11 digital literacy programs

Social media is a powerful tool that can either make or break the success of your career. If you want to use it to your advantage, then you must be highly digitally literate and capable of navigating it safely and effectively.

Mitti (by SafetyCulture)’s Social Media Policy guides you through the importance of knowing the social media policy to help mitigate risks that might damage the reputation of your employer and your career. It also includes a list of the things you can and can’t share online to prevent the risk of accidentally giving out sensitive information and putting the entire company in jeopardy.

Digging deeper into this course, you’ll learn more about the basic social media etiquette to create a safe digital workplace. It will also give you some tips on how to handle personal social media accounts so you don’t end up posting malicious content or sharing inaccurate information.

Built with a responsive design, you can use a laptop, smartphone, tablet, or other devices to access this digital literacy program. It’s also self-paced, so you can take it anytime or anywhere you prefer.

• Scope: Social media policy, protecting company information, social media etiquette, handling personal social media accounts

Creating interesting digital artifacts like infographics, slide shows, and websites has never been easier – thanks to the availability of many tools and software today. Coursera’s Digital Information Literacy can help you gain digital literacy on these tools, making sure that you know how to use them effectively and responsibly. It also discusses the right way to obtain and evaluate digital information to secure the accuracy of the content of your digital artifact.

You’ll need approximately 20 hours to complete this digital literacy program for adults. But after successful completion, you’ll receive a completion certificate that you can add to your credentials and share with your colleagues.

• Scope: Digital artifact tools and software, obtaining and evaluating digital information

FutureLearn takes a deep dive into digital literacy and unpacks the trends and issues associated with it. Living in an increasingly digitized world, this course drills down the most crucial digital literacy skills that most companies are looking for, alongside some practical strategies that can help you improve those. It also contains a step-by-step guide on how to apply for a digital literacy credential to evidence your expertise.

In this digital literacy program, you’ll learn through a series of bite-sized videos, with supporting learning materials such as articles and practical activities.

• Scope: Digital literacy trends and issues, most vital digital literacy skills, how to apply for digital literacy credential

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is all around us – from the navigation app that shows you the best route to the personalized advertisement you receive based on your exact buying preferences.

Mitti (by SafetyCulture)’s Defending Human Rights in the Age of Artificial Intelligence serves as a great digital literacy program as it helps you understand the rights affected by AI. These rights include freedom of expression, the right to privacy, and the right to equality.

The course also includes some real-world examples of the challenges caused by the online algorithms of AI. For instance, the risk of information eavesdropping from virtual assistants and unintentionally flagging content that displays the freedom of expression. Each lesson comes with some recommendations for how you and your employers can defend these rights in light of the growing use of AIs worldwide.

This course has been designed in collaboration with UNESCO and UNITAR and is part of their #EducateAll movement. It’s free to take and share with your team.

• Scope: Human rights in the age of Artificial Intelligence (AI), freedom of expression, right to privacy, right to equality

Google for Education offers a free course on the topic of the Use of Digital Tools for Everyday Tasks to help both students and professionals learn responsible communication techniques through digital tools. Here, you’ll learn how to protect your personal information using a Google Account. This program will also show you how to conduct an information search on the Internet and insert links from trustworthy sites into your digital documents to support your content.

The last part of this course will teach you how to effectively use email to communicate with your friend, client, or colleague, a skill that’s deemed highly essential in workplaces. Training with Google is free of charge, although keep in mind that this course has no interactive element, so it may feel a bit static and monotonous.

• Scope: Responsible communication using digital tools, protecting information using a Google accounts, information search on the internet, email communication

Having a strong digital literacy on the use of information can be a great asset in the workplace. Learn My Way offers a short, interactive digital literacy training course that can help guide you through the responsible use of web browsers to view websites and obtain information that’s correct and verified. It also explains what copyright means online and how to play by the rules to reap the benefits of using the internet.

While it can be used as a stand-alone course, you can also take other training by Learn My Way to boost your digital literacy skills. The most recommended ones are Using Online Forms, Using Email, and Using Search Engines.

• Scope: Use of web browsers, copyright meaning, how to access online information following the rules

Computer learning software Alison has put together a course on Global Digital Literacy to educate professionals like you about the right use of online tools to source information and communicate with people. This program defines what digital literacy is and its importance on a global level. It sheds light on ways you can use your digital literacy to create digital content, solve problems, and drive positive changes in your workplace. Towards the last part of the course, there’s also an in-depth look at the DigComp framework, which identifies the factors that make up digital competence.

This course is free to enroll in, study, and complete. In order to receive an official Alison Graduate certificate, you must pass the digital literacy quiz and receive a grade of at least 80% or higher.

• Scope: Digital literacy and its global importance, creating digital content and solving problems using digital literacy, DigComp framework

Participating in the digital age is hard, but this course by Openlearning is here to give you the skills and knowledge you’ll need to help you thrive in this ever-complex world. This course explains how you can use standard technology to share and publish information without violating any legal standards, user policies, and ethical requirements relevant to information access. It also includes some tips on keeping your personal information safe and secure when exploring or connecting with others using digital technologies.

The great news is that there are interactive activities and case studies in this digital literacy program for adults. The only thing to note is that it’s not free, and you need to pay 174 USD to access it.

• Scope: Sharing and publishing information using standard technology, legal, user policies, and ethical requirements relevant to information access, keeping personal information safe and secure

The spread of disinformation is one of the biggest concerns associated with the growing use of digital technologies and social media platforms. Mitti (by SafetyCulture)’s Combating the Disinfodemic course addresses the fast-growing disinformation during the time of COVID-19 and how it has affected the lives and livelihoods of people around the world. It was developed in collaboration with UNITAR and UNESCO, so you can be sure of the quality of the content included in this training.

This digital literacy program starts with an introduction to the so-called “disinfodemic”, a parallel pandemic of disinformation that is prevalent during the COVID-19 pandemic. It highlights the different types of disinfodemic and the key themes present in misleading and inaccurate content. To protect you from becoming a victim of fake news, this course also includes some tips on how to identify disinformation and assess the accuracy of the information you're seeing on the Internet.

Towards the end of this program, you’ll find a quick rundown of the recommendations of actions that international organizations, local government, and law enforcement agencies can take to combat the alarming increase of disinfodemic today.

• Scope: Introduction to disinfodemic, types and themes of disinfodemic, how to identify disinformation and assess online information, recommendations to combat disinformation

Offered through the UN Women's Second Chance Education programme in Mitti (by SafetyCulture), this course is designed to empower women by enhancing their digital skills. With five engaging lessons, learners can get hands-on practice on essential topics like online navigation, security, digital content creation, and social media use.

This mobile-friendly course allows them to learn at their own pace, anytime and anywhere. Whether they’re new to the digital world or looking to refresh their skills, this course is a great way to build confidence and open up new opportunities in their personal and professional life.

• Scope: Going online, security, digital content, social media