Digital Literacy as a Catalyst for Promoting Secondary School Students’ STEM Learning Outcomes in the 21st Century Classrooms

Abstract

The 21^st century is a technological driven era and requires citizens with both Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) skills and digital literacy to adapt and navigate in the technological world. Digital literacy is the ability to use information and communication technology to find, evaluate, create and communicate information. Digital literacy an essential component of STEM education and empowers students with robust digital literacy skills that prepare them for careers in STEM fields. This paper therefore posits digital literacy as a gateway to promoting students’ learning outcomes in STEM subjects based on the existing interrelationship between digital literacy and STEM education. The 21^st century is a technological era and focuses on citizens possession of knowledge, skills and competencies to navigate in the technological era, Thus, lack of digital literacy among citizen and particularly teachers and students may limit the ability to access. communicate, explore, evaluate and create knowledge in the digital and technological world. It may also limit the chances of citizens global employability in the labour force. Integrating digital tools into STEM education in the 21^st century classroom can enhance students’ engagement, critical reasoning, creativity and ultimately learning outcomes in STEM subjects. Nevertheless, many challenges have been identified with achieving digital literacy in the Nigerian classroom environments. These challenges range from lack of fund, lack of internet services, digital divide and lack of regular teachers’ regular training and knowledge upgrading among others. Suggestions such as integration of emerging technology into STEM pedagogies and classroom environment, upgrading teacher ICT knowledge through workshops regular training, provision of digital instructional facilities, redesigning of school curriculum to reshape both teaching and learning environment to align with the pace of the intensified technological changes in the 21^st century.