30,000,  by  year end  £200,000  and  by  2012,  turnover   was  over  £1m.  Her  satchels  have  featured  on the  front  cover  of  Vogue  and  on  the  catwalks  of  the  biggest  fashion  events  around the  world.  Because   her   company   was   Internet   based,   she   could   grow   her   shopfront   with  low  friction  and  low  risk."

http://www.ukdigitalskills.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Binder7-REDUCED2.pdf


Education and training

"The digital literacy divide is a disparity between those that have or do not have access to information technology and communications"  (Eamon 2004).


Whilst this factor is not explicitly mentioned on the Padlet page, it is evident that those who are not digitally literate would be unlikely to take advantage of the extremely wide range of 'paid for' education, training and e-learning available online. In Wales (as in England), Government cuts have spelled the end to free education for adults. Even shorter courses in FE colleges are now costed beyond the reach of many lower paid workers. This means that those in low-skilled, low-paid jobs often face little prospect of getting out of the low pay/low skill trap.

Those with less developed digital skills are often less likely to be able to make full use of technology to fully research areas of interest fully. Too often we, as educators, see Google and Wikipedia as the sole points of reference for many learners

Inclusion

Our group came up with 'Inclusivity' which we took to mean inclusion within a wide range of groups. For example, the 2012 Digital Exclusions report by the Low Incomes Tax Reform Group and Chartered Institute of Taxation clearly identify some impacts of not having digital literacy skills, these include:

• As the government moves services to self-serve channels, significant numbers of people who are unable to move online, or who are not computer-literate, might miss out on government services.
• People who are digitally excluded are likely to be disproportionately heavy users of government services. Nearly half of those seeking help on tax and tax credit issues do not have access to a computer.

These are just a couple of impacts of not possessing the necessary digital skills to make full use of emerging technologies.

Communicate

Many of us are all too aware of the wide range of methods if communication: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp, Snapchat, Skype, Text messaging, Phone calls are just a few. However, without the proper digital skills, many younger people have been using these technologies with detriment to themselves or others.

BBC Be Smart 2015 found that:

• Around 1 in 5 admit to placing pressure on others to join in with negative online behaviour (20%)
• Over two thirds had experienced or witnessed some form of online bullying. Girls were far more likely than boys to have personally experienced unkind behaviour with 37% of them being effected by this compared to 27% of boys. 

We all see funny comments, pictures and videos (yes I mean those cat videos of course) during our journeys in the digital world. The BBC News website  recently reported that a video uncovered by the Sun newspaper shows how irresponsible use of technology can not just cause embarrassment or upset but actually cost more than one person their career.

Young people and adults need a range of digital skills (far more than mentioned here) if they want to survive in this Brave New World that is "Digitopia". I'll leave you with this video that explains briefly some reasons why these skills are important. The video is targeted at Higher Education but is equally relevant to us all:

Here endeth the ramblings.....