Digital Literacy in the Curriculum: Increasing AI Readiness

The recent curriculum and assessment review recommends strengthening digital literacy at every key stage of the curriculum to equip students for a period of rapid social and technological change. It includes recommendations to improve the clarity of the computer curriculum content; to replace the much criticized GCSE Computer Science course with a Computing GCSE with a broader focus; and to convey digital competence and the use of technology in all specialist disciplines.

There is a lot of positivity in these recommendations. It offers a balanced perspective that recognizes the importance of digital and media skills for young people, beyond AI skills. Its cause lies in the concern of education experts about the lack of digital skills among students, which must be taken into account from primary school onwards; the desirability – but also challenge – of teaching digital skills across the curriculum; the low intake of…