The Importance Of ICT Literacy

To gain a deeper understanding on what ICT literacy is, or what standards are included on being ICT literate, one must first define the two words which constitute the term. ICT is the technologies that aid the collection, processing or the circulation of information or data. Meanwhile, literacy is the ability to classify, comprehend, interpret, construct, communicate, compute and use written and printed materials connected with different contexts. Literacy requires continuous learning to allow an individual to accomplish goals, to improve knowledge and potentials, and to fully be involved in the wider society (UNESCO Institute for Statistics, n.d.). When these words are put together, the term "ICT Literacy" would then pertain to the skill of making an effective use of digital technology, communication tools, and the networks to satisfy the user's information needs. This term also includes the ability to utilize technology to gather, organize, analyze, and transmit the acquired information to a desired platform. Moreover, ICT literacy also means that the user possesses the fundamental comprehension of the ethical and legal issues that go along with the access and utilization of the information (Haneefa & Abdul Shukkoor, 2010). According to the American Library Association, an information literate person is a person who is …show more content…
Through these skills, the user is also made capable of comprehending the various economic, legal, and social issues that come with using data from these information providers. The user is then made aware of not only the privilege of ease using these sources provide but also the ethical and legal responsibilities that come along with doing so (Muruli & Kumar,