Digital Literacy: How It Has Been Evolving? Its Significance in the Indian Context

Digital literacy indicates having the skills that one needs to live, learn, and work in an e-permeated society and economy, where communication and access to information is through digital technologies like internet/digital platforms/apps, social media, mobile devices, etc. Given this trend, the present paper tries to understand how the digital literacy has been evolving in the last two decades. Central theme of this review has been: what is digital literacy and how it has been evolving over time and across multiple perspectives. It is argued that digital literacies should be seen as “evolving”, as digital practices shape, and are shaped by the imitations and innovations along with the development of the public digital ecosystem combined with its accessibility and affordability of both the data and the devices. As we will see, defining this term has been proven to be complex, because the digital environment is constantly fast changing. Due to its inherent nature of fluidity and flexibility, the term covers from a narrow to a comprehensive coverage. On the parallel, the endeavours of the multilateral agencies to capture and define digital competency are examined. In this backdrop, its significance in the Indian context is looked at. The concluding section highlights the concerns that need attention from several standpoints.