Digital literacy has become an important topic in both academic and non-academic settings. What is

digital literacy? Why is it important to have digital literacy? What are challenges to achieving digital

literacy? What are some tools we can use to evaluate the credibility of online articles or websites we

use? In this unit, we have been exploring these questions by reading,

writing, and discussing the topic in depth.

We have also learned how to:

? Avoid plagiarizing by using quotes, paraphrases, and

summaries

? Incorporate a quote effectively with a quote sandwich

? Use noun clauses, direct quotes, indirect quotes (grammar)

? Create MLA in-text citations and works cited list

Prompt: Write an essay (3-4 pages) explaining 3 reasons why digital literacy in this day and age is

important and address why it’s difficult to achieve digital literacy based on the readings we did in class

and your personal experiences and observations. Then, provide a viable (capable of working

successfully) solution for each of the challenges you’ve identified and analyzed. Finally, make a

connection to how you can incorporate the various aspects of the CRAAP test to enhance your digital

literacy when you evaluate the credibility of an online source. You must use 3 quotes from the articles to

support your analysis. Use in-text citations and create a works cited list following MLA guidelines. The

essay is worth 15% of your final grade. It must be submitted on Canvas using Turnitin.

To develop your essay, make sure you understand the readings we have covered and choose your source

wisely.

? Your introduction needs to have an interesting hook to catch the reader’s attention, background

information to introduce the essay topic and your sources (articles from this unit), and a clear

thesis statement that outlines the topic and provides a purpose for the essay.

? Your body paragraphs should begin with a clear topic sentence with a controlling idea that

introduces the specific reason why digital literacy is important but why it’s difficult to achieve it.

Integrate quotations from the articles to introduce the importance of digital literacy or challenges

to digital literacy you have identified. One way to do this is to first provide context for the

importance of digital literacy and challenge, then use a quote as the support for the topic, which

should be followed with an in-depth analysis of the challenge and a solution to the challenge

using the various aspects of the CRAAP test (think quote sandwich!). Remember to change the

questions in the CRAAP test to noun clauses and briefly explain why the questions you are

asking in your evaluation are important when evaluating the credibility of the source.

? Your conclusion will summarize your findings and determinations and lay out an argument for

the importance of digital literacy and overcoming the challenges to achieving digital literacy.

Then, conclude with a final “So what?”