Abstract: This paper describes the results of a survey of teaching faculty at a medium-sized university in the southeastern United States to determine core curriculum items that should be taught to ensure that graduates have the capabilities and skills to fully participate in the digital society. There was considerable agreement between the colleges regarding the importance of twenty aspects of digital literacy. Application skills continued to be viewed as very relevant. However, our findings also show the need for a greater focus on information literacy skills that go beyond the focus of the current one-credit-hour software applications course designed to achieve computer application literacy. A case can be made for additional topics to be included in the curriculum common to all students such as ethics, security and privacy, and how to validate the relevance and usefulness of data. The study also highlights the need for discipline-specific topics to be embedded in subject-knowledge courses.

Keywords: Curriculum design & development, Computer literacy, Information literacy, Introductory course, Web literacy

Download this article: JISE - Volume 22 Number 2, Page 95.pdf

Recommended Citation: Nelson, K., Courier, M., & Joseph, G. W. (2011). Teaching Tip: An Investigation of Digital Literacy Needs of Students. Journal of Information Systems Education, 22(2), 95-110.