Digital technology, as we understand it today, is a broad term. It covers everything from actual digital devices, such as computers, smartphones, media recorders and players and the like, to communication and networking tools, and extends even to social networks.

Yet as broad as the term is, digital technology is critical for access to education, information and entertainment, and is increasingly being used for social interaction. In this digital environment, children need to learn how to use technology in order to use and communicate information effectively.

Specifically, children must have technology literacy—the ability to use digital technologies as tools to access, manage, evaluate and create information so that they can function safely and effectively in society today.

The following are good resources for more information about technology literacy:

• National Educational Technology Standards (NETS)
• The National Center for Technology Literacy at the Museum of Science (Boston, MA)