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from Part IV - Digital Citizens and Workers
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 September 2019
Introduction: technology, digital literacies and culture change
Computing power is growing at an exponential speed. In the consumer world, new digital tools appear every day. Keeping up with the new technologies can be exciting for some and exhausting for others. In the workplace context, while the pace of technology change tends to be slower than in our personal lives, unfamiliar and disruptive technologies that change the way people work are increasingly being introduced. As more and more technologies are being embedded in the workplace, what kind of digital literacies are required to be effective and productive at work in this ever-changing world?
In this chapter digital literacies are defined as the capabilities required to maximise the benefits that technology can bring to oneself as an individual employee, a team, across the company, the customers and even suppliers. This implies the ability to cope with and avoid stress caused by the prevalence of technologies.
In the next two sections we explore digital literacies from the perspective of two dimensions:
• What kind of digital literacies – aptitude, mindset, behaviours, leadership, skills and competencies – are required for employees to help to deliver company strategy in order to stay relevant in the market and achieve its strategic objectives?
• What kind of aptitude, mindset, behaviours, leadership, skills and competencies are required to reap the full benefits of new digital technologies?
Dimension 1: the spectrum of workplace digital literacy
What kind of digital literacies are required for employees to get their work done to deliver company strategy? There is no ‘one size fits all’ requirement. Different levels of digital literacies are required depending on how employees see a situation at any particular time, the goals and outcomes they are trying to achieve, and the constraints imposed by the company and work environment. Digital literacy in the workplace is presented as different levels of digital aptitude, mindset, behaviours, skills and competencies:
1 At the most basic level, digital literacy is knowing what tools exist to do the current job.
2 Following from there, digital literacy is about knowing how to use the tools, and using them effectively to do the job.
3 The next level is knowing why you should use the tool, when to use it and for what purpose.
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