Identifying Components of a Hypothetical Assessment of Digital Literacy for Tennessee Students

Abstract

Technology is constantly becoming more important in the daily lives of people worldwide. With this ever-increasing importance, it is imperative that the education system can adjust to educate their students about the world that they are entering. In Tennessee, a new senate bill that attempts to close the gap between STEM interest and STEM performance will require students to have one year of a computer applications course before they can graduate. In this thesis, I propose a method for assessing the efficacy of this policy change to its goal by identifying potential components of an assessment of digital literacy skills. To accomplish this goal, I analyzed nine different international experiments of digital literacy through the lens of a European framework, DigComp. The results concluded that the ideal way to assess digital literacy is through a format that includes a combination of multiple choice questions and interactive simulations.