3 Digital skills for everyday life

Figure 1 Social media keyboard

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Image of keyboard with social media icons on the keys.

Figure 1 Social media keyboard

The fundamental skills for everyday life include:

• Finding, managing and storing digital information and content. For example, using a search engine to find information and bookmarking useful websites and services.
• Communicating, interacting, collaborating, sharing and connecting with others. For example, using email, instant messaging or social media.
• Buying and selling goods and services, organising your finances and using digital government services. For example, ordering shopping online, managing a bank account or booking travel.
• Solving problems and finding solutions using digital tools. For example, teaching yourself simple tasks using tutorials, or using feedback from other internet users to solve common problems.
• Creating basic digital content in order to engage with digital communities and organisations. For example, creating a social media post, creating a text document such as a CV, creating and sharing a photo album or creating and sharing feedback about products and services.

(Go ON UK, 2015)

Safety is a really important aspect of life online. It can involve:

• managing your digital identity
• assessing the accuracy of sources of information
• regularly updating antivirus software on your mobile and computer
• using the right security settings
• avoiding scams and frauds
• protecting your privacy
• respecting the privacy of others.

The questions you answered in Activity 1 give you an overview idea about how familiar you are with everyday digital skills and how often you use them.

For the rest of this week you will have the opportunity to practise your skills in searching the internet, using social media and solving an everyday problem using online information.

You may not be familiar with some online skills, so here are some videos that include tutorials for using the Chrome and Firefox web browsers: