Twenty-sixth International Conference on Learning

Abstract

Trained volunteers help organizations provide essential programs in the community. Volunteers receive training on core curriculum or skills, in exchange for sharing what they know with the community. Increasingly, volunteer coordinators teach volunteers how to use computers and web-based resources in their volunteer role. A secondary outcome of volunteer training is digital literacy. Digital literacy is defined as “the ability to use information and communication technologies to find, evaluate, create, and communicate information, requiring both cognitive and technical skills” (American Library Association Office for Information Technology Policy, p. 2). Digital literacy helps volunteers utilize technology to learn new things, assess and interpret valid information, increase efficacy, and share information with others. The purpose of this presentation is to provide volunteer coordinators, faculty, and community groups with examples of how to quantify volunteers’ digital literacy using research-based resources available from journals, reports, and studies. Participants will learn how to utilize this research to explain and report digital literacy outcomes. Digital literacy skills learned in volunteer training may transfer to daily life such as home, social situations, and work. Digital literacy skills benefit volunteers and the community through increased civic engagement, effective organizational leadership, and learning that can make a difference in society.