Digital technologies now shape how students learn, communicate and participate in society. With the rapid spread of AI tools, students are not just using digital resources, they are interacting with systems that generate information, influence decisions and mediate social interaction. In this context, digital literacy is no longer a narrow technical skill. It is a core competency for learning, citizenship and future readiness.
This shift in students’ relationships with digital technologies is increasingly documented in state Portrait of a Graduate (PoG) frameworks. Digital literacy and responsible technology use are often highlighted as essential graduate outcomes. Across these efforts, a clear message is that academic knowledge alone is insufficient if students lack the ability to navigate digital and AI-mediated environments thoughtfully and responsibly. The ETS Research Report Navigating the Digital Horizon: A Proposed Framework and Strategies for Assessing Digital Literacy responds to this shift by reframing digital literacy as a multidimensional capability.
Why traditional definitions fall short
Earlier definitions of digital literacy focused largely on operational skills such as using devices, navigating software or finding information online. While these skills remain important, they no longer capture what students must do in today’s digital environments. Information may be incomplete, biased or fabricated. Digital spaces blur boundaries and shape what students see, how they interact and whose voices are amplified.
The ETS framework reflects this reality by treating digital literacy as a set of integrated cognitive, social, creative and ethical capabilities. This shift moves the focus from whether students can use technology to whether they can evaluate information, communicate effectively, create meaningful digital products and act responsibly in digital spaces. The digital literacy framework contributes to ETS’s broader Skills for the Future (SFF) initiative, which focuses on making durable skills accessible across K-12 and postsecondary education.
Four dimensions of digital literacy
The ETS framework organizes digital literacy into four closely related areas that together describe how students engage with digital environments.
Accessing, managing and evaluating digital information
Students must be able to locate information efficiently and, critically, judge its quality, credibility and relevance. In an AI-rich context, this includes questioning sources, recognizing bias and understanding how digital systems shape information.
Communicating and collaborating using digital tools
Digital literacy includes expressing ideas clearly through digital media and working productively with others across platforms. This dimension emphasizes collaboration, coordination and respectful interaction in online and hybrid settings.
Creating digital content
Students are not only consumers of digital information but also creators. This dimension focuses on using digital tools to design, produce and refine content — with attention to purpose, audience and usability.
Practicing responsible digital citizenship
Digital literacy also involves ethical and responsible participation in digital spaces. This includes understanding privacy, fairness and digital well-being, as well as using technology in ways that support inclusion and constructive social engagement.
Aligning to future expectations of students
The ETS digital literacy framework provides a coherent foundation for thinking about what students need to know and be able to do in an AI-shaped world. By integrating technical skills with critical judgment, communication, creativity and responsibility, it aligns closely with state PoG goals and emerging expectations for student readiness.
Lei Liu is a Research Director in the Research Institute at ETS.