St Ignatius College sets itself five digital literacy priorities

St Ignatius College has unveiled a forward-looking ‘Digital Literacy Action Plan’ designed to equip its learners with the skills needed to thrive as responsible and creative digital citizens.

Rooted in the national Digital Education Literacy Strategy (2025-2030), the plan is driven by data from the college’s first bespoke digital skills assessment, conducted earlier this year by the Digital Literacy Team supporting the college, with Year 5 pupils.

The results of this assessment painted an interesting yet complex picture. Pupils excelled in areas such as online safety, search strategies and hands-on media creation, with many achieving over 90% accuracy in multiple-choice questions on safe internet use and digital communication.

However, the assessment also revealed persistent challenges in the open-ended tasks in evaluating online credibility, constructing code and completing multi-step digital tasks. These findings underscored the urgent need for a structured approach to building digital reasoning, problem-solving and content creation skills.

At the heart of the college’s response is a model of collaborative leadership and expertise. The Directorate for Digital Literacy and Transversal Skills (DDLTS), through the head of department (digital literacy), and the digital literacy support teacher, have been working closely with the present author, as head of the college network, and eventually, the school leadership teams, to translate assessment findings into targeted classroom practices.

In the upcoming scholastic year, they will be critically analysing this data during the curriculum time to help students build both competence and confidence in digital contexts.

This work is underpinned by the unwavering support of the director for digital literacy and transversal skills, whose guidance ensures that the college’s plan remains aligned with both the European DigComp 2.2 framework and Malta’s wider digital education priorities.

The director’s involvement also guarantees that teachers have access to ongoing professional development and that students benefit from resources that address both technical skills and digital well-being.

From safety to creativity

The action plan, aligning with the European Digital Competence Framework, sets out five priority areas (see figure 1):

• Information and data literacy: teaching students to plan and complete multi-step research tasks, while justifying their choices.

• Communication and collaboration: strengthening digital

etiquette, online credibility checks, and responsible use of e-mail and media.

• Use of digital media: encouraging content creation through apps such as PicCollage and Book Creator, with an emphasis on explaining and reflecting on digital choices.

• Managing internet use: building resilience through real-life simulations on online safety, privacy, and digital well-being.

• Computational thinking: developing fluency in visual coding, problem-solving and logical reasoning through Scratch, Blockly and unplugged coding activities.

Figure 1. The European digital competence framework’s five priority areas.

Each target is matched with clear success criteria and classroom strategies, ranging from coding pairs for peer learning to student-led campaigns on safe internet use.

A digital future for all

Despite the undeniable challenges, by combining early interventions, scaffolded digital learning and robust teacher training, the college believes that together we can significantly reduce gaps in digital competence across its network of schools.

This initiative reflects a belief that digital literacy is not only about technology but about equipping young people with the critical, creative and ethical skills to participate fully in a digital society. Being equipped with these skills aligns with the Key Competence Framework for Lifelong Learning (see figure 2).

Figure 2. The key competence framework for citizens’ lifelong learning.

As the college’s leadership team notes, this is not simply a response to a strategy but an investment in every learner’s future.

Doreen Said Pace is head of the St Ignatius College network.